Winter Tour: Sutherland

Cliff & Lawrence, Tx for putting a fabulous trip together, the S A L T tour was excellent, and to all those who braved the Matjiesfontein evening Tx guys 'n Girls it was an excellent evening. Ignore opinions, heed facts. Feet on the pegs, always.

Hear hear! What a great weekend. Thanks to everybody involved with the arrangements. It was just great. Even saw (and was part of) some newly discovered singing talent in the BAR at Matjiesfontein. Drank verdra geen onreg nie!! I am eagerly awaiting the first trip report. Regards Christo L

Thanks for a great weekend everyone. A pleasure to spend some time and get to know a few more members, Frank, Steve, Chris and many others. The first long trip on the 800ST and I'm very pleased. My GPS confirms that the bike is capable of doing a double ton plus a little more :-) Thanks James for a brilliant job leading the ride on Saturday. Cliff, again thanks for arranging the evening at the hotel. I'm rushing off for a couple of weeks so I'll defer to James, Cliff and others to put the report together. Cheers Lawrence Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safetly in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadsides, loudly proclaiming WOW, What a RIDE!

Hey thanks for the tip Neil. I already got my yellow dishwashing gloves in preparation for infiltrating the ladies ride.

Hi, I am not going on the trip this weekend, but I follow the thread. I went on a trip to "Die Hell" earlier this year and when we went over Swartberg Pass it was raining and it was freezing. What I did was to put those thin yellow plastic kitchen gloves on under my bike gloves, (the gloves that woman use when washing dishes). It kept my hands dry and most of all WARM! I did get the odd mocking comment from the other okes, but I was laughing last when they could hardly ride their bike because their hands were so cold. Use it, don’t use it and most of all, enjoy the ride! Niel

Cloud there will be NO RAIN....I spent time this week washing,and waterproofing ALL my kit, and bought over-boots....No rain, but take water a drought is imminent, sorry :-)

What are overgloves? I went to Cape Union Mart to get some goodies. I purchased Long Johns and Thermal socks, but have no idea what over Gloves are, the only big glove i could find were Arctic Skiing Gloves. Asking the people there is pointless. 'Hi, do you stock Long Johns?" "Eh, what's that?"

Contact Cliff Wormsley AKA Cruiser and he will register you for Saturday.

Hi Guys Christo Engelbrecht was good enough to let met take over the booking for his accomodation in Kosmossie. Now the next step is to register, but I can't get the link to work. Any idea how I can register and get my name onto the list for the Saturday dinner? Looking forward to doing the Brass Monkey thing, esp. since I will be leaving Kleinmond at 6:00AM on Saturday! :-( Cheers Frank

Hi Andy - this weekend will be the 1st ride again after the accident. Enjoy. Johan de Jager "It's all about the ride, nothing else"

Hi everyone, PLEASE enjoy and have a safe trip. Lawrence to you, Cliff, Brian, PeteO & Neil Terry and all the other people (please excuse me if I left your name out) thank you so much for all the effort and time that you guys have put towards this trip - I really hope that you will have an awesome 1. Johan de Jager "It's all about the ride, nothing else"

Ride Detail – Sutherland 2008 Date: Saturday July 12th, 2008 Ride Leader: James Wilkinson Depart Time: 08h00 Depart from: Engen Plattekloof Route: N1 north to the KLAPMUTS R44 turnoff. Left towards Wellington on the R44. At Junction of R45, meet Johannes Barnard (08h30) Continue on the R44 towards Wellington. Take the R303 through Wellington town center and exit onto Bains Kloof Pass Stay on R303 and then branch right onto the R43 towards Ceres Join R46 and continue to Ceres We will stop in Ceres for breakfast at the WIMPY Leave Ceres on the R46 and continue until intersection with the N! Turn left onto N1 towards TOUWS River Approximately 13km's before Sutherland turn off we will fill up at TOUWS RIVER services Turn left on the R354 towards Sutherland Visit http://maps.google.com/ and type in Ceres or any named place for maps of the route. Overlay the road to Satellite and be blown away by just how stunning the route really is. After crossing the spine of Bains Kloof and the Mitchell's Pass, we drop onto the escarpment of Ceres before ascending to the Hottentots Kloof. From here the road follows a meandering course through the mountains before joining the N1. Once we get to Matjiesfontein, we're into a barren and rocky area all the way to Sutherland. Dress warm, Regards Lawrence Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safetly in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadsides, loudly proclaiming WOW, What a RIDE!

