Red Adventure
Race Dog
Every year the Christian Motorcycle Association of Cape Town and Garden Route hold a motorcycle rally in the otherwise quiet town of Stillbaai. Ever year guys that love the back roads ride various routes to the rally trying every year to do a different route as there are just so many back roads out that way.
As many of the roads are so far from Cape Town one needs to base yourself out there to then get the best of the area and that’s what makes the Freedom Road Rally ideal for Adventure biking. There is place to stay, things to see, good food prepared at the rally and awesome roads to ride there the Friday, around there the Saturday and back home the Sunday.
Let me start this ride report with an apology in that the week before the ride, I tried to order a HD Drift Helmet Cam on the internet as I don’t stop enough to take pictures. After I got bombed out while trying to register for payment I decided that maybe the special price wasn’t to be for me and just as well I did because the next day I ended up buying a new cylinder head for my car.
So the pictures here (cause I know there must be pictures) are a combination of pictures from Bruce and shamelessly stolen from previous rides I did or from the internet.
Day 1
I left Durbanville at 8.30 Friday morning and headed straight for Franschoek Pass, on the pass I stopped to put on something warmer as southeaster made the weather overcast and rather cool although there was no threat of rain ahead.
I remained on tar till just after the short pass on the other side of Villiersdorp where I turned off the R43 onto a gravel road heading for Robertson. As this would be the first gravel for the day I stopped to adjust tyre pressure and choose appropriate music for the road ahead.
The gravel road started off great with a good compact surface, but unlike on weekend there was a bit of traffic on the road. Usually when approaching a blind corner or rise.
Then the first obstacle for the day came in the form of a section of road where loose gravel had been spread out over a long section of road, but hadn’t been graded off yet.
This is by far not the best surface for an 1150GS to be ridden on although I did get through without incident. Then almost immediately the next obstacle was in the form of a truck loaded with grapes crawling along just fast enough to create a huge cloud of dust from the newly graded section of road.
By this time I had the hand of the road surface under the bike so I made sure there was nowhere for the truck to turn right and shot through the dust cloud and past the truck.
As I past the turn to the low water bridge over the Breede River I was tempted to cross over and enter Robertson from the Worcester side as I hadn’t been able to cross it on previous rides, but I had arranged to meet Brett at the McGregor side of town and didn’t want to cause any confusion.
The gravel passed Amathunzi Reserve was also in great conditions and the compact surface could be ridden hard through the sweeping bends.
All too soon I was back on the tar heading into Robertson where I met Brett on a XT600 which meant that speed was something of the past which wasn’t a bad thing as the scenery had just so much to offer.
As we left Robertson for McGregor at about 3km from the bridge we turned right onto a gravel road that took us all the way around the back of the koppie next to McGregor passing the Lords Manor Guest Farm, a really great alternative to the otherwise tar road into town.
McGregor didn’t have much to offer us as we didn’t need fuel or something to eat, so we passed right through the centre of town and out what felt like the back door as we weaved through some small farms and crossed a river before we got back on the main gravel road headed for the R317 to Stormsvlei. Although we took the first left and headed for the Breede River near Bonnivale.
Just before Bonnivale we turned down stream to cross the Breede at the low water crossing just further on from Otters Bend, then back on gravel to Swellendam.
In Swellendam we stopped for some fuel and a bite to eat before ridding tar till just past the Suurbraak, Tradouws Pass intersection of the R322. Ahead of us lay truly the best gravel roads of the whole trip up. Further on we turned left off the R322 towards Grootvadersbos and then dropped down to cross the Bloukranskloof River just before the farm Goede Hope.
By this time we had ridden some incredable hills, but were constantly climbing along the mountains behind Heidelberg. We made a very tight left turn and started a long rather steep climb up to huge radio mast painted like one would paint a light house. The road surface was very good so momentum could be kept all the way.
Here we had to stop for a while to really appreciate the scenery with the Duiwenhoks Dams to the northwest and Heidelberg in the south almost visible if only it wasn’t overcast.
After taking in as much beauty as we could we carried on along the mountains edge before dropping down to a river crossing again. This crossing had recently seen a lot of water but had been repaired like most of the crossing we would come across that weekend. (Thank goodness we live in the Western Cape where our frustrations are that of roadworks and not road decay) The farms along this route were full of cattle and green fields. What was also great to see was that large areas of Pine forests had been cut away and the Fynbos has been encouraged to grow back.
We chose the roads as higher up in the mountains as possible till we dropped down to meet the R323 just below Garcia Pass and took the shortest route through Riversdale which got us back on the gravel towards Jongensfontein. About halfway to Jongensfontein we turned left to find the winding road running along the west side of the Goukou River. (What is the history behind the name of this river)?
