Swart Baard
Race Dog
First the introductions:
Me:
The GS:
The wife:
The Flooze :biggrin:
The wife and the Flooze :laughing4: :laughing4: :laughing4:
Day 1:
It’s been a bucket list item for some time and now we are finally going to do it. Many a beer later one evening and we decided that we will be doing a bike road trip together. The flooze would determine our pace as she needs time to rattle to a zippy 95km/h on straights. Having said that, we planned to limit total travel distance and stay well clear of the N2. This will pave the way for a relaxed trip of short distances, lots of stops and enough time to explore unknown roads and landmarks.
The route has not been cast in concrete and the idea is to travel to places were we have not been before. The rough direction will be towards Kareedouw where our accommodation is situated. I love the Langkloof area and have always been travelling through the area by cage. Many times have we stayed at Kouga Wilderness (Great place for those who have not tried it) but this time we though of going somewhere else. So the internet helped us find a stone house close to Karredouw situated on one of the bends of the Kouga river. The Kouga Kliphuis would be our base for the long weekend. It has no electricity and everything needed is powered by gas, the fridge, the two plate stove and off course the geyser. As long as the gas for the fridge doesn’t run out and the wetties stay cold we will be fine. But more about the accommodation later.
So after a short Wednesday (15th of June) at work we set of to buy our stuffs for our first ever bike road trip. Having a top box on each bike and soft panniers on the GS space is not going to be a problem….Sure
The shopping included the usual. Braaivleis, steak and wors, bread, more braaivleis and before we forget, some bacon pork sausages for breakfast. Oh and most important the booze. It will be cold so some OBS is not optional, but a must!
The packing starts the nigh before –
I know it will be difficult to get sleep in before our journey starts, so to counter this a couple of toots of whiskey and we are already on the bikes, standing in the saddle….tearing up dirt and ripping out grass, tackling tight corners, power sliding and doing 50% of the trip all on the back wheel….this is what I dream about :drif: :imaposer: :imaposer: :imaposer:
The Thursday morning we say our good byes to all the four legged members of the family and off we go. First stop would be J-Bay for some brekkie.
Bikes packed and ready to roll
On the way to the garage for petrol a @#$% cage driver pulls one of those unexplained manoeuvres at the robot. Pulls away and stops dead 25 meters further. Hard on the brakes, out of shock, the Flooze loses her front wheel and leaves the wife on the tarmac. No time for foto’s as we have to get the flooze out of oncoming traffic. Luckily nothing and nobody is hurt and with a few general curses to the cage driver we stop at the garage for fuel.
We get onto the R 102 which takes us out of PE and into the countryside. The road is generally not busy, but gusty winds pull at the bikes and limits the speed of the flooze head on and especially at hills. After some 40 minutes we enter the Van Stadens Pass. A short pass, but with some nice twisties. At the old bridge we stop to take some photo’s.
I notice the wife is not her usual self, not even taking of her helmet, but after a short rest we head off again.
The road takes us over the Gamtoos river via the narrow bridge on way to Jeffreys Bay. This would be our breakfast stop. Just over the bridge and I look back to find the wife pulling over. What’s wrong? Chain snapped? Engine problems…this cant be good. Not sure what to expect, I turn back. Turns out that the mechanics are all honkey dorey….but it is the wife that is experiencing discomfort. With disgruntled speech at low tones I see we have a unhappy chappy. “Die wind maak my bang” “Wat moet ek doen” Engines off and tutoring time. Explaining that she should lean against the prevailing winds and try keep the handle bars straight and no sudden movements she starts her bike again and looks ahead. “Kom ons ry net reguit Kareedouw toe” “Ek het nie nou krag vir weer stop nie” “Wat as die wind erger raak” Knowing the Eastern Cape, this is highly likely.
In true trooper fashion the wife grabs the flooze by the ears and soldier on against the gusty cross winds. Luckily no big trucks from the oncoming way to aggravate winds pulling on the bike.
As we get onto the R 62 things go much better. The wind is now right into our faces and more predictable. Even good enough in order to take a few quick snappies in the ride.
The orange notice board of the Sweaty Dutchman lures us into the Bistro for pancakes to die for.
“Magies lekker vol”
Now to get to our accommodation we take the turnoff Suuranys almost exactly opposite Assegaaibosch. Very nice little mountain pass of only 11km and we arrive at the farmers house. Friendly greeting and small talk makes us feel right at home.
With the farmer jumping onto his quad we head off to our accommodation. We were assured we would be taking the easier route but this required passing through some gates on the way there. Twee spoor paadjies with some rocks and patches of mud…this is the easy road?? Farmer must have been concerned about something.
After the third gate the road conditions changes drastically. Big and small boulders on a downhill makes things very interesting with a heavy loaded GS.
