Saturday braai for two

In between strong southerly winds on Friday when I was riding and strong southerlies forecast for Sunday when the Capetown toy run was being run, Saturday was a very pleasant day. We had nothing arranged so I suggested a braai just for the two of us, Janet jumped at it, she loves sitting at home relaxing in comfortable clothes.

I got my fire going at about 11h00 and while there was still flame I cooked some Skilpaadjies in my cast iron skillet.

 

These are a much loved South African delicacy, for my overseas readers Skilpaadjies (pr.skill-pie-keys) are made with lamb's liver wrapped in the caul or spleen fat. Some people like to braai them over the coals but I prefer to do them in a pan, less likely to dry them out this way.

 

They don't take long, I take them off when the liver is still pink and let them rest - delicious with my bottle of Merlot!

 

Whilst we were enjoying those I sorted out coals for my second part; succulent Karoo lamb ribs. We are lucky here in that although lamb is quite expensive the quality and the flavour influenced by the plants in the Karoo that they feed on makes for extremely good meat.

 

These were excellent! We took a break, a gap after the ribs and in the meantime I had two yellow sweetcorn mielies and a large "hassleback" potato, wrapped in tinfoil cooking on the coals.

We chatted, listened to music, drank wine and just relaxed. We have a busy period coming up; a bike club function, we're also entertaining my club brothers and sisters here at home and then mid December we fly over to the UK so we're busy, it was nice to just chill and discuss things.

Lamb shoulder chops marinated in olive oil, garlic and red wine, I make no apologies for a lamb braai, we love lamb.

 

The meal, simple basic but oh so good. We're going over to English winter so maybe we'll have another couple of braais here before we go!

South African Police Service initiative and the art of riding really slowly

One of the joys of being retired is the ability to go riding any day of the week! My bro Gerrie posted on the W.M.A (West Coast Motorcycle Association) page a request from S.A.P.S for bikers to join a "Blow the whistle on crime" campaign to encourage children and young people to report crime in the coloured and black community in Vredenburg. This was to take place on Friday morning and they wanted bikers to make a noise, what better invitation could there be?

Eventually there were eight bikers on seven bikes that made it, we arrived at the school where the march was to start and parked. Straight away the little boys gathered to have a look at the bikes.

Little boys like motorbikes just as much as the big boys do and we had lots of requests for them to sit on the bikes while the parents took photographs, of course we were only too happy to comply, get some future bikers!

The Police were there in force handing out sweets and plastic whistles to the children and the noise of whistles was quite deafening! From there we were to follow behind a fire engine leading the procession to another school hall where there would be snacks and treats and a talk on reporting crime to the police. The problem for us was that this was to be at walking pace!

Those of you who ride motorcycles know how difficult this can be, especially for any extended period, we were wobbling and balancing our way at 4kmh for almost an hour, clutch, brake, foot down, clutch, brake, stop, go, no chance to wave at the crowds along the way but we were able to rev the engines and blow the hooters.

We eventually, after what seemed like an age, parked up at the second school and immediately were surrounded by eager children wanting to see the bikes. It was a happy occasion and we were all glad that we had taken part, the crowd all crammed into the hall for the speeches and snacks at which time there was a unanimous decision amongst the bikers to head off in search of a cold beverage.

from left; Sooi, me, Daan, Linicia and Gerrie

 Of the eight bikers that took part I am really proud to say that five were Meeulanders, these are my type of people, bikers are genuine down to earth people, what you see is what you get. They would give you the shirt off their backs if you needed it but also don't get on their wrong side! I'm proud to be one of you.

West Coast toy run - a happy occasion on a sunny day

Sunday morning dawned bright, clear and calm, we had been looking forward to this and the weather certainly seemed to be playing along. In fact it would be rather a hot day later but it was a pleasure to get out on the bike on a happy occasion; the annual West Coast toy run. It is usually run a week ahead of the Italian Motorcycle Club event in major centres so that people like us can do both.

We met other riders in the FNB car park in Vredenburg which was soon almost full to overflowing with bikers, riders had even made the trip up from Capetown to take part and what a vibe it was!

