Cederberg Adventure Weekend with the Africa Twin Club
With the prediction of good weather I set off for the Winelands one stop very early on Saturday morning the 22 January 2005. By the departure time of 06:45 there were a number of bikes ready to ride through to Ceres where the rest of the group would be joining us.
Since the ride was hosted by the Africa Twin Club it stands to reason that the majority of the bikes were the now famous Honda Dual purpose twin. At 08:30 David the organiser held a briefing on some of the basic safety rules and then it was off on what was about to become a memorable weekend.
Sixteen bikes comprising of Africa Twins, Transalps, GS1150s, GS1200s, GS650s and my lone Tiger left Ceres. There were two ladies on the run, Ronel who was riding pillion on her husband Lourens? AT and yep you read right, two up on some of the roughest roads I have ridden and they lead the way at quite some pace to boot. The other lady was none other but my fellow Nomad Tracy Lee on her F650.
Shortly after ?Op die Berg? it was a short stop to adjust tyre pressure and then the dirt began. Since dust was to be a factor and with 16 bikes we tended to space out a bit with everyone settling into a pace that suited them the best. David played the perfect organiser and host by riding tail end Charlie.
First stop was the Oasis for an ice cold coke which was very welcome. Once over the next pass it was time to turn off to Wuppertal via Elsebank. It was within the first few km?s that we had to stop to replace/secure a top box onto one of the bikes. Out of all the top boxes I have seen fly off bikes this make of box takes the prize. No problem really - some tie-downs and back on the road again. Next stop was due to none other than me. I happened to glance down at my instrument panel and to my horror the Engine management and fuel warning lights were on, stopping the bike died. Trying the starter resulted in a click sound. OK - where to start? Saddle off and start checking electrics. Fortunately the fault was located as a loose battery terminal. That fixed the motor, the Tiger turned but would not start. By this time the 8 or so bikes behind me had stopped and ideas, help and comments were coming from all. Someone said ?can it start with the side stand down? knowing that it could, I took a long shot, flipped up the stand and hey presto the Tiger roared. Upon letting the clutch go the penny dropped, the bike was still in gear so off course it would not start. Fortunately I still had a firm grip on the bars otherwise the bike would have taken off up the trail all by itself.
So back on the track again and a track it was as one could not call it a road. We had been warned by the owner of the Oasis that the road was badly eroded with holes, rocks and sections of very soft sand. Needless to say we all managed to get to Wuppertal in one piece, however not without a couple of tumbles along the way. Once in the village we all enjoyed a nice cold drink from the friendly shop while listening to all the war stories and carrying out some minor repairs to some bikes.
Having been joined by another two bikes in Wuppertal we were now 18 bikes on the trail, quite impressive to say the least. From Wuppertal we followed the route through to the R 355. At the start of this section I noticed a sign that stated that this road would be closed from April to November due to the rain. Since no rain had fallen for some time the river crossings should be easy. Wrong!! They forgot to warn us about the ?sandy? river crossing.(Doring river) This short stretch saw a number of bikes take a tumble with flicker lights, spot lights and engine protectors parting company with the bikes. Interesting that it was - mainly BMW bits that came adrift. The local dealers would be smiling come Monday. The attached photos are far better than words.
After all the boys and girls had finished playing in the sand pit it was some pleasant riding to Calvinia and a hard earned pit stop and refuel. During the briefing Dave had stated that it was a further 50 km through to the farm. Lourens had other plans for us. After 20km of tar we were back on the dirt and after 80 km of rough, loose farm tracks that do not appear on any map we reached the farm at around 6pm. That?s some 12 hrs of hard riding since leaving home. Unfortunately close to the farm Pieter took a nasty tumble on the GS1150, however once he got his wind back and the bike was checked for damage it was on to the farm for the cold frosties we had pre ordered.
As for our overnight stop, it was simply the best. Lourens?s parents had pulled out all the stops. Cold beers, a pleasant shower (thanks Ronel), a ?skaap braai? as one can imagine on a sheep farm, more cold beers followed by more war stories and making new friends. Our sleeping accommodation reminded me of sleepovers as a child. A room full of mattresses with not enough space to walk. Fortunately not too much snoring, must be the fact that we were all buggered and slept like babies.
With breakfast scheduled for 07:30 and a leaving time of 08:30 most of us were up early and with coffee in hand out to check the bikes over (OK some of us do have chain drives and needed to do some lubricating). Ironically just the night before someone commented 500km since the One Stop with 18 bikes and no punctures. Wrong again! - Kevin was greeted to a flat back wheel on the GS1200. Wheel out in the tank of water and soon the small hole was plugged. Am I glad I have converted the Tiger to tubeless.
After a group photo we bade farewells to Lourens?s Mum (Dad deciding to join us on his Dakar) and some of the guys who opted to head back to Cape Town taking the tar option and headed off in a NW direction following the same sort of farm tracks as the day before. After some 20km of what one could call a rollercoaster road with erosion humps that resembled large speed bumps which saw one airborne if taken too fast (Lourens did warn us) we turned SW on a farm road that now appeared on the GPS.
