Chairman Meow
Race Dog
..........After months of planning the day of departure finally arrived.
Rikus (Kaptein Stander) and I left my house to meet up with Mike (Airhead) & Jan (Bismarck) and their ultra hot HPN creations.
We shot through the Hugonote Tunnel and cut through the Slanghoek Valley in order to meet up with Fanie (Fixer). No time was wasted to do the almost obligatory Bains Kloof pass as we wanted to cut some time in order to get our ourselves and machines on gravel as soon as possible.
Getting to Ceres were we met up with Fanie that was all smiles and eager for the day that lay ahead. After sharing some pleasantries we decided not to waste anymore valuable time with breakfast as we already packed lunches for the road and rather traded the inside of the Spur for the vast open spaces of the Karoo.
We left Ceres and hit the gravel with such excitement and without even once giving an ounce of thought to any unforeseens that might lay ahead.
Brunch Stop somewhere between Ceres and Sutherland
We could not have asked for better weather and riding terrain as it seemed that we must’ve just missed the rains from the night before that gave way to compacted dust free gravel with some exciting wet spots thrown in for good measure.
Karoo Carwash 1 (Kaptein Stander)
Karoo Carwash 2 (Airhead)
Karoo Carwash 3 (Yours truly)
Our first stop for the evening was an out of this world stone hut accommodation tucked in between the koppies halfway between Fraserburg & Loxton.
If ever there was a more appropriate place to lay down our heads after the first day of such an adventurous ride it begs to be seen.
This place was like something from Star Wars meets Mad Max.
A tweespoor track ( that did not seem to be ridden in a while) lead to a hut in the middle of a desolate (but surprisingly green) landscape.
For all dual sport riders passing that way in future, do make use as this must be high up there in the ultra cool outdoor accomodation list.
A night was spend under the stars with a braai, laugher and some tipple. ( funny how we seem to forget the most obvious things sometimes, but NEVER the drinks.,…mmmm biking …such a gentleman’s sport)
Friday morning we were up at about six.
Packing and leaving took us on the road at about 7.30 am. This stretch was to take us to Victoria West via Loxton where we were to meet up with Louis, Howard & Willie.
They were staying in a Motel that would have made Norman Bates feel uncomfortable.
Louis seemed to have had some electrical issues with his bike which was kindly sorted out by Jan and Co.
Not that it was easy as it took some head scratching and a cleverly packed voltmeter to find the fault.
Once the fault was established came phase two of getting the parts from Altus (Dustdevil) that was still in Middelburg no less than 150km away.
As these things tend to go help came in the form of another fellow rider and instant hero Lodewyk (Boersoeknbike).
Not only did he attend the event on a solo ride from Burgersfort in Limpopo Province , but also rode the additional section from Middelburg to Richmond on gravel to bring the part to Howard that in turn rode back again to help his brother Louis. The spirit of camaraderie was already showing and it was a sign of good things to come.
Madman Boersoeknbike taking no prisoners through that crossing
We rode the last section from Richmond to NB together. Maybe it was the fact that it was the last 50km of the day or that we were close to our destination or because Jan, Mike & Myself opened the taps up a bit, but what followed was a run par to none.
The scenery changed from being just plain beautiful to awe-inspiring, rolling green hills as if we were somewhere in the Natal midlands. The Karoo was blessed with it's fair share of rain and we got to ride through a terrain which normally looks nowhere near from what it looked like on that day.
The group
Kaptein Stander taking it easy.
Fixer taking it in his stride
The last 15 km to NB the road began to deteriorate, and it was to be an indication of what the next day’s out ride would be like.
That sweet taste of having arrived.
Arriving in NB we met up with Terry (Fixit) and Tony (his brother) and we proceeded to try and find the campsite. This after doing 780 Km to get there proved to be the most difficult part and we ridiculously went from one end to another trying to find the site.
Eventually we managed to find it after two equally adventurous river crossings about 500m from our campsite and that put the final cherry on the cake.
Once tents were put up and everyone introduced themselves we hit the brewery across the street and proceeded to socialize as if this was the centennial gathering.
As the rain started pelting down we had to make our way to Bruno’s Pizzeria which was to close to ride and to far to walk. The fact that you also had to cross the river at night made us eventually split into a group that walked and another that courteously took Volker up on his offer of a lift on the back of his bakkie.
