kalahariben
Pack Dog
Hi all!
...I wasn't sure in which section of the forum to post this, but here goes...
The much anticipated Parys De Aar Adventure Rally is happening again this year (in fact this weekend...) - 28 intrepid adventurers (2 4x4 vehicles and 24 motorcycles) are set to follow the meander of the Vaal- and Orange rivers over the span of 4 days (thus approx. 400km per day), each participant having to navigate his / her way to De Aar in the Northern Cape.
To kick off the social aspect of this expedtion, Bavarian East Motorcycles hosted a pre-trip 'kuier', and also ensured that each rider was kitted out with a stunning fleece top, oils (sponsored by Elf), Life Cap, stickers, etc. etc. ect.
In follow-through, the 'kuier' will continue tomorrow (quick coffee at Bavarian East, the lunch in Parys, then dinner at the campsite) - hopefully all will then be in high enough spirits to tackle the 1200km of gravel to De Aar...
So, to say thanks to the sponsors that have made this expedition possible, I'd like to extend a huge word of thanks to the following people / organisations:
- Bavarian East Motorcycles
- Jeep South Africa
- Ryder Motorrad
- ADVmoto Motorcycle Accessories
- Elf Oil
Please please please support these guys by buying a BMW motorcycle, a Jeep, some accessories for the bike and of course oil to ensure that both the bike and Jeep keep running smoothly!
Anyway - I'll ensure that a write up it posted on the forum afterwards... here's also the last year's event - apologies for the long post / information overload:
____________________________________________________________________________
…I took the liberty to facilitate an adventure: since the 2008 Euromilhoes Dakar Rally was cancelled, I figured that there must be a couple of intrepid adventurers out there that would be willing to take up the challenge to embark on a route that no dualsport motorcyclist has ever done, and to be the first to follow the course of the Vaal- and Orange rivers from Parys (Orange Free State) to DeAar (Northern Cape).
Hence the Parys DeAar Adventure Rally.
18 people (including myself) set sail from Parys on 26 April, eager to explore the 1200 kilometres of undiscovered (hopefully) gravel roads, starting just outside Parys. Little did we know that a true adventure was about to unfold…
But first some background: the concept of riding from Parys to DeAar was formulated over a number of glasses of red wine (Beyerskloof Pinotage if I recall…). The conversation started off with myself and Pieter (my hooligan HP2-riding partner-in-crime) discussing a trip from Parys to D’Kar in Botswana – picking up the ‘stompies’ from the conversation, my beautiful / gorgeous / spectacular wife (…hope she’s going to read this article), piped up, suggesting that we rather ride from Parys to DeAar – then it’s ‘mos lekker local’.
Once mentioned, of course the gears in my head started clicking over… later on, the thought processes had to be kicked over into action, i.e. an actual plan with an actual date and an actual route. “Lekker”, I thought – “…let me fiddle a bit with Garmin’s Mapsource to see whether we can actually get from Parys to DeAar on gravel roads.
Only then did the concept to transverse the course of the Vaal- and Orange rivers start taking shape – and a couple of attempts (slaving over my dimly lit laptop after the bambino went to sleep, and sneaking some Mapsource time during work hours), the route was pinned down.
But what next? Eish… Fortunately Pieter had the clarity of vision to make me see that the event indeed had to happen, and that all the bits and pieces as previously mentioned (e.g. date, girls in white bikinis holding little white umbrellas to protect our bald spots at the starting line etc.) had to be committed to. And so the date was set for 25 – 29 April (we reckoned that this would the perfect time slot, allowing adequate time for all wives, girlfriends etc. to cool down enough to still allow participants to also attend the GS-Challenge…).
Things happened pretty quickly from there: back-up vehicle? (Jeep SA to the rescue!). Super-cool T-shirts and jackets with a striking logo? (Ryder Motorrad to the rescue!).