The back of the group was made up of myself with Tracy behind me and David still riding tail. Not long after negotiating an S bend through a dip I noticed that Tracy?s headlight was not behind me. After returning the 4km to the S bend I found her standing with David who had taken a nasty fall going into the first corner. It was soon evident that his wrist was either broken or badly sprained. Leaving him in the good hands of Tracy I headed off to fetch help from the rest of the group who I knew would be waiting at the T Junction with the R355. Just before the junction I spotted the lights of Graig and another rider who were coming back to look for us. They went back to assist Tracy with Dave while I went to try and arrange transport for Dave. Fortunately HJ lives in Calvina and he arranged for his wife to bring the bakkie through to collect David.
After having spent close on two hours at the T junction waiting to make sure David was in the Bakkie and on his way to the hospital as well as repairing two punctures in a GS1150 and AT (plugging the tyre on the GS took a fraction of the time it took to remove the wheel from the AT and change the tube) it was time to head south in the direction of home. After a further 70km of fast dirt we were in Nieuwoudville and after refueling Tracy, Kevin and I having opted to ride together set off for the N7 and home.
After a weekend like this I know my dirt riding skills have improved and I am very comfortable with the Tiger. As for the experience I have included some of the e-mails that were sent within the group as it is the sort of trip you need to do to really understand why we do it in the first place.
A special thanks the David, Lourens and the rest of the Africa twin Club for the invite. David get better soon and I hope the wrist heals fast.
To the Kamfer family thank you so much for the ?egte boere? hospitality.
Lastly to all the guys and girls and new friends I have made thanks for the ride, looking forward to the next one.
Carl Koch
Triumph Tiger
This has to rate as one of the best rides of my life! ...and one of the hardest.
Theses AT guys can ride! I can't believe Honda have stopped making those bikes. All they really needed to do was put a shaft drive on it and tubeless tyres ;-Many thanks to Lourens and Ronel for riding point and to their family for the fantastic hospitality.
It seems a little unjust that David was the one to fall and hurt himself badly. He was doing a splendid job of bringing up the rear and helping all the others that fell off.
Spike
Damn I'd rather still be riding this morning!
Thanks all for a great weekend - a well organised, excellent ride with good riders and great people. David, sorry we didn't see you to be able to say thanks for all the hard work organising and closing gates etc... Hope the wrist heals soon and hope to hook up on another one sometime.
Thanks Lourens & Ronelle for the family's hospitality too.
Hope to see you all soon in similar terrain - have a good week
Dakar-Mike (who's gloves wore out through sheer terror and grim determination)
And the same goes from me guys, thanks for a fabulous week end.
Especially those who helped me and my bike and the TLC I got for my knee.
Dave, heal fast Buddy ?cause I'm keen for another trip soon before the Rain and cold comes.
And to all the rest of you gentlemen, hope to see you all again soon.
Maybe at the Buff???
Cheers to all Tracey
Thanks from my side as well for a nice weekend.
I must say I'd rather be doing the "ramps" in the veld, than the off ramp to work today. Somehow the ones in the veld are a lot easier. Thanks from my side as well to Lourens and Ronel for everything you did. David, thanks for organizing this. I hope the wrist injury is not too serious and that you will heal in no time.
Thanks and see you all again.
Pieter (The not-so-tall one).
What an adventure indeed. To tell someone what we experienced last weekend is impossible, not even a million photo's could reflect the fun we had.
If you were not on this ride, you would not understand what was experienced by all. Thanx David for an excellent ride. Hope the wrist gets better soon and the bike gets fixed up so that we can see you riding again (who else will close the gates...). A special thanx to Graig and HJ for looking after David. I think we can all learn from this experience and maybe more of us should get some first aid training, according to the Doctor, Craig did an excellent job. Kevin, I like those photo's in the river (Adriaan will pay lots of money to get those photo's off the web). For those who are not members of the cub yet, WHY NOT? Remember the club is for all dual purpose bikes. Hope to see all you guys at the next ride.
Yours in the dirt.
Lourens & Ronell
Thanks for an awesome biking adventure. This is the stuff that memories are made of!
What a feeling to know that 20 other Bikers are concerned about your safety and always ready to lend a helping hand or advice. Thank you to everyone involved.
A special thanks to David and the Kamfer family for their input which made this the perfect event. When will the next adrenalin rush take place? Please make it soon!
Regards,
Etienne de Beer.
Hi guys and gals, firstly a big thank you to David for organising this weekend, David, it was an absolutely superb ride, as usual well organized. I hope you're healed up and back on your bike soon! Secondly, Tracey, you deserve a badge for your endurance, you have my admiration, well done, excellent riding ! Thirdly, Lourens and Ronel, how you do it 'two up' I don't know, well done !
Thank you
Kevin
R1200GS-WP (personilised plate somewhere in the Cederberg)
