Piketberg Church fete

Last Saturday we gathered at the usual meeting point, the Engen One Stop on the R27 for the run through to Piketberg. We were fairly early and bought a cup of coffee while we waited for the others to arrive. Eventually eleven motorbikes and thirteen people set off at 09h00 in perfect calm and sunny weather and settled into a staggered formation along the R45, there was a light breeze to keep the temperature down but we could feel that it was going to be hot.

Div took the lead on his Harley Road King and immediately set up a good pace, blasting along at 140kmh. I was behind him and the others in formation behind me, with Frank the Road Captain bringing up the rear.

It was a lovely ride, I settled myself into it straight away and Janet was relaxed behind me, I consciously relaxed my shoulders leaving the stresses and worries of the previous work week to fall behind me and get blown away by the melodious growl of my exhaust, I was out on the road and loving it!

Our first stop was in Mooreesburg for the smokers and after about 45 minutes we lined the bikes up in the shade outside the service station.

From there it is a short hop onto the N7 and we turned north and again set up a lively pace, the road wasn't too busy and the few cars that there were did not get in or way. How wonderful it is to sweep past slow moving traffic, to leave the ordinary people far behind; "Bikers have more fun than people".

It's only about 30kms from Mooreesburg to Piketberg but it's a lovely stretch of road, being mindful of the ever present speed traps we enjoyed ourselves at a reasonable speed, well reasonable for us that is, and soon we were pulling into the picturesque town nestled at the foot of the Piketberge mountain range.

It is not difficult to find the Dutch Reformed Church in any of the small towns around South Africa, they are the most beautiful, ornate buildings and can be seen from miles away and this was no exception. What I was not expecting though, was the hundred or more motorbikes that were already lined up out side;

We wandered into the church grounds, towards the almost "Karaoke style" singing of gospel music over a sound system that had way too much base, to the busy breakfast area where the young people were bravely singing to an enthusiastic audience.

The church ladies were doing a sterling job catering for the huge crowd and were obviously well prepared, it wasn't long before we were tucking into a very reasonable breakfast which went down "singing hymns!"

We wandered around the farm stalls and gardens but soon decided that it was time to go off in search of a cold beer to counteract the baking heat, on the way out I admired this early Audi, a DKW, one of which I owned as a young man;

we are afterall, petrolheads by nature! From there it was a short ride down to the Mountain Creek Spur restaurant where we went in search of cold beer, and sure enough there was plenty.

We settled into the shade of the cool veranda to partake of our favourite libation and soon our entire group was gathered again;

From there, after refreshment, it was back along the N7 to Mooreesburg and another stop on the shady balcony at "De Oude Stoep" on the main road,

where the pretty young waitress cheerfully handled the teasing banter from the bunch of bikers, we spent a pleasant half hour or so there and then saddled up for the forty-five minute ride back to Vredenburg where we agreed to stop for an A.B.F.
By then it was mid afternoon and pretty hot, I saw 35,5celsius on my dashboard as we blasted back down the R45. Close to Vredenburg we encountered strong southerly winds which caused us to lean in to the left a bit but nothing could dampen the high spirits after a great day out on the bike.

The next ride for me seems to be the Swallow's Rally on the weekend of the 23rd to the 25th of March, I am not able to make it to the Buffalo Rally next weekend unfortunately. Ride safe brothers and sisters, keep the rubber side down and next I will write about a visit to the Strand Kombuis Seafood restaurant in Yzerfontein.