And so we hit the road. Day 1 started off a bit more slowly than originally planned – considering the fact that we had so much posing to do (yep – there was a real cool wooden ramp-thing that we parked our bikes on, and that we of course had to stand on to eternalise the Parys DeAar Adventure Rally participants in some photo moments). Result was that we only departed from Parys at around 9am, not exactly leaving ample time for the 420kms that lay ahead…
Adhering to the fact that the route was completely unknown, and considering the fact that no adventure motorcyclist has ever done the planned route (eish – sounds pretty hard-core and adventurous, eh?), day 1 was quite a challenge: apart from the time restraint, the route required pretty hard riding (…at one stage I noticed a couple of big, fully laden Beemers trailing in my dust, zig-zagging through the thick sand at an alarming rate).
To make matter worse, we also had an incident where a demented farmer pointed a gun at some of the participants trying to help a little boy that crossed paths with one of the motorcycles (* see photo below of Shaun taking his bike back to the farm – PS don’t worry - nobody got hurt). Fortunately JJ’s crazy hybrid 1150 / 1100 / R80 GS is covered in camo paint, so the farmer completely omitted him from his radar.
…and if that was not enough, we also had our first big fall: poor Mooi Stefan (yep – there were 2 Stefans – the other one = Rooi Stefan) took a pretty serious tumble in the thick sand, and broke both his collar bone as well as some crucial BMW components on his bike. Fortunately, however, Richard from Jeep SA was there in a flash to save the day – before you could say “eish maar daai sand is dik”, Mooi Stefan was loaded in the Jeep, and his bike was trailing behind, full steam ahead to the Klersdorp casualties department.
Fortunately, all was swiftly taken care of by Richard and Roger (Ryder Motorrad), allowing for all to make it to Christiana in good time to discuss the day’s events over a dop & a tjop.
Recounting the experiences of the day, it became evident that all the other riders made it from Parys to Christiana more or less unscathed – the only incidents being some lost luggage (yep – next time I’ll definitely put much less trust in those tie-down straps…) – unlike my own tent being picked up by Jacques (my good pal that trekked all the way from Cape Town to partake in the adventure), poor Sam (the other intrepid Cape Townian) sacrificed his tent to Orange Freestate countryside. Eish – the remarks he then had to endure having to bunk with Jacques (..although I’m pretty sure that neither Jacques nor Sam worried too much about the plummeting temperatures that evening…).
The next day (day2) held much of the same in store: unknown routes (and by default also unknown road surfaces) as well as navigation: eventually the fact that some of the GPS waypoints were dodgy started sinking in with our group of adventurers (…here I must just add that a large number of the waypoints were pinned down in Mapsource as guestimates, usually quite late at night as previously mentioned, and often based on telephonic directions received from helpful residents). Fortunately, however, fate had a way of bringing all participants together each time…
Most efforts have corresponding rewards, and true to this generic rule of nature, our evening in Hopetown proved to be thoroughly enjoyable: our hosts (Lieb and Ella from Thomas’ Guest Farm) went out of their way to make our stay as comfortable as humanly possible. Not only did they ensure that our bellies were filled with the best homemade fare imaginable, but also shared their intimate knowledge of the region’s history.
Tackling the last stage of the Parys De Aar Adventure Rally, the 14 remaining motorcycles and Jeep Commander set off from our Hopetown HQ, pointing all things that can point in the direction of De Aar.
But as befits all journeys of this nature, we had to pass through and experience some of the culturally rich hubs of the area: since Orania was one of our fuelling points, we of course had to explore some photo opportunities in this rather infamous ‘dorpie’.
Apart from the local bakery, the whole group convened at the koeksister monument to see for themselves what the whole hype was about. Expecting a mammoth structure of imposing dimension, I was duly disappointed when the monument ended up being a 2m high self-made structure comprising of 3 woven concrete slivers. Eish!
