Freedom Road, the ride home and a message for the Christian Motorcycle association

This photo by Divi, the club President was taken shortly before I left on Sunday morning, not only was the tent too small for me but it was a mission to fold up and put back in the bag, there is an instruction leaflet but you need two hands to fold the tent so eventually I had to get Frank to hold the leaflet for me! I managed to get it sorted out after a bit of a struggle.

I got back onto the wonderful Bredasdorp to Caledon Road but it wasn't quite as enjoyable as it was on Friday, I was too cold and therefor not as relaxed, the corners felt a bit wobbly so I took it a bit easy until I warmed up and got my mojo back. I didn't want to run out of talent on some tight corner and end up in the wheat.

I took a different, longer route home, actually ended up doing just over 400kms but it was a great ride and I was man alone on roads that I hadn't travelled before, isn't that the way it should be?

Halfway between Bredasdorp and Caledon I took the R326 for 29kms to the N2 and stopped for a very welcome coffee and breakfast in Riviersonderend, feeling much refreshed I pressed 21kms to the Stormsvlei turnoff to Bonnievale and Robertson where this picture was taken. I was impressed by the large number of succulents growing wild in the bush.

Robertson to Worcester the R60 is one of my favourite roads and I ride it fast, 180kmh enjoying the wide sweeps and the smooth surface and most of the motorists move aside - fabulous stuff!

Worcester to Wolseley, they have greatly improved that road and the road-works are almost complete, Wolseley to the Nuwekloof Pass is now an absolute pleasure with double lanes most of the way so it is easy to pass the 18 wheelers. From the Pass to Hermon I rode at an angle leaning into the gale force wind blowing over the road, 17kms of that battering and then it was through to Riebeek with the wind now behind me.

After Riebeek I stopped to take of my jersey and my full gloves, feeling quite warm and I had long ago got my mojo back, having an absolute blast. I was home by 12h30 after a breakfast and two fuel stops, tired (more from lack of sleep) and stiff but happy and ready to do it again, I think this time the Swallows Rally on 23rd March and it's only in Worcester, close by.

To the Christian Motorcycle Association if any of you read this, it was an enjoyable rally but mostly because we make it so. I have a couple of suggestions, some of which you may take note of;

- A beer tent. I know that you guys don't drink alcohol but we do and we all go downtown to the pubs and restaurants, if there was a beer tent we would stay on site more.

- The food stalls were great, some really good food but there was nowhere to sit and eat, you can't stand and eat a greasy breakfast. That big empty area between the food stalls and the main tent would be a very festive area if you put in some seating, maybe the wooden bench and table sets.

-The music! There is nothing wrong with gospel music every now and then, it has it's place but not all the time! The main tent was empty the whole weekend except for the couple of hours for the prizegiving, the dreary music drove the people away, what's wrong with good Rock? Liven things up a bit and you'll get more people.

That's my opinion, I'd love some feedback either from the CMA or from other bikers who go to the Freedom Road Rally.

Freedom Road rally 2015

Breakfast at the False Bay Wimpy was good, by the time we pulled in it was 10h30 and we had been on the road for almost two and a half hours.  Twelve bikes and sixteen people had left the meeting place, which this time had been at the Langebaan air force base, and at which there was some confusion, but we got out on the road on time. I must confess that I did not enjoy the route very much, heading down towards town on the N1, across on the R300 to the N2 on a Friday meant dicing with traffic which was heavy and which made it difficult for us to stay together but eventually we enjoyed breakfast together.

From there we climbed over Sir Lowry's Pass, enjoyable curves and fast straights but we fought with people who did not want to move over, almost simultaneously Jannie overtook a woman on the left as I passed her on the right, she seemed agitated as if she didn't know that all she had to do was pull over slightly to let us past.

We found a pub in Caledon and gathered for a beer, Divi our President said that he and Jannie who were both on CBR's were going to go ahead on the fabulous 80km road to Bredasdorp and they would wait for us outside the garage, I was not long after them after my two beers, both of which which seemed to improve the big red machine's cornering abilities.

Caledon to Bredasdorp, what a fabulous road! Most of the people who read this will know it? A great surface, wide shoulders and long sweeping bends, 180 to 200km/h means that it doesn't take long to get to Bredasdorp and I soon found Divi and Jannie;

relaxing with their bikes waiting for the rest to arrive. From there it is 30kms to Struisbaai and we arrived to find that our camp site had already been set up, what a bargain!

We were teamed up with "Knights of the skies"  an air force club from LangebaanWeg and they had carried our kit in a bakkie, not only that but they had arrived early and had erected all of the tents.

By the time that I had pumped up my mattress and had tried to put it in the tent, which was ridiculously small, it had started to deflate! I was longer than the mattress and it didn't fit into the tent, apart from that I slept on the ground for both nights.
But this is rally - right?

The first thing that the Meeulanders and the Knights do is light a fire; "Ons gaan NOU braai!", the guys are organised and they concentrate on relaxing and socialising. Good meat is on sale as is decent food, Frank and I ate a really good Eisbein and chips that evening, we needed to get our stomachs lined for the party that was to ensue!

Willie found a new friend, "Rocky" who stayed with him for the weekend.  As was usual our "village" had a comfortable Gazebo set up to keep us out of the rain which was a brief problem during the early hours of Saturday Morning.

My good friend and brother 'cois (Soy) a solid biker, and a genuine nice guy, as are most if not all of the club members.
The weather was not all that good on Friday evening, the wind blew and we had a little bit of rain but the party raged on, this was what me and my brother Frank are born for; and we partied on into the early hours, even after everyone else had gone to bed.

