Sunday was the scheduled day for the club's monthly breakfast run and as we got up in the morning we could hear the wind blowing, I was expecting Janet to say something like; "You go, I've got things to do around the house and I don't like the wind."
I kept quiet, let her get on with her morning stuff and got dressed for the bike. She came along and although the ride through to the Engen One-Stop was quite windy it wasn't as bead as we expected. We were a bit early but I like my Wimpy coffee.
Time to meet and greet, this picture by Gerrie Pieterse shows Janet just bringing me my coffee from the shop. The wind wasn't too bad by then but already it was hot, we were due to leave at 09h00 and Divi kept it to that,
There was time for me to get a photo of Steven's brand new KTM 1190, he was loving this bike, and how about this "Gunston Orange" BMW?
I love the colour man, reminds me of the 70's.
Kick stands up at 09h00 as advertised and ten or eleven bikes with seventeen people roared out of the parking area and onto the R45 headed for Malmesbury, it turned out to be a brilliant ride, warming up but the wind was not an issue and we maintained a moderate pace through to the N7 and through the town to a garage parking area where the smokers could feed their habit.
Soon after we were back on the road, under the N7 and down to Darling on the much improved, re-surfaced R315. We kept to a steady 120kmh, keeping the bunch together and it wasn't long before we were gathering the bikes together in the parking area of "Brig's Barn" in the town.
As we gathered Janet was already telling people how glad she was that she had come along and how good the ride had been, I could only listen and agree, it had been fabulous - we had maintained a reasonable pace and stayed together, except for close to Malmesbury where there are a few sweeps, I could not keep up with the fast guys but had enjoyed my own experience, that's what it's all about - your own experience.
In the restaurant parking lot I organised the three BMW touring machines for a photo;
Anton on his K1600GT, me with my R1200RT and Murray with his K1200LT (although in retrospect I should have had the orange bike in the middle for the colour progression, maybe next time) but then my brother Gerrie Pieterse took a far more dramatic photo of the three bikes, and this is a classic photo;
Click on the picture to see it full size, it is already my desktop background - well done Gerrie!
Breakfast was festive affair as it always is, the tables were spread out in the shady garden or you could eat inside, we elected to eat out in the garden as it was so hot by then.
Janet and I both had a "three-egg omelette", a great breakfast at a reasonable price, our friend Murray struggled with his meal which I'm sure fed him for another couple of days.
Look how worried he looks! If you're looking for good breakfast venue, give them a call at "Brig's Barn", we've eaten lunch there too and it has always been good value.
The road from Malmesbury to Darling is now in good condition so it is a very pleasant ride, from Darling to the R27 is a slow one, not so good but we all made it in good time and were able to "tank it" to the first speed gantry.
Our agreed destination was "Vlakvarkgat" which you have heard me talk about before,
this was our "absolute-bloody-final" place, actually I had two - the beers were bitterly cold, the company was great, they were bikers after all and it had been a very enjoyable day.
Next, I think will be the Swallows Rally in Worcester, lots of the guys are going to the Buffalo Rally but I have said for a long time that I am not going to the Buff again, let's see what happens, the Buffalo Rally is 20th-22nd and the Swallows is 27th - 29th March - I haven't been to the Swallows Rally for a long time.
By the time we got home Janet was tired but happy that she had come along and that for me is a bonus.
5 comments:
Great shots of those three BMWs. I don't think I've ever seen one that color orange over here across the pond.
Isn't that a great photo, very dramatic. Brandy that colour we call "Gunston" Orange, I grew up in Rhodesia, a central African country now known as Zimbabwe. Back in the 70's there was a cigarette brand called Gunston and they promoted everything with that same colour, back then it was the in thing to have a hot car painted Gunston Orange so that colour brought back some memories for me, not that I ever had a particularly hot car!
Great write-up as usual. Glad I could contribute.
Great pic. I remember those Gunston cigarettes and some race or something called the Gunston 500. I am heading to Daytona bike week this week but wish we had roads and scenery like you guys have. Florida is pretty much flat and boring. Like always great blog and always look forward to reading. Cheers
Thanks Gerrie, your pic is a classic as you can see.
Thanks Michael, yes you're right about the Gunston 500 - enjoy your Daytona bike week, I'm going to read up on it, wish I could be there. Thanks for reading.
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