There might be accommodation in Prokureurshuis for the weekend. Call Betsie Muller 023 571 1241

Hi All, Some people have called asking about gear and weather protection. Trevor at Flywheels Trading has some great stuff. 1) Waterproof Overboots - these zip over your boots and are sealed (have a rubber sole) which means your boots and feet will still dry and warm. They're between R190-R210, depending on your size. 2) Kappa 2 Piece rainsuits - these are great. They're thick enough to withstand continuous exposure at high speed and should last for years. They're think enough though, not to be restrictive. Even if it isn't raining, they're great windbreakers which means once you've warmed your layers, you're not constantly getting cold air forced into them. They're also dayglo orange, so quite visible. The suit packs into a small, compact roll which zips closed, thereby optimising space and reducing wastage. Trevor runs Flywheels Trading which is at Unit 7, Northgate Trading Estate, Section Street, Paarden Eiland. You can call Trevor on 0832273577. Cheers Lawrence Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safetly in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadsides, loudly proclaiming WOW, What a RIDE!

Frank, try the Sutherland hotel, not sure of the number but Cheesy has it and the contact person at the hotel is "Koos". This is where we will be having the dinner on Saturday evening as well.

I have just spoken with Denise at Primrose Cottage. It started to sleet a couple of hours ago and now the snow is settling nice and think on the ground. It is not intended to continue snowing, but with temps at -7, there's all likelihood of the snow freezing on the ground. We'll take it easy on the passes until we can see that it is dry and there's no black ice. Lawrence Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safetly in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadsides, loudly proclaiming WOW, What a RIDE!

Here is what you folks look forward too!! Forecast: Friday, 11 July 2008 Min: -7°C Max: 7°C Weather: Partly cloudy. Wind: light easterly Sunrise: 07:38 Sunset: 17:47 Moonrise: 12:31 Moonset: 01:36 Moonphase: First Quarter Forecast: Saturday, 12 July 2008 Min: -7°C Max: 10°C Weather: Fine. Wind: light southeasterly Sunrise: 07:37 Sunset: 17:47 Moonrise: 13:04 Moonset: 02:34 Moonphase: Waxing Forecast: Sunday, 13 July 2008 Min: -7°C Max: 14°C Weather: Fine. Wind: light northeasterly Sunrise: 07:37 Sunset: 17:48 Moonrise: 13:41 Moonset: 03:32 Moonphase: Waxing Keep your feet on the pegs, and your hat on - Safe riding to all

Hi all I see the link for registering is not working, is it too late to join for the ride? My plans have changed and I may be able to join, IF I can find fairly inexpensive accomodation. Any suggestions at this late stage? The e-mails I sent off didn't elicit a response, so if someone has telephone numbers for a place to stay, that would be better. Thanks! Frank p.s. MAN am I glad I opted for the heated grips! :-)

Hi Johannes, My sincere apologies, I've been meaning to reply to you. I think this intersection will be fine. I'll double check on my GPS. I have your number and will call you before we leave on Saturday morning so you know what time to expect us. See you then, Lawrence Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safetly in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadsides, loudly proclaiming WOW, What a RIDE!

Hey all, The road ride will be leaving the Engen Plattekloof at 08h00 (yes in the morning). Here's the route I'm working on: Plattekloof to Wellington Wellington to Ceres Ceres to the N1 (just before the services at Worcester) N1 to the R354 R354 to Sutherland Bear in mind that there is a reservation for all of us to go and visit the SALT and this is at 14h30 in the afternoon. It is 397kms for the roadies, and that's if we go straight up the N1. At 100km/h average, we can do the journey in 4 hours. This means a stop is possible for coffee. If we take the country, scenic route, we'll probably only average 60km/h. This therefore means a 6.5 hour ride. We're leaving at 08h00 and 6.5 onto that only just gets us in on time for the SALT tour. So, it's work in progress and I'm looking to shave as much time off while still keeping the route enjoyable. Will post the final route this weekend. Cheers Lawrence Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safetly in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadsides, loudly proclaiming WOW, What a RIDE!