Christian Motorcycle Association Rallies are notoriously boring, sorry guys if you read this but it's true. By 03h00 we had nothing else to do but to call it a night! But fear not, I have some suggestions, I will let you know how you can improve the rally, stay with me.

I was awake early on Saturday morning, mostly because I was sore and stiff from sleeping on the hard ground, my mattress, which was smaller than my tent and smaller then me, had deflated during the night!

I was in search of a greasy breakfast, I visited the CMA coffee tent at 07h00 and then saddled up for the short ride down to Cape Agulhas.

It was cold as I rode along the coastal road, the ozone aroma of the crashing waves was fresh and incredibly intense, invoking memories of seafood excursions along this coast in years gone by. I was hoping for more incredible seafood later but for now I was in search of a memorable breakfast and I found it!

The Southern-most restaurant was barely open as I parked outside and strode in, "Bring me coffee and your best breakfast" I grunted as I sat down, still feeling rough I was the first one there but others soon arrived, the breakfast went down singing hymns.

The mass ride was soon to pass my way but I did not feel like joining in, instead I would take photos along the road and follow along,

I parked the big red machine, which is incredibly photogenic anyway, in a convenient spot and waited for the mob to arrive.

The run ended at the lighthouse at the southernmost tip of the African continent, which I learnt from a speech by the local Mayor is 166 years old, still in its original condition apart from some renovations but the original structure remains unchanged - "Ho-hum, time to move on."

I must mention that after a quiet, rather boring, babelaas day I went to have a late lunch at "Seagulls" pub and restaurant, I chose a strategic seat and ordered a glass of white wine, I had the most amazing filet of Yellowtail with chips and salad, the freshest I have ever had,

strategic because I could watch the young waitress with the short denim mini-skirt flouncing around the tables, I could see my motorbike parked below, I was a happy man, loose on the land and having an absolute ball!

Here is "Seagulls", she may still be there but even if she's not, the seafood is fantastic. 

Saturday night back at the campsite was somewhat quieter, we went to the main tent for the prize giving but we were not involved except for Frank who got a prize for the oldest rider, well done my buddy!

Who at any rally has not seen Frank rolling his own smokes? Often he has been asked for some of those by younger people who think he is rolling something more interesting!

I was up early Sunday morning, because I was sleeping on the ground! It was bloody cold at 03h30 and I stuck my head out of the tent, mainly because I wanted to straighten my legs. I lay on my back and looked up at the stars which were incredibly clear and bright, as I lay there contemplating our universe and my place in this massive spectacle I thought "Ah fuggit." and went back to sleep for a while.

The sounds of others packing their stuff reminded me that I must have slept for a little while and I made my way slowly to the ablution block and then to the CMA coffee tent for a cup of hot deliciousness, even though it was Ricoffee.

By the time I left the site it was 06h50 and I was looking forward to a different, if slightly longer way home, I wanted to take Janet for lunch so I had five or six hours, plenty of time to explore.

The temperature was 5,5 degrees celsius as I roared out of the small town, I was happy and looking forward to the day, I will tell you about this and my suggestions for the CMA to improve their rally in my next post - happy man signing off.

Our first club breakfast run for 2015

The first Sunday of the month, breakfast run and the members gathered at the Engen One-stop. It was another warm day and the destination was a restaurant in Citrusdal, a nice ride up the N7 and over the Olifantsrivierbege via the Pikenierskloof Pass. Something to look forward to, the last time I rode that way the temperature was at a killing 45 degrees, it wasn't that hot this time thank goodness.

By the time we had had our famous Wimpy coffee and had chatted with all our friends it was time to saddle up, seventeen bikes roared out of the car park and onto the R45, a nice turn out and five more were heading out from Capetown to meet up with us.
Div set up a healthy pace on his Harley and it was good to see the line of bikes owning the road, we rode through Mooreesburg and onto the N7 stopping for a smoke break just outside of Piketberg. We carried on and stopped up in the pass so that I could get some photos.

Pikenierskloof is a lovely fast road, well maintained with long sweeping bends and a favourite of bikers, because it is the main route up to Namibia it is very busy during the week but on Sundays it is mostly for us and we made good use of it.

 Only ten k's to the "Grapevine" restaurant and by the time we arrived it was warm but luckily the beers were cold.

Everyone divested themselves of their heavy protective clothing and settled into the cool shade, it had been a very enjoyable ride and it was time to relax and eat. As usual conversation revolved around bikes and the ride, what was supposed to be breakfast developed into a lunch by the time we ate but no one was in any hurry.
While we were there five others arrived having ridden up from Capetown, I didn't count the people but Frank said we were more than thirty - an excellent turn out for a breakfast run.

It was a buffet breakfast and the food was plentiful and delicious if rather pricey at R100 per head! By then I was hungry.

As is usually the case after breakfast most of us headed off in our own time but we agreed to stop at Plaasmol on the R45 just outside of Hopefield for a cold one, a bikers pitstop had been established there so it was a good call.

This was new to us, we had stopped here a couple of times in the past but only for coffee, now there's a bar - great stuff! They'll definitely see more bikers pulling in.

We met "Spitbraai" the Namibian lamb, I thought he was a goat but I was assured he was indeed a lamb, too young for the braai at the moment!

A beer or two there and it was time to head home, by then the wind had come up quite strong and we rode the thirty-odd kilometers to the R27 leaning into it. It had been a very good run with a nice bunch of people, the breakfast was good but I don't think I'll rush back there.