Slangkop Rally 2010 - day one

Friday dawned clear and calm and although a "moderate" south easterly wind was forcast for the day, the rest of the weekend was apparently going to be sunny and warm with little or no wind on Saturday and Sunday. I was eagerly anticipating getting out on the road and after organising and delegating my work I managed to get away by 10h30. I had done most of my packing the previous night so it didn't take me long to get my rally gear on, sitting astride my bike I thumbed the starter and as the big red machine rumbled into life I could feel my shoulders relaxing. I kicked the lever down into first and surged out looking for adventure and whatever the weekend might bring, Damn I love the rallies!

I met up with Frank and Des at the Engen one-stop and we headed south together, once again roaring down the R27 towards Capetown and our first stop at the Bush bar just outside of Melkbos, there Frank was able to have his first smoke and I was able to have my first beer. Soon we were joined by Danny so it was another beer and then Des had to buy one and what the hell, my bike seems to corner better after a few beers anyway!

The ride through town was uneventful and within half an hour we were cruising into Hout Bay and the start of the famous Chapman's Peak drive.

After paying the toll fee of R18 (This toll gate is not as easy to blitz as I have done with the N1 as they have a check point halfway up where they check your slips!) we pulled off for a break and a photo.

The scenery is fantastic and although it is a lovely road surface with some wonderful corners, it is too busy for any really fast riding so we just normally cruise and enjoy the view. At the viewpoint at the top a friendly tourist offered to take a picture of the two of us, she probably took another with her own camera because damn we were looking cool! Anyway from there it was a short ride down into Kommetjie and the rally site, but unfortunately as we rode down the other side of the mountain the wind was definitely much stronger.
We set our camp up in a relatively sheltered area but even so my tent was flapping around quite a bit, reminiscent of another Slangkop rally where my tent blew over and flattened Frank's in the early hours of the morning. Never mind that, leaving the bikes covered and the tents organised we went off in search of our friends and a cold beer. John "Lobster" chats with Dick who looks a bit worse for wear! Earlier in the week Dick had phoned me to ask "What size mattress have you got?" and I said to him "Bugger off Dick, you're not sleeping with me!" but he did, he borrowed a sleeping bag and went off to my tent!
It didn't take long before we were involved with both old friends and cold beer, we made some new friends as well and pretty soon the party started.

The band "Free falling" was excellent! I have not seen them at any of the rallies I have been to but they soon had the crowd boogying to all of the old classic rock numbers.

It was one hell of a party but unfortunately the bar closed at about 02h00 and the band stopped playing shortly thereafter inspite of our applause and attempts at bribery, I still had my flask of "Rally juice" so I was alright but I don't remember what time it was when I headed for my tent, but it was somewhere around 04h00. I do remember that I tripped over Dick as I stumbled in, I had forgotten that he was there. It was still noisy as I drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep but it had been a great day.

I made a mental note to get a new mattress before the next rally, this one makes it feel like I am trying to balance on top of a rugby ball.