Biker church and a leisurely ride

We were up and about bright and early this morning, a lovely calm summer's day, already daylight at 06h00 but no time for the spa bath with the bottle of bubbly, much to Janet's dismay. We were headed for the "Lighthouse biker church" for their first meeting of 2014, a biker blessing.

Neither of us are habitual church goers, we both believe in the Supreme Being but like Don Williams we don't believe that heaven waits for only those who congregate, but I thought that this one we should attend along with the other bikers in the area with whom we often ride.

We arrived just before 08h00 in time to see all of the others riding in and I must say the service was pretty well attended.

I really, really like Anton's K1600GT - he bought it and immediately had it custom re-sprayed this beautiful pale yellow colour, the photo doesn't really do it justice.

After the service I wandered around taking photos of the people and the bikes;

Craig and Monica, the owners of the Yamaha dealership were riding a brand new MT09, hold on tight Monica that looks like a real hooligan machine!

Malcolm and Elise on their Yamaha Super Tenere', they were one of the first to buy the bike when it came out and are still loving it.

Quite a cool shot of Anton and Mike and their ladies heading out, most of the group were heading to Langebaan for breakfast but we had other plans.

There's no mistaking the big Kawasaki is there?

We rode out to Velddrif and had a light breakfast at the world famous "Ek en Djy Vissery" with Des and Marina, it was still early and the morning was cool and calm, wonderful biking weather.

This is the place where you can buy virtually anything from Marina's delightful paintings at the River Studio next door to a really good breakfast or lunch, or anything from the shop where Des' sense of humour is evident in the variety and nature of the goods on offer, there's even a "Moer Stripper"!

After a couple of cold ones with our friends we cruised back to Saldanha and home, it had been a very enjoyable morning and so good to be out on the bike again even though it was a short ride. A short ride is better than no ride.

Last ride for 2013 and first ride for 2014

It's 2014 folks! Can you believe it? WTF happened?!

Our last ride for 2013 was last night just after 20h00, it was dusk with just a little of the last day's light left low down on the horizon, a wonderfully calm summer evening and we rode through to Langebaan to collect our sushi platter from the Chinese restaurant.

For reasons of safety I cruised along at a moderate pace, that road around the lagoon is notorious for small buck and the last thing I wanted to do was see out the old year in a hospital bed. We collected our sushi and turned for home, just a 20 minute ride but it was really pleasant cruising through the growing dark. I have always loved riding at night, seeing the powerful headlight carving a bright space out of the darkness and the occasional glance in the mirrors revealing the red glow from the tail light, the two of us isolated in the dark has an almost magical feel about it and we don't do it enough.

 One of our favourite places is our spa bath, the other is our motorbike saddle so this year we chose the former as the place to be to welcome in the New Year. Sushi, cheese and biscuits and JC LeRoux sparkling Sauvignon Blanc made up the feast and what a thoroughly enjoyable way that was to see in 2014, I sincerely hope that all of you had an equally wonderful time and may it continue as it started for all of us.

Our first ride for 2014 took place some 11 hours later, I must confess that earlier in the week I had hoped to go for a long ride but come the day I was feeling a bit sluggish. I had eventually hit the sack at about 02h30 and my bloody cat woke me up at about 06h30 so with only four hours of sleep I decided on a local lunch.

We haven't been to the "Oliphantskop Farm Restaurant" for quite a while and feeling sure that all of the more popular places would either be closed or full we opted for one of the quieter places.

It was a lovely day, that first day of 2014 but I could feel a cold wind beginning to blow out of the south, we took the longer way around and arrived at the restaurant just after 11h30, we were the only customers.

A bottle of cold, crisp "Durbanville Hills" Sauvignon Blanc at R80 hit the spot, Janet ordered a hamburger in her ongoing quest for the best burger and I ordered 500g pork spare ribs, they were so good I regretted not ordering the 1kg portion, tender and tasty and not smothered with an overpoweringly sweet basting sauce as is so often the case. Janet's burger was good but not the best so the quest continues.

We finished the meal off with a whisky Dom Pedro each and with the usual gratuity for the attentive and pleasant service the bill came to a very reasonable R310. The Oliphantskop Farm Restaurant is just outside of Langebaan opposite the Mall at the intersection with the Club Mykonos access road, well worth a visit for a quiet experience, a limited menu but I recommend the spare ribs - the 1kg portion!

We rode directly home, the wind was by then blowing quite strong out of the south and there was a very heavy fog bank making its way in, I have ridden the bike and am happy but a longer ride beckons - let's see what the new year brings shall we?