But hey – I must take my hat (eh – helmet?) off at the Orania crowd for applying the initiative to put place a symbol of such cultural uniqueness. And to prove this point, it is also pertinent to note that they invented an use their own currency – the Ora – I for instance got a 20 Ora note as change when I purchased a spectacularly delicious packet of chocolate biscuits from said bakery (sporting Trompie on the front, and a sponsored advertisement for the ‘Ora Vleismark’ on the back of this glorified coupon). Interesting stop-over indeed my dear Watson.
Apart from our eventful stop-over in the buzzing metropolis of Orania, the rest of our day also included numerous river-crossings (including an absolutely stunning old steel bridge) and a short stop at the Vanderkloof dam.
After a day of probably the best motorcycle riding that I have ever experienced in my life, the whole group ended up in the ‘bar op De Aar’, where we of course had to celebrate having reached the end destination (I somehow remember multi-coloured trays of shooters being part of this experience…).
That evening our adventure was concluded on the Brandfontein Guest Farm, from where all participants were to leave for home the next day. Again (true to platteland hospitality), we were treated with way-too-large homemade meals – this however ensured that all slept well, and were able to take on the long road to Pretoria, Cape Town, Dullstroom etc. with adequate gusto the following morning.
So hey - a huge thanks to all the participants for being brave enough to take on an adventure of this nature! – but thanks in particular to Jeep SA (specifically Richard Sloman) and Roger Kane-Berman (Ryder Motorrad - Durban) for your unadulterated support.
Keep your eyes open for next year’s event!
Some interesting Parys De Aar Adventure Rally (2008) info:
Accommodation:
Berakah (Parys) - www.berakah.co.za
Nkolo Spa (Christiana) - www.nkolospa.co.za
Thomas’ Guest Farm (Hopetown) - www.wheretostay.co.za/thomassguestfarm
Brandfontein Guest Farm (DeAar) - https://travel.iafrica.com/php-bin/travel/Accom_Details.php?ES_id=1765
Distances:
Approx. total distance: 1018km
Distance – day 1: 428km
Distance – day 2: 375km
Distance – day 3: 215km
...I wasn't sure in which section of the forum to post this, but here goes...
The much anticipated Parys De Aar Adventure Rally is happening again this year (in fact this weekend...) - 28 intrepid adventurers (2 4x4 vehicles and 24 motorcycles) are set to follow the meander of the Vaal- and Orange rivers over the span of 4 days (thus approx. 400km per day), each participant having to navigate his / her way to De Aar in the Northern Cape.
To kick off the social aspect of this expedtion, Bavarian East Motorcycles hosted a pre-trip 'kuier', and also ensured that each rider was kitted out with a stunning fleece top, oils (sponsored by Elf), Life Cap, stickers, etc. etc. ect.
In follow-through, the 'kuier' will continue tomorrow (quick coffee at Bavarian East, the lunch in Parys, then dinner at the campsite) - hopefully all will then be in high enough spirits to tackle the 1200km of gravel to De Aar...
So, to say thanks to the sponsors that have made this expedition possible, I'd like to extend a huge word of thanks to the following people / organisations:
- Bavarian East Motorcycles
- Jeep South Africa
- Ryder Motorrad
- ADVmoto Motorcycle Accessories
- Elf Oil
Please please please support these guys by buying a BMW motorcycle, a Jeep, some accessories for the bike and of course oil to ensure that both the bike and Jeep keep running smoothly!
Anyway - I'll ensure that a write up it posted on the forum afterwards... here's also the last year's event - apologies for the long post / information overload:
____________________________________________________________________________
…I took the liberty to facilitate an adventure: since the 2008 Euromilhoes Dakar Rally was cancelled, I figured that there must be a couple of intrepid adventurers out there that would be willing to take up the challenge to embark on a route that no dualsport motorcyclist has ever done, and to be the first to follow the course of the Vaal- and Orange rivers from Parys (Orange Free State) to DeAar (Northern Cape).
Hence the Parys DeAar Adventure Rally.
