Seiko goes to the YE Bash...

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Adventurer

Gentleman Dog
Joined
Jan 24, 2006
Messages
17,108
Reaction score
4
Location
Kempen Germany
Bike
KTM 1290 Super Adventure
After my prang, and being told I would not ride for at least 6 months, I decided my next ride would be the Year End Bash, those in the medical field said I was crazy, including my physio, luckily I healed faster than they thought, my bike was back from repairs, Seiko was back on his handlebars, minus one eye this time,  I was packed and ready to go, solo, my normal riding buddy Rob had a crisis at work and could not make it, then, two days before departure I get a call from Sitvlak, ‘do I have tyre levers?’ he asks....’why, do you need some?’, ‘no, I am going with you to the Bash, and I can’t find mine’....cool, no more riding solo.
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Sitvlak is one of the guys we trained that went to Rwanda, and he was one of the first back at my accident scene, so, Thursday morning we met at Stonehaven and hit the road. The plan was to get to Upington, if we arrived early enough we carry on to Pofadder, arrival in Upington was at 2-30pm after temperatures of 41 C, so we headed towards Poffader.
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On arrival in Pofadder I said to Sitvlak over the Sena headset...’Uh, this place is kark, shall we carry on to Springbok?’ Haha, he thought I was joking, after 1050km he thought I still had a sense of humour, I was quite serious, ‘C’mon, it is only another 160km, we can be there before sunset’, it was now just before 5pm, Sitvlak agreed that Pofadder was no place to be, we refuelled and left, a GPS ETA of 6-40pm, sunset was 6-50, we would make it....well, we arrived in Springbok at 6-20, the GPS thought we would abide by the law....So, Sitvlak, who’s your ‘ol toppie’ now?

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I checked out the forum, Briv was bragging about the beers he had already enjoyed in Springbok, I contacted everyone I know that might know Briv, no luck, after sussing out a very expensive overnight accommodation and deciding against it, Sitvlak phoned the Springbok Lodge, and was told there are two bikes here already, a couple and a single, cool, as we rode up the road at the Lodge, guess who comes sauntering down the road, lovely wife in hand...Briv...SCHWEEET!! We booked in, parked our bikes and hit the restaurant/pub, 1200km behind us, I reckon I'm ok to ride again... and only two pictures, we had kilo’s to kill that day, photography was for another day. Sitvlak battled to find a seat comfortable enough, anyone that has done 1200km on a standard BMW 800GS saddle will understand, we kuiered until late, the staff kindly informed us that we were still there long past their closing time...

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Friday morning, after repairing a kinked fuel pipe, we did the short stint of 107km to Vioolsdrift, arriving around 10 am, the venue was Bushwacked Outdoor Adventures, a pozzie of note, we found a good spot and pitched camp, unfortunately we had to wait until midday for the bar to open, it was pretty hot. The rest of the day was taken up with renewing old friendships and making new ones as Wilddogs arrived, there were quite a lot from Cape Town that I knew, and a great deal that I knew from the forum, but could now meet in real life. We all kuiered until late, for me this is what the Year End Bash is about, I have the rest of the year to ride, but only one weekend to kuier with Wilddogs from around the country.

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3rd last sentence on the right side .....haha, fark you too.... :biggrin:
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Saturday, after a lukewarm shower, with the Orange River in full view, I settled down for another day of serious kuiering, quite a few people headed off in various directions, and various destinations for the day, each to their own, the event has no rules. Today was too short, there were so many people I wanted to chat to, not enough time for all, maybe next year....

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Not me for a change
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Illegal immigrants
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Bushwackers has two crazy dogs, a Labrador that escapes across the river to Namibia occasionally, and a Staffie that just yearns to go as well, but has the sense not to, I’m sure he knows he cannot swim as well as the Lab... As the sun set the prize giving got under way, lucky draw, some were luckier than others , Sunday was going to be another long day, so a reasonable bedtime was required.
Sitvlak had to get going early, he had to work on Monday morning, boet, you need to learn how to tell your boss to fark off......Respect though, he slabbed it back to JHB, 1300km, on a BMW 800 GS standard saddle nogal....I rode back with Tonteldoos, a good riding partner, he rides like I do on a trip of this type, stop for fuel and munchies, nothing else,  at least on this trip....We arrived in Vryburg around 4-30, Frog, who had just been to Verneukpan and had rear tube hassles, I had a spare, after booking into the International Hotel we sorted his wheel out, and parked off, 900km under the belt, a good day in the saddle. Li and Jules arrived, thereafter Tweets and Laurika, everyone was pretty bushed, so we had an early night, a reasonably short night of kuiering over dinner.
Monday morning, as most of JHB headed to work, we left Vryburg in a leisurely manner, met up with Tweets and Laurika in Delaryville for breakfast, then did the last 300 odd km home, I popped in to say howzit to the wife at work on the way home, then just took the rest of the day off. Another Year End Bash behind me, I was just happy to be able to do it, slabbing it this time, still getting my confidence back, but pretty chuffed with the knowledge that I could ride distance again. What do doctors know after all?......
I big UP to the organizers of this Bash, it was flawless, the venue was great, the area was a major teaser, just a swim away from Namibia, the food was plenty, although I’m sure a vegetarian would have been pretty hungry, the weather was great, sunshine all the way,the people were great, it was so lekker to put faces to the persona behind the keyboard,  and needless to say, it was just lekker to do 2600km on the Katoom again......ROLL ON THE 2012 YE BASH!!!!!!!

This is Seiko, my 'watch'dog..... :biggrin:
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