The dart run

Saturday thankfully dawned clear and calm after gale force southerly winds all day Friday and most of the night, we were both expecting a lousy day leaning at an angle into the wind all the time. We were up early, Fatcat let me sleep until six which is a good late time for me though Janet would have liked a bit longer. We got on the road just before eight and were at the rugby club in Vredenburg by just after 0815 and well in time for a really enjoyable breakfast at R25 each prepared by the CMA (Christian Motorcycle Association.)They are a wonderful bunch of people and their tea and coffee tent at all of the big rallies is a real life saver, it is manned (personned?) 24 hours and I am usually there in the early hours of the morning for my first cup of coffee.

By the time we were all ready to leave, after throwing the first dart of the day someone counted 42 motorbikes which was an excellent turn out for the "Meeulanders" club and the procession of bikes heading down to the Paternoster Hotel was very impressive.

Janet had four attempts at throwing the dart and eventually scored a four and then decided that she was going to withdraw from the competition so as not to cause too much of a delay in the line!

I tried to limit my alcohol intake from this point as we had another five places to visit so I drank Windhoek Light which is only 2 percent alcohol as opposed to my regular Castle which is 4,5 percent. That way I figured I could drink 24 of those and still be fine! It was a good festive scene and the "Meeulanders" tried to keep the timing tight so that we would not be too late getting back to the final venue. We arrived at the "Rooikraans" pub at around 11.15 where we threw the third dart and there we were able to buy a boerewors roll for R10 which went down well, a good idea to eat at regular intervals, this also helped to counteract the alcohol so I had another Windhoek light!

From there we rode through to the Hopefield Hotel, that was a nice ride in an impressive convoy and the column of bikes cruising into Hopefield must have invoked feelings of the biker gangs of old when people hastened into their homes and locked up their daughters!

The Hotel owners provided a snack table, part of which consisted of whole shell peanuts and it wasn't long before these were flying through the air as the biker scum started throwing them at each other. A good time was had by all, including the Hotel owners who must have had a good cash injection on what would normally have been a quiet Saturday morning.

Look at this mob! That pub is very rarely so crowded, only when the bikers organize something.

From there we went to "Vlakvarkgat" but first I had to make a detour and drop Janet off at home, she had had enough and was late for her afternoon nap, by the time I got back to the bush pub they were playing the most amazing music; good heavy metal rock from AC/DC one of my favourite groups so I had another beer.

The next venue was a place called "Die Wingerd" in Vredenburg, I had never been there before and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a very nicely established dance club. I threw my fifth dart and had my fifth or sixth beer and then went home to have some coffee and wake Janet up, I also put the bike away. It had been a pleasant day but a little long, Janet and I returned to the rugby club in the bakkie just before 7pm but that was mostly because I still had bar tickets which I had bought that morning and which I obviously didn't want to waste.

All in all it was a successful day with a good amount of money raised for charity.

I've said this before and I'll say it again; bikers are good folk, what other groups get together so often to raise money for charity? And bikers know how to party, and with forty two or so bikes on the road there were no accidents which was wonderful because we have had our share of bike accidents in the area recently.