Polar Bear run, 24th August 2019

Way back in 2008 Des and Dan, bikers from Velddrif decided to start a winter ride as their businesses kept them off bikes during the summer, they made some phone calls, made some plans, made some enquiries and the Polar Bear Run was born. The idea was that it would be held right in the middle of winter to separate the men from the boys and I was lucky enough to be invited to take part in that first ride.

We have just had the twelfth run this past weekend and the weather was glorious. I have been on ten of the runs now, I missed two due to family commitments, and on all of those runs we have only had rain once. It has been cold sometimes but that is the reality of South African riding, even in winter there are fine days.

We started out riding to distant destinations, between 400 and 600 kms from home, and the first four runs were like that, we partied hard on the Saturday night but then had to make the same long journey home which was usually hung-over and not very enjoyable. Following discussions it was decided that we should try a nearby destination with a long looping ride on the Saturday which then only involves a short, direct route home and on the fifth run we did just that. It was much more pleasant and since then it has always been thus.

So it was that this past Saturday was again to be to Porterville which is only 95km directly but we were to do a 300km loop, ending up at the hotel in the late afternoon and what a great ride it turned out to be.

Once again it was a beautiful day for riding, calm, warm, no wind and the bikers gathered at the "One stop" in Velddrif eagerly anticipating the ride and the party that night.

 Greg would be on his Harley, he took over organising a couple of years back after Des left the run.

Dan and I chatting here, Dan is also an organiser and he would be leading the group of ten or eleven dirt road riders, or "Stoffmoffies" as they are known here to the hotel via some back roads. I was to lead the group of eight road riders.

Nobody told us that there were four Stop/Go roadwork sections between Dwaarskersbos and Eland's Bay! Quite often we jump the stops, much to the ire of the attendants and flag-wavers and simply pull aside when we come across the oncoming traffic, but this time we couldn't because the road sections were in such bad condition and the edges were either cut-aways or banks of gravel, we just had to be patient. We had no train to catch, we had the whole day but there was a beer waiting!

It was shortly after 11h00 when we reached "Vensterklip" anyway and the bar was just opening.

We parked up in the dusty car park and went to the rustic pub in the old farm building for a cold (and cheap at R16) beer, it went down very well, only one beer and back on the road, next stop Lambert's Bay and maybe something to eat at "Isabella's Restaurant" in the harbour.

Unfortunately the restaurant was crowded, which was to be expected as it is the height of the flower season so we settled for a beer and moved on, 30km up the road towards Clanwilliam is the little town of Graafwater with it's tucked away, hard to find hotel.

We've been there before but I missed the turning, anyway we found it and enjoyed another cheap, cold beer. With the beers at R16 each I considered staying there for the weekend! Time to move on and this time we were going through to Citrusdal golf club 117km away.

It was an outstanding ride, the road through to Clanwilliam was relatively quiet and we cruised at around 140kmh, descending the long sweeping curve I was pleased to see that the Clanwilliam dam was pretty full, much more water than the last time I saw it about a year ago.

We joined the N7 which is now an absolute joy to ride, lovely smooth surface, sweeping bends and lots of overtaking places to pass the numerous 18 wheelers that use the road back and forth to Namibia. Another cheap beer at the golf club! Only 57km to our destination, it was early afternoon and still I had not had anything to eat, never mind we had a cheese and wine stop coming up.

Gerrie left first, we had the Piekenierskloof Pass to negotiate and he is the crazy corners guy, he would wait for us at the bottom. The pass was first built by Sir Thomas Bain in the mid 1800s through the neck in the Olifantsrivier mountains and descends from 520m above sea level down into the Swartland, the modern pass was opened in 1958. It is a lovely surface with wide, sweeping bends, a couple of tight turns to catch the unwary but I'm afraid I don't like it very much, it is a very busy road used by big rigs carrying loads between Capetown and Namibia and I am ever mindful of diesel spills.

We all made it safely and met up at the turn off, we soon found a shady spot to stop for the traditional cheese and wine party. This took its origin from the first run back in 2008 when at a roadside smoke break Graeme (who no longer rides with us) took a bottle of wine and a small piece of cheese out of his pannier and shared them with his brothers.

With only about thirty kms to go to the hotel we had a leisurely break and a chat, drank a bit of wine and had our first meal of the day and then headed for the hotel.

There was a slight mishap when Chris' zorst pipe fell off, they recovered it and when it had cooled down enough Gerrie tied it onto the back of his bike and carried it in to Porterville for him. Chris would have to ride the 140km to Capetown without a pipe the next day.

We settled in, got comfortable and Chris was tasked with lighting the fire for our braai later. The Stoffmoffies arrived shortly after us, dusty but happy after a good ride, drinks in hand we relaxed and chatted as the sun went down.     

 Once again the hotel supplied us with some great steaks, a potato salad, pasta salad and a coleslaw and by the time the fire was ready there were some hungry bikers! Chris and Ashley helped with the braai, I char-grilled my own in the flames and it was a very good meal.

 The party went on into the night but by midnight only Van, my brother from the Gypsy Jokers and I were the only ones in the bar,

The lovely bar lady came to us and said that they wanted to close at 00h30 but that we could go with them to another bar if we wished, so we took them up on it and went to a noisy, happy place called "Kwagga's bar" a few blocks up the road. There we were plied with loud music, more whisky and shooters that tasted like "toilet duck". It was a raucous and enjoyable experience and I eventually climbed into bed at around 02h30.

 I was up and at breakfast by 08h00, two cups of coffee and a good greasy breakfast soon had me feeling better, in the meantime Sean was out on the main road riding his bike wearing only his boots and jocks, his name having been pulled first out of the hat last night, he said that people in the street could see how cold he was!

 I was glad my name didn't come out because as the song says; ~"I don't look good naked anymore!"

The ride home was not as enjoyable as the ride there but at least it didn't take long, Gerrie and I rode together through some very thick morning fog and then lowering grey skies and I was hung-over, but what a great jol it had been, thanks for including me and thanks for the memories you guys ROCK!