The Meeulanders on a charity run again, blankets for the needy.

My alarm jolted me out of a deep sleep and with bleary eyes I glared at the offending machine; 06h00. During the week the alarm goes off at 04h45 so I don't normally need the alarm on weekends but today I obviously did. I reached out of bed and pulled the curtain open, it was still about two hours until sunrise so it was too dark to see what the sky was like, I was hoping it was clear as had been promised by the weather bureau because yesterday it had rained on and off the whole day.

I stumbled to the kitchen to make the coffee and then returned to my warm pit, by the time we'd had our second cup we could see a clear sky gradually lightening from the east, cold but you can dress for that and just after 08h00 as we rode out of Saldanha the temperature was a very fresh 9 celsius.

Under a very pale blue wintry sky we rode towards Vredenburg 13 kilometres away, I had my winter jacket on over a jersey but it wasn't long at all until my legs and my knees were particularly cold. This was practise for the upcoming Polar Bear run at the end of July and I decided I would wear the winter jacket with its lining and I would use knee warmers under my jeans, perhaps a scarf of some sort around my neck which was also quite cold. My hands and feet felt alright, no problem there and the windscreen kept the wind off my face - Great, I'm ready!

The gathering point was at the "Lighthouse Church" and the service was already underway so I rode as quietly as possible into the parking area, Frank was already there and he and I made good use of our blankets before we handed then in.

There were a lot of bikes in the parking area which was great to see, a lot of blankets had been collected and they would be handed out to needy people a bit later. This was part of an annual Meeulanders mcc drive and the members and friends rose to the occasion as usual.

There were some very nice looking bikes like this clean Suzuki with chrome rims and Jan's beautiful Boulevard with matching panniers.

After the service ended and the people poured out of the church we milled around meeting and greeting and then it was time for kickstands up, they were heading for "Zizi's restaurant" in Langebaan for breakfast, I didn't count the number of bikes or people but it was a sizeable convoy that rumbled through to the holiday town and lined up in the parking area in front of the restaurant.

We hung around for a bit chatting to the people but I wasn't in the mood for a breakfast, I wanted to do some more riding and have a lunch somewhere, I much prefer a lunch on Sunday than a breakfast so we said our goodbyes.

It was good to see my brother Alec walking easily around, it was only a short while ago that he was riding with a badly broken leg;

incidentally according to Janet he's a "bloody good looking guy!" I'll have to stop taking her on these runs!
We saddled up and headed out of Langebaan, no particular agenda, just enjoying the calm and sunny weather, by then it was starting to warm up a bit. I turned left onto the R27 and we rode at a steady pace through to Velddrif and then back around to Vredenburg, as it turned out we ended up at one of my favourite local restaurants for lunch; the "Slipway".
It was really pleasant sitting in the sun at the Slipway, they're in the process of fitting glass concertina doors in front, one side has been completed already and what a pleasant change this makes,

We are so well known at the Slipway that we don't have to order the bottle of wine or the starter of "Mussel and bacon bites", these are just brought to our table to share;

I went outside to get a photo of the new front of the restaurant and caught Janet pouring the wine, I had to check that she was dishing it out fairly so I hurried back inside!

My meal; Dorado fillet with chips - delicious, this is why it's one of my favourite places to eat, that and the fact that we are made to feel so welcome there.

Janet opted for two starters; spicy chicken wings and crumbed mushrooms both of which were delicious, I know because I had some!
After a relaxed lunch we headed out in search of the rest of the guys again, I thought they might be at one of the local watering holes but after cruising past the well known places with no sign of them we headed for home, it had been a very pleasant day out on the bike and we had participated in a worthy charity event organised by the local Meeulanders, a great bunch of people with whom I am proud to be associated.
You've heard me say this before and I'll say it again; bikers are wonderful people!