Please note that Cliff (Cruiser) is in England until June 21st. If you post any messages or PM's he'll probably not have the chance to reply before then. If Charles can send me the list, I'll maintain it in Cliff's absence and keep in touch with Dave at the Observatory wrt numbers. If the group gets too large, we'll have to split it. Lawrence Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadsides, loudly proclaiming WOW, What a RIDE!

Peter everybody intending to be part of the observatory tour and/or Saturday night function is supposed to contact Cruiser (Cliff) as he is arranging both these events. Thus Cliff should have a full list of people.

Does ANYONE know who is going and who will be joining us for dinner and observatory visit? ''The world needs dreamers that DO!''

Can you imagine the fun when Chris Dunn, Chris vd Westhuizen, Chris Zebra, etc join in this conversation ? ;)

We must think of changing names. This Chris, Christo thing is quite confusing. No Christo. Padlangs referred to me.

I hope the Christo referred to by Padlangs is me? Christo L

I have booked my accommodation and put my name down for all the stuff - observatory and supper. Can we see a name list of the riders and guests so we can make sure we're all confirmed? To be sure ... I am riding dirt and meeting one wife (mine) and her friend there. That means 3 in total for the observatory visit and the supper. Thanks. ''The world needs dreamers that DO!''

Hi Everyone, My Wife and I will be joining you for the trip. As "newbies" is there anything that we need to do to confirm. We would also like to join you guys for supper. Andy1200 Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly!!!

Hi All, Cliff has worked with the hotel to bring us a great Buffet menu consisting of soup, lamb, chicken, veggies, potatoes, and dessert (among other things). It's a set fee of R90.00 per head which will certainly make it easier than taking 30 individual orders and then trying to work out the bill! PLEASE REGISTER ON THE SITE IF YOU WILL BE JOINING FOR THE DINNER AS THE ORGANIZERS WILL NEED TO HAVE QUITE SPECIFIC NUMBERS FOR THE CATERING. It's warming up to be a fabulous event in the freezing heights of Sutherland in July. We were also told that the Sutherland Hotel still has a few rooms available at R240 per person per night, B&B. Thanks Cliff, your efforts are greatly appreciated. Lawrence Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safetly in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadsides, loudly proclaiming WOW, What a RIDE!

My wife, her friend and I shall all attend dinner and observatory thanks. ''The world needs dreamers that DO!''

Please include Jean & me for the obs tour. Tx. Ignore opinions, heed facts. Feet on the pegs, always.

Cliff would you please add 4 people to your tally for the observatory and Saturday night dinner. (Chris and Christo and wifes). Cliff thanks for putting this together.

I have given a provisional booking to the NEW owner of the Sutherland Hotel, the restaurant I had booked earlier has now closed down. I do need numbers for the Saturday evening supper. Koos the hotel owner says he has accommodation for the Saturday if anyone hasn't booked anywhere yet.I have also booked a tour of the Observatory at 2.30pm on Saturday and will need numbers again. Sutherland Hotel 023 5711096 Cliff. 0724310472

Both Christo and I will be going up to Sutherland on our own (not with the Saturday group). Thus I have not filled in any registration form, not sure of Christo. Since we did our own booking (sleeping arrangments) I did not see the need for filling in any registration form - sorry if this upends your planning. What form will Saturday's supper take? Will we be ordering from a menu and be paying per table (requiring minimal planning in advance) or is the idea to book out a venue like in 2006 (in which case exact numbers are needed well in advance)?

I trust you have indicated your intentions on the registration form? Christo, I will amend your entry to show that you are attending the dinner with your wife.

Greta and I will also attend the dinner.

Me and the wife will attend the dinner.