Remember how I have been saying that the biking calendar is very busy at this time of the year? We can hardly keep up with all of the jols on the go, we rely on groups of members to visit the different events to "show the colours" and represent the club. It does tend to become a bit expensive so people have to chose which events they are going to attend every month, hence our low attendance at the dart run.
After a hectic October we now start with November and things are not going to calm down until mid December, then in January it all starts again!
We started with our monthly breakfast run on Sunday 4th, we gathered at Juffroushoogte for coffee and then rode up the R27 through Velddrif and to the Soverby Lapa which is halfway between Velddrif and Dwaarskersbos. Unfortunately we did not have our traditional "tea break" stop because we couldn't find the "cups" which have been temporarily misplaced since the dart run, I'm sure they'll come to light but we missed the stop.
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| The Soverby Lapa |
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| pic from a previous visit |
The Lapa was rebuilt after a devastating fire destroyed the old rustic place, it now, at first glance resembles a church more than a restaurant but it has a very nice deck and is within a stone's throw of the beach. It is very spacious inside and is under new management so it was good to visit and sample the breakfast.
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| Sampie, Kathy and Hein |
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| Gerda and Janet |
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| Sooi |
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| Bev, Linicia and Willie |
Twelve of us enjoyed a couple of drinks and a good breakfast, certainly better than the one in Philadelphia on the last run. We had a chat with the owner and assured him that if he were to make an Offal Pot we would be there for lunch.
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| Linicia shows off her tee shirt |
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| Good breakfast, R75 included coffee |
As is customary we made our own way home after a very pleasant morning, a good ride and a good bunch of people.
Wednesday 11th was the second meeting of the newly formed "Book Club" and the five founder members met at the Phoenix bar at 14h00.
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| The founders; l to r - Anton, Murray, Willie, self and Daan |
Allow me to explain how the book club came into being; two weeks ago also on a Wednesday I needed to visit a couple of the dart run stops to arrange for the groups and so I posted a message on our whatsapp group inviting anyone who wished to go for a ride to meet me at the Phoenix, these five retired gentlemen pitched up. During the course of our ride around I suggested that we make this type of thing a regular event and that we form a Book Club. The guys enjoyed the ride so much that Murray suggested once a week!
On this second meeting we rode from Phoenix to Charlie's Brewhouse in Port Owen and then a bit later to the Noordblinder pub in Saint Helena Bay. Many books were discussed and a lot of the world's problems were solved before we rode home after another successful meeting. We might have had a sixth member, and maybe Sooi will join us next time as there was a whatsapp message from him later ~ "Shit I forgot the book club meeting, sorry!"~ Anyway the club is not restricted to Meeulanders, anyone able to ride on a Wednesday afternoon is welcome to join, I will post the next meeting on the wider WMA group to see if it attracts more visitors.
This past Sunday bikers gathered at the Lighuis Church in Vredenburg for the annual memorial service to fallen brothers and sisters, always a solemn occasion and obviously a tear-jerker when the names of the fallen are called out.
Pastor Errol is a biker himself and his sermons are always very inspiring and to the point, Janet and I are not congregating people, we attend the biker church once a month but I always enjoy his sermons.
The board bearing the names is carried to the front and placed at the altar and then a minute's silence is observed while a recording of the Last Post is played.
Then the names are read out and friends and family come forward to place a flower in the vase, here Carlo and I place one for the late Divi DeVries, past President of the club. As I have said, it is a sad and sombre occasion and extremely difficult to hold back the tears.
After the service the name board is carried to the back of the building and the congregation files past it on their way out. No more names on this board please.
There is usually one or two group rides organised afterwards, usually for breakfast and a few of us decided to ride through to the Laaiplek Hotel. We had a good breakfast on the banks of the Berg River and the lively discussion and biker banter served to lighten the mood.
Our next event is our own year end function on Saturday 17th, usually a lot of fun.
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