It was really a great day for ridding except for that the closer we got the ocean the stronger and cold the wind became, but a great day’s ride none the less.
To really spoil such an awesome day I had to find out that the accommodation I had booked right outside the rally site had been given to some else. The person responsible for this “mix-up” is Mr Peiter Drotske’.
I called him the end of January to confirm the booking, as he wanted no deposit I reconfirmed that all was in order and that he had my contact details should there be any problem. But on the day when my wife, daughter and daughter’s friend arrived after having just driven through from Cape Town we went over to the guest house and immediately realized something was wrong as there were already people in the house. When I called Mr Drotske’ to find out what was going on he simply apologized for the “mix-up” say further that he had no other accommodation available. I explained that I was now in his town with my family and no place to stay, not even any bedding. I then asked him where his office was and if I could come and see him so that we could find some sort of solution to my unpleasant situation, to which he simply replied “I work from home and there no point in you coming here as there is nothing further I can do to help you, I’m sorry”.
Realizing that I was just wasting airtime with him I call the Stillbaai Tourism office where they assisted me with three telephone numbers to try for accommodation.
Karen from the Bellevue Resort called me back and offered us a room with four beds. She really went out of her way to make our stay as comfortable as possible too.
Karen if you should read this, you are a real gem, thank you once more.
Later I met ChrisL and we arranged what time and where we would meet for Saturday’s ride. (Thank goodness I didn’t dust off his dash nor clean his mirrors while we chatted)
From there I went back to the rally site and amongst the on going activities, walked around encouraging all the guys with duel purpose bikes to come join us on Saturday’s ride.
Day 2
Saturday morning at the bridge we were four guys, ChrisL on his 1200GS who would lead the ride, Bruce on a KTM 990Adv, Georg on a Trans Alp and my self on my 1150GS as sweeper. (Sorry guys I didn’t note down your forum names)
Then just as we were about to get going Olaf arrived, on a very clean Varadero wearing his Lee Riders colours. I must admit that at first I was a bit nervous as I wasn’t too sure if he was there to ride with us or to come cause a stir amongst us. I asked him if he had any off-road experience, to which he replied that he’d been up Swartberg Pass and to Die Hel. We all figured that the roads ChrisL had install for us could’nt be much worse than that, so off we rode up the western side of the river again, a road really worth ridding a few times.
What I had neglected to ask Olaf was on what bike he rode Swartberg Pass because as it later turned out, it was on a KLR and this was his first off-road ride on the Varadero.
After the first few gravel corners I realized that today Olaf was in for a crash course on off-road ridding.
Not far from town ChrisL took us on roads that didn’t even show on my version of Track4Africa leaving us at his mercy to get us to Riverdale and not lost in a web of gravel roads. As we moved away from the coast the weather closed in and it started to rain so after a while we stopped to put on some waterproofs, I took this opportunity to also adjust Olaf’s tyre pressures. Just as well because there in the rain the technical stuff started with a steep climb on a loose surface and a bend in the climb, I was so relieved not to find a Varadero lying on it’s side as I crested the climb.
Between the rain falling and all the turns we made I had actually very little idea where we were ridding, but I knew that it was roads worth coming back to ride in better weather on another day. As we joined the N2 headed west for Riversdale the rain stopped so we had some Wimpy coffee while chatting and getting to know each other. We also congratulated Olaf on how fast he had learnt and applied the few pointers shared with him that morning.
From there we rode through the town of Riversdale towards Garcia and turned right onto the gravel just before Garcia Pass and stayed just south of the Langeberge till we entered Albertinia from a southeastern direction. ChrisL would be the one to give more description of what roads we took but I think he’d far rather show them to you. Georg was tight on ChrisL’s heals all day and Bruce was happy to swop out positions with Olaf all day while I rode sweeper.
Rain had started again before Albertinia but we pushed on till we stopped at the Engen garage next to the N2. Here amongst other things ChrisL told us about their famous Roosterkoek. I had to try one and all I will add is that I definitely won’t be passing Albertina again without stopping for a Roosterkoek, each time with a different filling.
After a good rest of the bum ChrisL took us along some more gravel to his farm along the Goukou River (again, please tell me where this name comes from). There Amanda came out to meet us while ChrisL showed Olaf what a duel purpose tyre should look like. And before we could invited ourselves in for a rest ChrisL lead us back to Stillbaai where we all went on with our rally activities.
I know that evening there were a lot of envious duel bike riders when the got to hear about the awesome ride we all had.
Day 3
Sunday it was all tar for me via Garcia Pass, Barrydale, Montagu and Rawsonville to home.
I got home two hours after my wife and as I walked in the door she asked me if I had now done enough ridding for a while.
My answer to her was, “for this weekend, yes definitely.”
ChrisL thank you one last time for your time, stories and hospitality. It was an inspiration to ride with you now knowing what you have been through.