Eventually by around 10h30 we formed up to ride down to Saldanha and the end venue, assisted by the Traffic Department who did a great job but struggled a bit with only three vehicles and a huge mob. Road marshals were also tagged with controlling intersections so that we could have an unhindered ride through.

I was given the honour of leading the mass ride down to Saldanha, around the town centre and through to the car park at the beach club!

What a mass ride it was! I haven't heard numbers yet but just look at that, and not all who attended and donated toys to needy children in our area were on bikes, many locals met us at the end venue in their cars just to be a part of this wonderful event and to add their toys to the impressive collection.

I was well aware of the fact that there would be a huge crowd at the Beach Club bar so as we stopped in the car park I handed Janet my wallet and shouted "Go, go, go!", she rushed off to buy beer while I packed our stuff away!

We're experienced bikers!

Just look at all these wonderful people!

 

 

The Beach Club is a very nice venue for this sort of thing, small but big enough to accommodate all with a good bar and being right on the water's edge there was a cooling breeze to keep it comfortable.

There was plenty of entertainment and refreshment provided for the children who seemed to have a lovely time and the grown-ups seemed happy too! All in all a very well organised event once again, congratulations and thanks to those who did all the hard work and I'm sure there will be lots of happy children at Christmas time.

This coming Sunday is the I.M.O.C toy run which takes place all over the country, we will be going down to the Capetown event which is at the new end venue this year, the Killarney race track - see you there.

Annual memorial service at biker church

Yesterday we attended the annual memorial service for fallen bikers at the "Lighuis" (Lighthouse) biker church in Vredenburg. This is always a very sombre and sad occasion and unfortunately, and I suppose inevitably considering the lifestyle we have chosen, the list of names on the memorial board keeps growing.

A large number of bikers from the various clubs as well as a few civilians attended the service which started at 08h00 and the Meeulanders were well represented as we had quite recently lost our beloved President of many years; Divi DeVries.

Pastor Errol, a biker himself conducted a very moving service and then the memorial board was carried to the front of the church.

 

 Thomas then called out the names on the board and the Last Post sounded over the loud speakers, many were obviously reduced to tears at this point. After the final prayer family members and then friends were invited to place flowers next to the board in tribute to their loved ones.

 

 We all filed silently out of the church and gathered in the car park outside reflecting on those who had departed, remembering how much they were loved and admired. A memorial ride had been organised and for those that wished to take part, a breakfast at the Captain's Cabin in Saldanha.

We rode in a well disciplined formation up to Velddrif then down the R27 to the Langebaan turnoff, over the new bypass and in to Saldanha and some thirty six bikers gathered for a very good and reasonably priced breakfast and as is the way with bikers the mood was by then relaxed and somewhat more festive.

 

Please Lord our memorial board has enough names.

Black Monday

Last Monday people of all races gathered together all over the country to show support for our farmers and to try and bring attention to the continuing murder of farmers in South Africa.

Seven club members met before sunrise to ride through to the gathering just outside of Paarl, myself, Gerrie, Daan, Willie, Elsje, Sooi and Linicia got on the road at 05h00 and arrived to an incredibly crowded scene just after 06h30. There were already thousands of people with a continuous stream coming in all the time.

 

 

 

The prayers were incredibly moving as were the testimonials and calls for peaceful resolution by the wife of one of the farmers who was recently killed and by his friends and neighbours.

From there the procession went in to Capetown, led by the hundreds of bikers that had turned up, followed by farmers in tractors and harvesters and then the massively long line of bakkies and cars. I heard later that it took literally hours before the last of the vehicles could get out.

Let me emphasize here that this was in no way a racial protest, these gatherings took place all over the country and concerned South Africans from all walks of life, "No Farmers, No Food!" was the call.

There have been some voices of reason in the South African government calling for an end to the attacks to stop the country degenerating into another Zimbabwe but a concerted effort is required. I read recently that the United Nations is now calling on Jacob Zuma to put an end to the farm murders or face sanction, we definitely need help.