This morning the sun was shining and the “good” old Cape Doctor was blowing much better. Never fear, the Nomad`s club had a ride to attend. There were 11 members who had qualified for the club captain`s incentive breakfast. These members had attended more than 60% of the year`s rides.
Time to get dressed and refuel the bike and off to Damelin to await the arrival of the members. Upon arrival at Damelin, Kevin Farrow, Sean Anderson and a friend were already waiting for the eight-o clock departure and the breakfast at the end. Shortly afterwards more members arrived, and it was time for the usual briefing and route that was going to be taken.
The route comprised of leaving Damelin, turning right onto the N2, all the bikes managed to get through the traffic lights under the N2. Then it was turning left onto the M5, over the new bridge at Koeberg Interchange and onto the N1 as far as the Klipheuwel off ramp, where the ride turned left onto the R302 towards Klipheuwel and Malmesbury.
The roads were very quiet, and the country side was very brown from the lack of water in the Western Cape. This drought has really hit the Western Cape very hard. A very sad state of affairs. News flash. A friend of ours did let us know that it was raining quite heavily over the Theewaterskloof dam.
Onto Malmesbury and turning right into Rainier Street and again right into Piet Retief Street heading towards Riebeek Kasteel. On through Bothmaskloof Pass, slowing down to turn left at the foot of the pass to proceed through Riebeek Kasteel, past the Pleasant Pheasant restaurant, we have been there before, and onto Riebeek West. At Lang Street the ride turned left and at the 4 way stop street we turned right and then left into the hotel parking area. Val`s daughter approached us and said there was shaded parking at the back of the hotel. About five of us rode to the back of the hotel and this put us right at the indoor pool dining room, where we were booked to have our breakfast.
Everybody found places to sit at a table and then it was time to enjoy the cold/hot buffet. Lots of juices, cold meats, mini quiches, scones, muffins, a variety of cheeses, different fruits, yoghurts and cereals. The waitresses soon took our hot breakfast orders and not long after the hot food arrived. This comprised of bacon, eggs, tomato and mushrooms and toast. Coffee was a help yourself and there was plenty of coffee.
Our country member from Vredenburg, Jaco Writes, arrived just in time to order his hot buffet. Val`s grandson Sirbastian was the only one who got into the pool. Everybody having satisfied their hunger pains, it was time to pay for the breakfast by the members who had not qualified for the sponsored breakfast by the Nomad`s club.
Everybody left for their respective homes, except myself, Mandy, Danii, John and 4 of our friends, a bottle of champagne was ordered and all of us sat around chatting. The champagne was finished, and it was time to leave for our homes.
John followed me all the way back to Durbanville as he was not sure of the route, then I had to find the nearest petrol station as John was on his petrol guzzling CBX 1000cc 6-cylinder Honda. I turned left into Okavango Road and found a petrol station about 1.5 kilometers up the road. That bike is thirstier than my bike.
A couple of comments in the ride register are about the following distance when riding in a group as we do. PLEASE, PLEASE members/visitors, remember we ride in a staggered formation, leaving a 2 second gap between yourself and the bike directly in front of you. If you are riding in the right half of the lane, you should be able to see the bike to your left in your rear-view mirror and that rider should be able to see his face/helmet in your mirror. For the left half of the lane, the abovementioned is just the opposite. Any gap longer than 2 seconds, it starts to split the ride and then the cars start to take the gaps and disrupt the group and the riders. If you are comfortable riding either in the left or right half of the lane, then get into that position at the start of the ride. DO NOT cross over to fill the gap formed either to the left or the right. The rider behind the gap must move up to fill the space.
When the ride is going over a mountain pass then the group must go into SINGLE FILE, allowing every rider the extra space to allow for taking the corners safely.
I will explain all of the above at the next meeting on Monday, 8th January 2018.
Thank you to all the members/visitors who have attended the rides during the year.
There were 21 members and 7 guests/visitors. 14 bikes and 4 cars.
The next ride is on Sunday, 7th January 2018, going to Brig`s Barn in Darling.
Sunday, 21st January 2018 the ride is going to Bertha`s Restaurant, Simonstown.
Thank you to Ian Sinclair for organising great rides and for safely leading the rides over the past 7 months
Categorised in: Uncategorised
This post was written by nomads