18 people (including myself) set sail from Parys on 26 April, eager to explore the 1200 kilometres of undiscovered (hopefully) gravel roads, starting just outside Parys. Little did we know that a true adventure was about to unfold…
But first some background: the concept of riding from Parys to DeAar was formulated over a number of glasses of red wine (Beyerskloof Pinotage if I recall…). The conversation started off with myself and Pieter (my hooligan HP2-riding partner-in-crime) discussing a trip from Parys to D’Kar in Botswana – picking up the ‘stompies’ from the conversation, my beautiful / gorgeous / spectacular wife (…hope she’s going to read this article), piped up, suggesting that we rather ride from Parys to DeAar – then it’s ‘mos lekker local’.
Once mentioned, of course the gears in my head started clicking over… later on, the thought processes had to be kicked over into action, i.e. an actual plan with an actual date and an actual route. “Lekker”, I thought – “…let me fiddle a bit with Garmin’s Mapsource to see whether we can actually get from Parys to DeAar on gravel roads.
Only then did the concept to transverse the course of the Vaal- and Orange rivers start taking shape – and a couple of attempts (slaving over my dimly lit laptop after the bambino went to sleep, and sneaking some Mapsource time during work hours), the route was pinned down.
But what next? Eish… Fortunately Pieter had the clarity of vision to make me see that the event indeed had to happen, and that all the bits and pieces as previously mentioned (e.g. date, girls in white bikinis holding little white umbrellas to protect our bald spots at the starting line etc.) had to be committed to. And so the date was set for 25 – 29 April (we reckoned that this would the perfect time slot, allowing adequate time for all wives, girlfriends etc. to cool down enough to still allow participants to also attend the GS-Challenge…).
Things happened pretty quickly from there: back-up vehicle? (Jeep SA to the rescue!). Super-cool T-shirts and jackets with a striking logo? (Ryder Motorrad to the rescue!).
And so we hit the road. Day 1 started off a bit more slowly than originally planned – considering the fact that we had so much posing to do (yep – there was a real cool wooden ramp-thing that we parked our bikes on, and that we of course had to stand on to eternalise the Parys DeAar Adventure Rally participants in some photo moments). Result was that we only departed from Parys at around 9am, not exactly leaving ample time for the 420kms that lay ahead…
Adhering to the fact that the route was completely unknown, and considering the fact that no adventure motorcyclist has ever done the planned route (eish – sounds pretty hard-core and adventurous, eh?), day 1 was quite a challenge: apart from the time restraint, the route required pretty hard riding (…at one stage I noticed a couple of big, fully laden Beemers trailing in my dust, zig-zagging through the thick sand at an alarming rate).
To make matter worse, we also had an incident where a demented farmer pointed a gun at some of the participants trying to help a little boy that crossed paths with one of the motorcycles (* see photo below of Shaun taking his bike back to the farm – PS don’t worry - nobody got hurt). Fortunately JJ’s crazy hybrid 1150 / 1100 / R80 GS is covered in camo paint, so the farmer completely omitted him from his radar.
…and if that was not enough, we also had our first big fall: poor Mooi Stefan (yep – there were 2 Stefans – the other one = Rooi Stefan) took a pretty serious tumble in the thick sand, and broke both his collar bone as well as some crucial BMW components on his bike. Fortunately, however, Richard from Jeep SA was there in a flash to save the day – before you could say “eish maar daai sand is dik”, Mooi Stefan was loaded in the Jeep, and his bike was trailing behind, full steam ahead to the Klersdorp casualties department.
Fortunately, all was swiftly taken care of by Richard and Roger (Ryder Motorrad), allowing for all to make it to Christiana in good time to discuss the day’s events over a dop & a tjop.