And to Bruce, Georg and Olaf, let’s do this again next year…
www.dustriders.co.za
As many of the roads are so far from Cape Town one needs to base yourself out there to then get the best of the area and that’s what makes the Freedom Road Rally ideal for Adventure biking. There is place to stay, things to see, good food prepared at the rally and awesome roads to ride there the Friday, around there the Saturday and back home the Sunday.
Let me start this ride report with an apology in that the week before the ride, I tried to order a HD Drift Helmet Cam on the internet as I don’t stop enough to take pictures. After I got bombed out while trying to register for payment I decided that maybe the special price wasn’t to be for me and just as well I did because the next day I ended up buying a new cylinder head for my car.
So the pictures here (cause I know there must be pictures) are a combination of pictures from Bruce and shamelessly stolen from previous rides I did or from the internet.
Day 1
I left Durbanville at 8.30 Friday morning and headed straight for Franschoek Pass, on the pass I stopped to put on something warmer as southeaster made the weather overcast and rather cool although there was no threat of rain ahead.
I remained on tar till just after the short pass on the other side of Villiersdorp where I turned off the R43 onto a gravel road heading for Robertson. As this would be the first gravel for the day I stopped to adjust tyre pressure and choose appropriate music for the road ahead.
The gravel road started off great with a good compact surface, but unlike on weekend there was a bit of traffic on the road. Usually when approaching a blind corner or rise.
Then the first obstacle for the day came in the form of a section of road where loose gravel had been spread out over a long section of road, but hadn’t been graded off yet.
This is by far not the best surface for an 1150GS to be ridden on although I did get through without incident. Then almost immediately the next obstacle was in the form of a truck loaded with grapes crawling along just fast enough to create a huge cloud of dust from the newly graded section of road.
By this time I had the hand of the road surface under the bike so I made sure there was nowhere for the truck to turn right and shot through the dust cloud and past the truck.
As I past the turn to the low water bridge over the Breede River I was tempted to cross over and enter Robertson from the Worcester side as I hadn’t been able to cross it on previous rides, but I had arranged to meet Brett at the McGregor side of town and didn’t want to cause any confusion.
The gravel passed Amathunzi Reserve was also in great conditions and the compact surface could be ridden hard through the sweeping bends.
All too soon I was back on the tar heading into Robertson where I met Brett on a XT600 which meant that speed was something of the past which wasn’t a bad thing as the scenery had just so much to offer.
As we left Robertson for McGregor at about 3km from the bridge we turned right onto a gravel road that took us all the way around the back of the koppie next to McGregor passing the Lords Manor Guest Farm, a really great alternative to the otherwise tar road into town.
McGregor didn’t have much to offer us as we didn’t need fuel or something to eat, so we passed right through the centre of town and out what felt like the back door as we weaved through some small farms and crossed a river before we got back on the main gravel road headed for the R317 to Stormsvlei. Although we took the first left and headed for the Breede River near Bonnivale.
Just before Bonnivale we turned down stream to cross the Breede at the low water crossing just further on from Otters Bend, then back on gravel to Swellendam.
In Swellendam we stopped for some fuel and a bite to eat before ridding tar till just past the Suurbraak, Tradouws Pass intersection of the R322. Ahead of us lay truly the best gravel roads of the whole trip up. Further on we turned left off the R322 towards Grootvadersbos and then dropped down to cross the Bloukranskloof River just before the farm Goede Hope.
By this time we had ridden some incredable hills, but were constantly climbing along the mountains behind Heidelberg. We made a very tight left turn and started a long rather steep climb up to huge radio mast painted like one would paint a light house. The road surface was very good so momentum could be kept all the way.
Here we had to stop for a while to really appreciate the scenery with the Duiwenhoks Dams to the northwest and Heidelberg in the south almost visible if only it wasn’t overcast.
After taking in as much beauty as we could we carried on along the mountains edge before dropping down to a river crossing again. This crossing had recently seen a lot of water but had been repaired like most of the crossing we would come across that weekend. (Thank goodness we live in the Western Cape where our frustrations are that of roadworks and not road decay) The farms along this route were full of cattle and green fields. What was also great to see was that large areas of Pine forests had been cut away and the Fynbos has been encouraged to grow back.
We chose the roads as higher up in the mountains as possible till we dropped down to meet the R323 just below Garcia Pass and took the shortest route through Riversdale which got us back on the gravel towards Jongensfontein. About halfway to Jongensfontein we turned left to find the winding road running along the west side of the Goukou River. (What is the history behind the name of this river)?
It was really a great day for ridding except for that the closer we got the ocean the stronger and cold the wind became, but a great day’s ride none the less.
