Grabouw

A breakfast run to Orchards in Grabouw led by Jeremy Martin.

Meet at the Engen Plattekloof, for the northern suburbs for an 08h00 departure. Everything you need to know will be discussed at the meeting point. The map to the meeting point and other information on what to bring is at these links:

This ride was arranged after requests from members. It in no way takes the place of our ever popular "breakfast" runs but does give members the choice of an extra ride between the normal breakfast rides. Once the invite went out the ride was quickly full with a waiting list. The format of this ride was to take no more than 12 bikes so filling it was easy. The group led by myself consisted of long standing members as well as a lady rider who has just joined the Club. We all met at the Engen in Plattekloof at 0700. Just before departure we had a pre trip briefing where the do's and dont's of the ride were discussed. It was emphasized that the ride was in no way a race and that overtaking between the passes was not allowed.

Geoff would be a brilliant fisherman. Imaging him casting the lure: ''Join the Club on this intermediate level GS Off Road ride in the lovely Overberg area on Sunday 22nd November.'' Turn left at the third bush He had 19 takers, two being clever enough to ride pillion. (Neels and Annamarie piloted the back-up vehicle.) From the Engen on the N2 near Somerset West, we vroomed up Sir Lowrys Pass, turning right onto the Highlands road just after the Peregrine Farmstall. Our esteemed tour leader, wiggling the line ever so slightly

Initiated & coordinated by Rynet, this was to be a ladies-only ride. She also managed to persuade me to lead the ride - although I'm still wondering how she managed to do this!! :) She also asked Peter O'Hanlon to be sweeper. He was more than willing! ===Riders=== Rynet - 1200GS Tanya van Niekerk - 1200GS Isabeau Wilson - F650Twin Diana de Klerk - F650GS Tiara - F650GS Peter O'Hanlon - F650Dakar (with a broom) Anne Connell - F650GS Frances Minicki - F650GS (rode with us to the start and had to turn back due to back problems) Sandi Langton - backup bakkie The 1st group met earlyish at the Plattekloof Engen. After a quick briefing from Rynet, they were about to depart, when they realised they'd lost Tiara, who materialised again after she'd found the correct flavour of coffee!!! Um, we later found out that Tiara has very particular tastes when it comes to food and beverage...

A club ride lead by Johan de Jager to the Houw Hoek Inn near Grabouw. Meet at the Engen, everything you need to know will be discussed at the meeting point. The map to the meeting point and other information on what to bring is at these links: * [http://bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/node/1 General Club Ride info and map to meeting point] * [http://bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/faq#41n65 Frequently Asked Questions like 'What to bring and wear?']

This trip was organised by Andy - see his comments on the forum. He organised it a week before. Anyhow, even though there were no other riders besides myself and Andy plus our nephew, we still had a fantastic time with fantastic weather. The roads were quite muddy at various stages, and you had to look out for ruts. We used exactly the same route as the previous time (see trip report). This is a relatively easy off-road trip with mostly good dirt. There is also quite a bit of tar in between. The scenery was alive with canola fields and blossoming orchards. It was not too cold and we had sunshine most of the way.

A Fork in the SceneryAndy & I decided to redo the Beginner's trip with a few variances on the way. We started off at 9.30am from Gordon's Bay in brilliant but cold weather and took the Viljoenshoop turnoff after the Peregrine Farmstall. We meandered down this road at a reasonable pace (ahem a bit faster than last time!) and ended up on the Kleinmond road. We continued on tar, turned off into Caledon (as previously) and then followed the route till we hit dirt again. The roads were much drier, and I was quite disappointed to have no puddles and drifts to practice in....

Beginner’s Trip 1 July 2007 After much planning and discussion, the beginner’s off-road trip finally began on Sunday 1 July (original plan was 24 June – postponed due to terrible weather) The numbers were down from 10 to 7 riders, and in the end there were 4 beginner bikers and Geoff with Nelmarie riding pillion. Terrible weather the day before made the other 3 riders chicken out. Guess what – we had SUPER weather, although slightly on the cold side to begin with. The 4 beginners were Tanya, Jan, myself on F650GS bikes, and Dawie on his 1200GS. We thawed out with some coffee at the Peregrine, which also did nothing to calm our beginner nerves. After quite a long briefing with some good tips and tricks, we were finally off at 10am down the Viljoenshoop Road. Some of the tips and warnings made some of us even more nervous. I’d been down that road a few years back in the Landy, and we had to 4x4 our way through some of its slote, so I was worried…..