Having much fun trying to stay upright, the flooze shoots passed me and I realise trouble is on its way. I shout at the wife to use the back brake instead of the front brake as I hear her shouting “Ek kan nie stop nie”
Jerking to a stand still at a opening the wife has reached her limits in terms of controlling the flooze and the farmer notices this with his trained eye. Before he suggests to leave the flooze there and pillion on the quad, the wife is off and top box loaded on the quad. Me by the way still going strong with a heavy loaded GS.
Then this happens :dousing:
It appears that the road drops almost vertically straight down. Furthermore, the roads turns something like the surface of mars, the worst I have encountered yet. It is a combination of very loose pebbles, some odd large rocks and to crown this its all perched on a steep inclines. But bravely we soldier on.
And it got worse
Somehow I managed to stay upright and make it all the way down. Exactly how…..I don’t know. Thinking back now its somewhat of a blur.
A quick run down of what is where and the gas appliances lit, the farmer sets off and we start taking in the ambiance of the Kouga Kliphuis.
Awesome little place this is! A true must for adventurous folk.
Unpacking our stuffs
The wife’s hands are in the air because of this:
A short afternoon siesta is on the cards as we plan to have a log fired evening with clear skies and red wine. But….something is not lekker with me…I cant sleep. I get up and decide to take a walk back on the road we came and take in some of the scenery. The last 300-400 meters is a real bitch of a road. But I made it down here….how does not matter, I made it! Feeling slightly concerned about the way up, I carefully take note of really sharp bedrock and large rocks. Don’t want to be getting any smileys on the GS front wheel.
Back at gound zero and we ease into a lovely evening, sharing mosty experiences of the road to the kliphuis.
Day 2:
Cold weather and a log fire inside the main bedroom makes for the perfect sleeping in occasion. No hurry as we have breakfast. As we start kitting up, that uneasy feeling is back. Its about the road out of here….Trying to ease the worries building up, I recall the farmers words from yesterday: “Die pad op is mos maar altyd maklikker as die pad af” Behind squinted eyes I remember his smile. “Laat hy val waar hy wil” I think to myself and put on my MX boots.
Now….the wife is a good pillion, but we wisely decide that she would be walking to the top as I take the GS up the hill to where we left the flooze in the veld.
Bring it on biatch I think to myself as I go through a small sandy patch sending sand high up into the air behind me. Easy on the throttle as I start ascending the “Biatch” I know the F 800 has a very sensitive throttle in 1st gear and I don’t want her to jump out underneath me. Out of the saddle and with mixed expectations I tackle the first section. Something is wrong here….I loose momentum and at exactly the same time the back wheel starts spinning. I know I should not open up to much, but to late for thinking as I am unable to bring the GS over the little rut purposely made for water run off, and it happens…..I come off….
Red Arrows: Anakeez loozing their grip…. (probably should have know this) :deal:
Blue lines: Total rolling distance +/- 15 meters. It was two full tumbles :imaposer:
Orange arrow: Rip out from a rock….and a broken ego :'(
Assessing the damage. Nothing serious. But thank heavens for crash bars and hand guards!
What felt like a much better looking roasty turned out a bit disappointingot:
Now to pick up this damn bike.
With help from the wife we just just manage to get the GS onto the side stand. But we cant position her to roll back down the road and the backwheel is dangerously close to the edge of the road and thick thorny bushes. One wrong move here and I could be without transport for the remainder of the trip.
GS = Geen Steiltes????ot: ot: ot:
Being involved with risk management, experience has taught me to stick with the less risky option. This option would be to get the farmer to come and load the GS onto his bakkie. I should have known better yesterday coming down here in the first place with probably the wrong tyres (Anakeez) :bueller:
We start the long walk up the hill. The circle indicates where we parked the GS, only about 100 steps up the biatch. The look says it all. Yes, I admit defeat :-[
We come across the Flooze almost exactly where we left her, but just now on her side. Lazy little Flooze I think she is??? No sir…the wind from last night blew her over.
Not in da mood for any foto’s, this is the only one which the wife took, and the video as I went looking for assistance.
Funny me on the back of the Flooze.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmwERQHAu8Y
To cut a long story short, we only managed to get help at around 13h30 before we could think about any routes to travel. Back in Kareedouw at around 14h30 we decide to rather not head of into no man’s land and just make a run for the liquor store and for some more braaivleis.
The day was not without its thrills. Yesterday we somehow missed this very important sign…..you need four wheels apparently
And four wheels we had to get. The farmer kindly offered for us to leave our bikes inside his garage and use his quad for the treacherous road up and down to die kliphuis.
Check out the video of the road down below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYcK5ltSCY4
The rest to follow tomorrow.