Recounting the experiences of the day, it became evident that all the other riders made it from Parys to Christiana more or less unscathed – the only incidents being some lost luggage (yep – next time I’ll definitely put much less trust in those tie-down straps…) – unlike my own tent being picked up by Jacques (my good pal that trekked all the way from Cape Town to partake in the adventure), poor Sam (the other intrepid Cape Townian) sacrificed his tent to Orange Freestate countryside. Eish – the remarks he then had to endure having to bunk with Jacques (..although I’m pretty sure that neither Jacques nor Sam worried too much about the plummeting temperatures that evening…).
The next day (day2) held much of the same in store: unknown routes (and by default also unknown road surfaces) as well as navigation: eventually the fact that some of the GPS waypoints were dodgy started sinking in with our group of adventurers (…here I must just add that a large number of the waypoints were pinned down in Mapsource as guestimates, usually quite late at night as previously mentioned, and often based on telephonic directions received from helpful residents). Fortunately, however, fate had a way of bringing all participants together each time…
Most efforts have corresponding rewards, and true to this generic rule of nature, our evening in Hopetown proved to be thoroughly enjoyable: our hosts (Lieb and Ella from Thomas’ Guest Farm) went out of their way to make our stay as comfortable as humanly possible. Not only did they ensure that our bellies were filled with the best homemade fare imaginable, but also shared their intimate knowledge of the region’s history.
Tackling the last stage of the Parys De Aar Adventure Rally, the 14 remaining motorcycles and Jeep Commander set off from our Hopetown HQ, pointing all things that can point in the direction of De Aar.
But as befits all journeys of this nature, we had to pass through and experience some of the culturally rich hubs of the area: since Orania was one of our fuelling points, we of course had to explore some photo opportunities in this rather infamous ‘dorpie’.
Apart from the local bakery, the whole group convened at the koeksister monument to see for themselves what the whole hype was about. Expecting a mammoth structure of imposing dimension, I was duly disappointed when the monument ended up being a 2m high self-made structure comprising of 3 woven concrete slivers. Eish!
But hey – I must take my hat (eh – helmet?) off at the Orania crowd for applying the initiative to put place a symbol of such cultural uniqueness. And to prove this point, it is also pertinent to note that they invented an use their own currency – the Ora – I for instance got a 20 Ora note as change when I purchased a spectacularly delicious packet of chocolate biscuits from said bakery (sporting Trompie on the front, and a sponsored advertisement for the ‘Ora Vleismark’ on the back of this glorified coupon). Interesting stop-over indeed my dear Watson.
Apart from our eventful stop-over in the buzzing metropolis of Orania, the rest of our day also included numerous river-crossings (including an absolutely stunning old steel bridge) and a short stop at the Vanderkloof dam.
After a day of probably the best motorcycle riding that I have ever experienced in my life, the whole group ended up in the ‘bar op De Aar’, where we of course had to celebrate having reached the end destination (I somehow remember multi-coloured trays of shooters being part of this experience…).
That evening our adventure was concluded on the Brandfontein Guest Farm, from where all participants were to leave for home the next day. Again (true to platteland hospitality), we were treated with way-too-large homemade meals – this however ensured that all slept well, and were able to take on the long road to Pretoria, Cape Town, Dullstroom etc. with adequate gusto the following morning.
So hey - a huge thanks to all the participants for being brave enough to take on an adventure of this nature! – but thanks in particular to Jeep SA (specifically Richard Sloman) and Roger Kane-Berman (Ryder Motorrad - Durban) for your unadulterated support.
Keep your eyes open for next year’s event!
Some interesting Parys De Aar Adventure Rally (2008) info:
Accommodation:
Berakah (Parys) - www.berakah.co.za
Nkolo Spa (Christiana) - www.nkolospa.co.za
Thomas’ Guest Farm (Hopetown) - www.wheretostay.co.za/thomassguestfarm
Brandfontein Guest Farm (DeAar) - https://travel.iafrica.com/php-bin/travel/Accom_Details.php?ES_id=1765
Distances:
Approx. total distance: 1018km
Distance – day 1: 428km
Distance – day 2: 375km
Distance – day 3: 215km
