Adventure Riders Cape Town : 2013-05-05 Franschhoek, Elgin, Kleinmond, Clarence Drive, Strand

At this time of year (beginning of winter), when you awake to a cloudless sky, one HAS to take full advantage of the promise of a beautiful day ahead and what better way to do that than on two wheels?

We left home at 730am, a little later than usual as even the sun lies in a little longer in the mornings now. It was quite misty as we headed off towards Stellenbosch via Baden Powell and by the time we got to fill up at Zettlers (Strawberry) Garage in Stellenbosch, I thought my fingers were going to fall off from frostbite (okay, well it FELT like frostbite). I warmed my frozen hands on my toasty exhaust (short periods at a time) and within a few minutes the blood started flowing again (well mostly) and I was ready to brave the next leg of our ride.

Our route took us over Helshoogte where we were stopped by two friendly traffic cops (ladies) who were checking licenses. Word got out that some guys were doing some low flying up the pass doing over 200km/hour. Clearly the fuzz doesn't know that the KLRs top speed is 150km …….downhill. Although an inconvenience, it's nice knowing that they are out there doing their jobs and keeping the roads safe!

Next stop was breakfast at Kalfi's restaurant in Franshhoek where we were surrounded by some really big boys on their equally big tough bikes. The KLRs looked kinda outnumbered parked between these mean machines but we were happy knowing that sooner than you can say “eat my dust”, we would be crunching over gravel roads while these guys had no choice but to stick to the tar.

Craving the feel of gravel beneath our tyres, we headed off via Franschhoek Pass, Villiersdorp, Grabouw and at the Peregrine turned off towards the Highlands road. We usually enter this road from the Kleinmond side, so it was quite interesting riding the opposite direction for a change. A change of perspective made everything seem different and made for interesting photographs, although I couldn't resist stopping at my usual spot for my all-time favourite pic (see below). Somehow this photograph speaks to my soul! This time, I got the Nav as part of the story, which makes this photograph all the more special to me.

We stopped at Kleinmond Harbour for a well deserved coffee. The thermometer had climbed quite a bit by this time and we were stripping off long sleeve shirts and buffs to make for a cooler ride as we headed off via Clarence Drive towards the Strand to meet up with Roger and Bonita to see their new holiday pad.

Spier (Stellenbosch)

KLRs surrounded by all the BIG guns

Dejavu - took this exact pic a year ago... the plants are bigger now though!

Need I say more?

Franschhoek main road is motorcycle central on any given Sunday morning

Breakfast at Kalfi's in Franschhoek

Huguenot Monument in Franschhoek
The Huguenot Monument in Franschhoek, South Africa, is dedicated to the cultural influences that Huguenots have brought to the Cape Colony (and ultimately the whole of South Africa) after their immigration during the 17th and 18th centuries. The monument was designed by J.C. Jongens, completed in 1945 and inaugurated by Dr. A.J van der Merwe on 17 April 1948.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huguenot_Monument