Me:
The GS:
The wife:
The Flooze :biggrin:
The wife and the Flooze :laughing4: :laughing4: :laughing4:
Day 1:
It’s been a bucket list item for some time and now we are finally going to do it. Many a beer later one evening and we decided that we will be doing a bike road trip together. The flooze would determine our pace as she needs time to rattle to a zippy 95km/h on straights. Having said that, we planned to limit total travel distance and stay well clear of the N2. This will pave the way for a relaxed trip of short distances, lots of stops and enough time to explore unknown roads and landmarks.
The route has not been cast in concrete and the idea is to travel to places were we have not been before. The rough direction will be towards Kareedouw where our accommodation is situated. I love the Langkloof area and have always been travelling through the area by cage. Many times have we stayed at Kouga Wilderness (Great place for those who have not tried it) but this time we though of going somewhere else. So the internet helped us find a stone house close to Karredouw situated on one of the bends of the Kouga river. The Kouga Kliphuis would be our base for the long weekend. It has no electricity and everything needed is powered by gas, the fridge, the two plate stove and off course the geyser. As long as the gas for the fridge doesn’t run out and the wetties stay cold we will be fine. But more about the accommodation later.
So after a short Wednesday (15th of June) at work we set of to buy our stuffs for our first ever bike road trip. Having a top box on each bike and soft panniers on the GS space is not going to be a problem….Sure
The shopping included the usual. Braaivleis, steak and wors, bread, more braaivleis and before we forget, some bacon pork sausages for breakfast. Oh and most important the booze. It will be cold so some OBS is not optional, but a must!The packing starts the nigh before –
I know it will be difficult to get sleep in before our journey starts, so to counter this a couple of toots of whiskey and we are already on the bikes, standing in the saddle….tearing up dirt and ripping out grass, tackling tight corners, power sliding and doing 50% of the trip all on the back wheel….this is what I dream about :drif: :imaposer: :imaposer: :imaposer:
The Thursday morning we say our good byes to all the four legged members of the family and off we go. First stop would be J-Bay for some brekkie.
Bikes packed and ready to roll
On the way to the garage for petrol a @#$% cage driver pulls one of those unexplained manoeuvres at the robot. Pulls away and stops dead 25 meters further. Hard on the brakes, out of shock, the Flooze loses her front wheel and leaves the wife on the tarmac. No time for foto’s as we have to get the flooze out of oncoming traffic. Luckily nothing and nobody is hurt and with a few general curses to the cage driver we stop at the garage for fuel.
We get onto the R 102 which takes us out of PE and into the countryside. The road is generally not busy, but gusty winds pull at the bikes and limits the speed of the flooze head on and especially at hills. After some 40 minutes we enter the Van Stadens Pass. A short pass, but with some nice twisties. At the old bridge we stop to take some photo’s.
I notice the wife is not her usual self, not even taking of her helmet, but after a short rest we head off again.
The road takes us over the Gamtoos river via the narrow bridge on way to Jeffreys Bay. This would be our breakfast stop. Just over the bridge and I look back to find the wife pulling over. What’s wrong? Chain snapped? Engine problems…this cant be good. Not sure what to expect, I turn back. Turns out that the mechanics are all honkey dorey….but it is the wife that is experiencing discomfort. With disgruntled speech at low tones I see we have a unhappy chappy. “Die wind maak my bang” “Wat moet ek doen” Engines off and tutoring time. Explaining that she should lean against the prevailing winds and try keep the handle bars straight and no sudden movements she starts her bike again and looks ahead. “Kom ons ry net reguit Kareedouw toe” “Ek het nie nou krag vir weer stop nie” “Wat as die wind erger raak” Knowing the Eastern Cape, this is highly likely.
In true trooper fashion the wife grabs the flooze by the ears and soldier on against the gusty cross winds. Luckily no big trucks from the oncoming way to aggravate winds pulling on the bike.
As we get onto the R 62 things go much better. The wind is now right into our faces and more predictable. Even good enough in order to take a few quick snappies in the ride.
The orange notice board of the Sweaty Dutchman lures us into the Bistro for pancakes to die for.
“Magies lekker vol”
Now to get to our accommodation we take the turnoff Suuranys almost exactly opposite Assegaaibosch. Very nice little mountain pass of only 11km and we arrive at the farmers house. Friendly greeting and small talk makes us feel right at home.
With the farmer jumping onto his quad we head off to our accommodation. We were assured we would be taking the easier route but this required passing through some gates on the way there. Twee spoor paadjies with some rocks and patches of mud…this is the easy road?? Farmer must have been concerned about something.
After the third gate the road conditions changes drastically. Big and small boulders on a downhill makes things very interesting with a heavy loaded GS.