To really spoil such an awesome day I had to find out that the accommodation I had booked right outside the rally site had been given to some else. The person responsible for this “mix-up” is Mr Peiter Drotske’.
I called him the end of January to confirm the booking, as he wanted no deposit I reconfirmed that all was in order and that he had my contact details should there be any problem. But on the day when my wife, daughter and daughter’s friend arrived after having just driven through from Cape Town we went over to the guest house and immediately realized something was wrong as there were already people in the house. When I called Mr Drotske’ to find out what was going on he simply apologized for the “mix-up” say further that he had no other accommodation available. I explained that I was now in his town with my family and no place to stay, not even any bedding. I then asked him where his office was and if I could come and see him so that we could find some sort of solution to my unpleasant situation, to which he simply replied “I work from home and there no point in you coming here as there is nothing further I can do to help you, I’m sorry”.
Realizing that I was just wasting airtime with him I call the Stillbaai Tourism office where they assisted me with three telephone numbers to try for accommodation.
Karen from the Bellevue Resort called me back and offered us a room with four beds. She really went out of her way to make our stay as comfortable as possible too.
Karen if you should read this, you are a real gem, thank you once more.
Later I met ChrisL and we arranged what time and where we would meet for Saturday’s ride. (Thank goodness I didn’t dust off his dash nor clean his mirrors while we chatted)
From there I went back to the rally site and amongst the on going activities, walked around encouraging all the guys with duel purpose bikes to come join us on Saturday’s ride.
Day 2
Saturday morning at the bridge we were four guys, ChrisL on his 1200GS who would lead the ride, Bruce on a KTM 990Adv, Georg on a Trans Alp and my self on my 1150GS as sweeper. (Sorry guys I didn’t note down your forum names)
Then just as we were about to get going Olaf arrived, on a very clean Varadero wearing his Lee Riders colours. I must admit that at first I was a bit nervous as I wasn’t too sure if he was there to ride with us or to come cause a stir amongst us. I asked him if he had any off-road experience, to which he replied that he’d been up Swartberg Pass and to Die Hel. We all figured that the roads ChrisL had install for us could’nt be much worse than that, so off we rode up the western side of the river again, a road really worth ridding a few times.
What I had neglected to ask Olaf was on what bike he rode Swartberg Pass because as it later turned out, it was on a KLR and this was his first off-road ride on the Varadero.
After the first few gravel corners I realized that today Olaf was in for a crash course on off-road ridding.
Not far from town ChrisL took us on roads that didn’t even show on my version of Track4Africa leaving us at his mercy to get us to Riverdale and not lost in a web of gravel roads. As we moved away from the coast the weather closed in and it started to rain so after a while we stopped to put on some waterproofs, I took this opportunity to also adjust Olaf’s tyre pressures. Just as well because there in the rain the technical stuff started with a steep climb on a loose surface and a bend in the climb, I was so relieved not to find a Varadero lying on it’s side as I crested the climb.
Between the rain falling and all the turns we made I had actually very little idea where we were ridding, but I knew that it was roads worth coming back to ride in better weather on another day. As we joined the N2 headed west for Riversdale the rain stopped so we had some Wimpy coffee while chatting and getting to know each other. We also congratulated Olaf on how fast he had learnt and applied the few pointers shared with him that morning.
From there we rode through the town of Riversdale towards Garcia and turned right onto the gravel just before Garcia Pass and stayed just south of the Langeberge till we entered Albertinia from a southeastern direction. ChrisL would be the one to give more description of what roads we took but I think he’d far rather show them to you. Georg was tight on ChrisL’s heals all day and Bruce was happy to swop out positions with Olaf all day while I rode sweeper.
Rain had started again before Albertinia but we pushed on till we stopped at the Engen garage next to the N2. Here amongst other things ChrisL told us about their famous Roosterkoek. I had to try one and all I will add is that I definitely won’t be passing Albertina again without stopping for a Roosterkoek, each time with a different filling.
After a good rest of the bum ChrisL took us along some more gravel to his farm along the Goukou River (again, please tell me where this name comes from). There Amanda came out to meet us while ChrisL showed Olaf what a duel purpose tyre should look like. And before we could invited ourselves in for a rest ChrisL lead us back to Stillbaai where we all went on with our rally activities.
I know that evening there were a lot of envious duel bike riders when the got to hear about the awesome ride we all had.
Day 3
Sunday it was all tar for me via Garcia Pass, Barrydale, Montagu and Rawsonville to home.
I got home two hours after my wife and as I walked in the door she asked me if I had now done enough ridding for a while.
My answer to her was, “for this weekend, yes definitely.”
ChrisL thank you one last time for your time, stories and hospitality. It was an inspiration to ride with you now knowing what you have been through.
And to Bruce, Georg and Olaf, let’s do this again next year…
www.dustriders.co.za
