It was a cold start to the ride on Sunday. What seemed like a relatively mild morning, got progressively colder as we were waiting to meet up with the rest of the group in Tableview at 8am. Erich, Stuart, Ben and Pannas joined us and we headed towards Malmesbury hugging the coast through Melkbosstrand. Paul was flying out to Belgium to rediscover his roots and we cordially waved at every plane leaving just in case.
We missed the Botterberg turn-off
because of all the road construction on the N7 and so connected up with the old
Malmesbury road just after Philadelphia.
Mist was down at ground level and visibility rather poor at times and it
was vrek-koud. For those of us with
taller screens and heated grips, the pain was a little lighter and everyone was
happy for the unscheduled Wimpy coffee stop in Malmesbury.
The route to Riebeek West took the gravel back-roads through the rolling wheat fields. Most of the crops are newly planted and the
lands are slowly turning green. The day
was beautiful and the roads in great condition after the recent rain with no
dust. Breakfast was an oil overload in
Riebeek West at De Oude Schuur followed by another 2 cups of coffee.
Pannas had to head home and the
rest of us departed through Riebeek Kasteel and via Porseleinheuwel towards
Wellington, taking a new road Sandrivier (for us) through to Klipheuwel and finally Occultdale
to get back home.
My KLR recently enjoyed an
upgrade, aka 680cc conversion and I was under orders to not labour the engine
as its still being run in. I couldn’t
help myself and took it up to 6000 rpm to “feel the power”. The KLR is definitely
a lot more responsive effortlessly speeding up to 130km/hour with more throttle left. With the suspension now raised to standard,
hopefully there will be no more cracks to the mounting points!
 |
| The route |
 |
| The Nav took Pannas's bike for a spin |
 |
| The BEST view in my world... my KLR with Table Mountain in the background |
 |
| The Nav warming his hands on my heated grips |
 |
| How fortunate are we to enjoy such a beautiful view? |
 |
| ltr Erich (DR), Stuart (GS), Ben, Ang (taking pic), the Nav & Pannas (all on KLRs) |
 |
| Parking spot for Blindspot Potgieter |
 |
| Stuart, Ben & the Nav catching up before we head off for breakfast |
 |
| Warming up at the Wimpy.. |
 |
| Pannas capturing the moment as Ben and the Nav wait up for the rest of the group |
 |
| Pannas and his green machine at one with its surroundings |
 |
| the pic that Pannas captured of myself and Stuart, hot on my wheels |
 |
| Here's looking at you Erich |
 |
| Which one of you are Stu? |
 |
| Klawervlei road - next stop breakfast |
 |
| Almost there Stu |
 |
| Spot the odd one out |
 |
| Testing my latest purchase - cheap version of a camelback - I am impressed! Nice and visible too.. |
 |
| Horseing around on the farm roads |
 |
| Beautiful day in the Swartland |
 |
| Can anyone share the history of this fort on the Porseleinberg Road? |
 |
| Stuart harnessing the wind |
 |
| Look Ma(rk), no hands - respect Erich.. |
 |
| *song* I'm still standing, yeah yeah yeah *song* |
 |
| Irresistible! |
 |
| my day is now complete |
 |
| Sandrivier road on route to Klipheuwel |
 |
| Occultdale road |
Short and sweet for a Sunday, 280km in all and home by 2pm.
Thanks guys for yet another lovely day out on our two wheels.
Till next time and safe travels everyone
-Angela -
No comments:
Post a Comment