Having much fun trying to stay upright, the flooze shoots passed me and I realise trouble is on its way. I shout at the wife to use the back brake instead of the front brake as I hear her shouting “Ek kan nie stop nie”
Jerking to a stand still at a opening the wife has reached her limits in terms of controlling the flooze and the farmer notices this with his trained eye. Before he suggests to leave the flooze there and pillion on the quad, the wife is off and top box loaded on the quad. Me by the way still going strong with a heavy loaded GS.
Then this happens :dousing:
It appears that the road drops almost vertically straight down. Furthermore, the roads turns something like the surface of mars, the worst I have encountered yet. It is a combination of very loose pebbles, some odd large rocks and to crown this its all perched on a steep inclines. But bravely we soldier on.
And it got worse
Somehow I managed to stay upright and make it all the way down. Exactly how…..I don’t know. Thinking back now its somewhat of a blur.
A quick run down of what is where and the gas appliances lit, the farmer sets off and we start taking in the ambiance of the Kouga Kliphuis.
Awesome little place this is! A true must for adventurous folk.
Unpacking our stuffs
The wife’s hands are in the air because of this:
A short afternoon siesta is on the cards as we plan to have a log fired evening with clear skies and red wine. But….something is not lekker with me…I cant sleep. I get up and decide to take a walk back on the road we came and take in some of the scenery. The last 300-400 meters is a real bitch of a road. But I made it down here….how does not matter, I made it! Feeling slightly concerned about the way up, I carefully take note of really sharp bedrock and large rocks. Don’t want to be getting any smileys on the GS front wheel.
Back at gound zero and we ease into a lovely evening, sharing mosty experiences of the road to the kliphuis.
Day 2:
Cold weather and a log fire inside the main bedroom makes for the perfect sleeping in occasion. No hurry as we have breakfast. As we start kitting up, that uneasy feeling is back. Its about the road out of here….Trying to ease the worries building up, I recall the farmers words from yesterday: “Die pad op is mos maar altyd maklikker as die pad af” Behind squinted eyes I remember his smile. “Laat hy val waar hy wil” I think to myself and put on my MX boots.
Now….the wife is a good pillion, but we wisely decide that she would be walking to the top as I take the GS up the hill to where we left the flooze in the veld.
Bring it on biatch I think to myself as I go through a small sandy patch sending sand high up into the air behind me. Easy on the throttle as I start ascending the “Biatch” I know the F 800 has a very sensitive throttle in 1st gear and I don’t want her to jump out underneath me. Out of the saddle and with mixed expectations I tackle the first section. Something is wrong here….I loose momentum and at exactly the same time the back wheel starts spinning. I know I should not open up to much, but to late for thinking as I am unable to bring the GS over the little rut purposely made for water run off, and it happens…..I come off….
Red Arrows: Anakeez loozing their grip…. (probably should have know this) :deal:
Blue lines: Total rolling distance +/- 15 meters. It was two full tumbles :imaposer:
Orange arrow: Rip out from a rock….and a broken ego :'(
Assessing the damage. Nothing serious. But thank heavens for crash bars and hand guards!
What felt like a much better looking roasty turned out a bit disappointing
ot:
Now to pick up this damn bike.
With help from the wife we just just manage to get the GS onto the side stand. But we cant position her to roll back down the road and the backwheel is dangerously close to the edge of the road and thick thorny bushes. One wrong move here and I could be without transport for the remainder of the trip.
GS = Geen Steiltes????
ot: ot: ot:
Being involved with risk management, experience has taught me to stick with the less risky option. This option would be to get the farmer to come and load the GS onto his bakkie. I should have known better yesterday coming down here in the first place with probably the wrong tyres (Anakeez) :bueller:
We start the long walk up the hill. The circle indicates where we parked the GS, only about 100 steps up the biatch. The look says it all. Yes, I admit defeat :-[
We come across the Flooze almost exactly where we left her, but just now on her side. Lazy little Flooze I think she is??? No sir…the wind from last night blew her over.
Not in da mood for any foto’s, this is the only one which the wife took, and the video as I went looking for assistance.
Funny me on the back of the Flooze.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmwERQHAu8Y
To cut a long story short, we only managed to get help at around 13h30 before we could think about any routes to travel. Back in Kareedouw at around 14h30 we decide to rather not head of into no man’s land and just make a run for the liquor store and for some more braaivleis.
The day was not without its thrills. Yesterday we somehow missed this very important sign…..you need four wheels apparently
And four wheels we had to get. The farmer kindly offered for us to leave our bikes inside his garage and use his quad for the treacherous road up and down to die kliphuis.
Check out the video of the road down below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYcK5ltSCY4
The rest to follow tomorrow.