We spend and magical and really civilized (for a bike gathering) evening at the Pizzeria, but some of us knew in the back our minds that the two brothers Louis & Howard was still on their way as it became dark and started to rain. After missing turn-off and a major detour the eventually made it after nine.
Hungry and thirsty they proceeded to join us only to have that long awaited comfort spoiled by still having to ride their bikes to the campsite and in the process having to cross those two river sections…..at night!
The VW Amarok with a bunch of very merry passengers took the lead like the lady of the lantern with two bikes following behind. This was a sight to be seen and hats of to those two for taking it all in their stride.
Saturday morning left us all with two choices.
Join Altus on what was definitely going to be a heavy outride. Not just purely for the fact that the road were washed out, but also due to the fact that for those who knows Altus will know that time is rarely on your side when you go riding with him.
Add the fact that he was looking so forward to that ride that he had that crazy look in his eyes and happy throttle fingers that were just dying to put that slimmed down HPN beast of his through it’s paces. Come hell or high water it was going to be messy.
Getting ready...
Trigger finger and crazy eyes.
Abu wisely leaving daughter behind
Those of us that stayed behind proceeded with bets regarding the time they would be back. I personally was very naïve giving them time till about 15h45, but some bets went into the 19h00 mark…………..They eventually did arrive at about 18h00.
The rest went on their own missions for the day, our being particularly a relaxing one soaking up the sight of this beautiful Karoo dorp.
Chilling at breakfast
Except for our leisurely paced breakfast and even more leisurely out ride on a donkey cart with a very enthusiastic and very knowledgeable guide giving us a tour and history lesson of this town we ended up taking this as a true rest day in preparation for the final night’s spitbraai.
The other hardcore outride.
As those outriders came back sharing their battle stories of mud and glory there was no mistake that it was all they hoped for and more. We all had our final evening's feast at the brewery with a meal fit for kings.
Sunday we all packed up and except for the group photo which in itself took more organizing than the putting this whole event together we greeted and briefly touched on a couple of possibilities for next years gathering.
Friends were made and fun was had and in good spirit all that remained was a wet campsite and a couple of ornament owl in my tank bag.
Our group, which by then consisted of 8, made our way to Hartenbos where Rikus graciously offered us accommodation at their family beach house. At Graaf-Reinet we split up with 3 of the 8 riders deciding to take the route less traveled and the rest taking it easy to De Rust and then dirt through the farmlands and then the infamous Montagu Pass between Outshoorn & George.
Montague Pass 1
Montague Pass 2
Getting a fire lighted and ending your Sunday evening with a swim in the ocean are the things dreams are made off and a final salute to an amazing 4 days.
Hartenbos parking
The plan and initially planted seed came to life and as expected and everyone got along perfectly.
Bounded only by the fact that we all chose to ride bikes which was no less than 20-30 years old above all other modern machines which prances the showroom of dealers in this day and age.
To put it down in words that interesting characters attended this event .....would be an understatement.
The fact that only about 7 or 8 people out of the final count of 21 bikes is WD forum members was also amazing.
Word got around and riders joined from their parts of the world, of which the WC an EC pretty much made up the field. Youngest rider 33, oldest (hats off to Mike) 73.
It was great to put faces to names and bikes to riders.
Bruce (Abu) and his daughter Jessica was touring together and was ending their trip at the WD Bash in the Tankwa the following weekend.
John & April on a legendary post 500 000km Airhead he bought new back in the day was there leaving no turn unstoned
Volker and wife with 21months old daughter made it (wife and daughter had a bakkie, which came in very handy on a rainy return from our pizza evening). To Dan and Pillion, Nikki (brave and respected soul that joined the outride) and Mike (73) who joined on the last minute. Well done to all. Terry and Tony, nice to meet you guys and I’m sure we’ll see you again next year.
To Gerhard (Jupiter) that had all the bearers of bad luck against him , a speedy recovery and to Chris that got to Somerset-East before some fever got to him- Best of luck to all.
As for the rest – Rikus for the amazing T-shirt design and Altus for help in the organization from that side. Thanks
To all the rest, thanks for making the trip ………………..until The next Karoo Gathering!….salute! :salut:
