Breakfast or lunch and a windy ride

Sunday dawned clear and sunny but the wind that had bothered us on Saturday was still there, gusting strong and on hearing this and before even getting out of bed, Janet suddenly decided that she had a whole lot of things to attend to, "You go on the breakfast run love, I've got lots to do."

I had earlier in the week received a text message about the Meeulanders breakfast run to the Hotel Samoa in Mooreesburg, they would be doing a loop through Malmesbury and as I still had the Yamaha Super Tenere in my garage, I was keen to ride.

I arrived at the designated meeting place; the Engen One Stop on the R27 in time to have a cup of Wimpy's famous coffee, several friends were already there including my old biker bud, Frank. We stood around chatting, sipping coffee and kicking tires waiting for the others to arrive.
You may recall that I wrote about the magnificent Triumph Trophy that I considered going to have a look at? Well all of a sudden a beautiful dark blue one rolled into the garage forecourt!

 I didn't recognize the rider or his pillion with their crash helmets on but when they came to park with us I saw that it was Meeulander members Heine and Gerda, who when I saw them last were riding a Kawasaki Vulcan. They had traded the Vulcan in on this magnificent machine.

What a lovely motorcycle! They had only just brought it home, it doesn't even have a number plate yet.

At 09h30 some 17 bikes with about 22 people headed out in staggered formation for the little town of Mooreesburg, they had agreed to skip Malmesbury and head directly to the hotel due to the very strong wind.

I enjoyed the ride in spite of the fact that we were all leaning over to the right most of the time, it was great to be out on a motorbike! The guys were all pretty sedate, it's not far to Mooreesburg so Div., the president kept the group together at around 130-140kmh.

At the Samoa Hotel they were not ready for us, they were not aware that we were coming! Apparently the cook or manager who had taken the original booking had left during the week and had not passed on the news of our imminent arrival to the hotel owners. They were not doing breakfast that day but they "would make a plan", I smelt a disaster brewing but the bar was open and that's always a good way of keeping bikers happy.

Heine's attractive wife Gerda jumped in to help take the orders and almost everyone immediately teased them about needing extra money to pay for the new bike!

 Bikers relax and enjoy each others company, no one was particularly bothered that the food took ages to come. From the left; Stephen's lady (I apologize for the fact that I don't know your name yet), Barbara, Gerda, Heine, Bev and Daan.

 Div., the President of the Meeulanders in front with two brothers and a sister new to me.

 I know three of the people at this table but that's not important, we all have one thing in common; our love of motorbikes and that makes them all special.

Frank can't help himself, if there's a pretty lady he has to get a squeeze, this is Michelle who rides her own bike along with her husband Anthony. Ain't she sweet? She's too young for you Frank and anyway Anthony was sitting right next to her!

By 13h30 I had all but collapsed through lack of nutrition but luckily they brought my food, it must have been a bit of a nightmare for the hotel, they suddenly had more than twenty bikers to feed without any notice and to be fair they did a good job.

R55 for a "Brunch burger" not too bad at all and by then it went down singing hymns I can tell you!
After that we all made our separate ways home, I had to get the bike back to West Coast Yamaha and collect my bakkie, I had considered just keeping the bike and leaving the bakkie there but Craig reminded me that he knew where I lived!
It was a hectic ride home, by then the wind had increased its intensity and the gusts were really strong. I put the Tenere in "Sport" mode and hung on for dear life! 220kmh leaning sideways and loving it!

I have read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M.Pirsig and I confess that it is a difficult book to read, it took me a while but I love this passage which I now quote;
"The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn't any other test. If the machine produces tranquility it's right. If it disturbs you it's wrong until either the machine or your mind is changed."
The Yamaha Super Tenere produces tranquility.........and excitement.