Testing New Templates for www.trail-rider.co.za: Touring Breede River Valley

Day 1

When you get invited to a wine farm next to the Breede River you have to accept! You’d be stupid not to…

Weather predictions were not favorable, but it’s not been a deterrent before.

Soon we got a Southern Cape posse together - 5 bikes of which 2 would cancel before we actually left – which left Letsgofishing, Saddam and I to hit the road to the farm Kniediep, the venue for the bash.

LGF met me at my house at 8am and we hit the road to Groot Brak where we’d meet Saddam. It’s was a beautiful day.

We met Saddam at Pine Creek in Groot Brak and after he filled up we were on our way.

We took Gravel all the way doing as little tar as possible. We really live in a scenic part of South Africa.

At Swellendam we decided to stop for some beer and lunch. Man it was hot! Luckily the beer was ice cold and the lunch great!

From there we took the road towards McGreggor and Kniediep.

There were interesting sights and scenes along the way.

We were running an hour late, but the guys on the booze cruise boat did seem to mind.

The cruise was great and the booze dirt cheap!

Then it was back to the campsites to pitch our tents and party till the wee hours. As usual my bike was a big hit. You have to get used to all the attention when you ride a dream machine like this.

After a great time around the fireplace the people started peeling of one by one. Finally, by about 2am, everybody got some rest…

Day 2

Sunday morning we woke to a wet Breede River Sunday morning.

Reluctantly everybody started breaking up a wet camp. The road off the farm was very muddy and slippery and expectation of photographing a few off’s were growing. Yellowfewer had lunch plans and was the first to try and leave…

He slipped and slid out of the camp, around the corner and out of sight when we suddenly heard the bike rev and stop. Yep – he came down like a sack of potatoes. He even tried to pick up the bike before we got there, but Wild Dogs are faster than that!

This turned out to be the only fall of the morning as everybody else got out fine. Getting out is one thing – staying on the bike in these conditions is something else.

Rooipoot (on a Suzuki DR200) would join us on the remainder of our trip. The first stop would be Robertson for breakfast and fuel. The gravel roads there were slippery and I had a few heart stopping moments, but eventually we reached Robertson cold and wet already.

While fueling up Tok Tokkie and his wife rolled in and decided to join us for coffee while we had our breakfast. The owner of the Soprano’s Restaurant was friendly enough to open early and accommodate us.

After a short stint on tar to Montague…

...we finally reached the gravel towards Ouberg Pass. Right from the start it was clear that this road was very very slippery and the rain was not letting up.

Ouberg Pass is a beautiful ride though and well worth the visit! I’ll definitely come back one day and ride it in better weather.

The roads were BAD though. As slippery as snot! I seriously had some very close calls (as did the others). You’d be riding along, concentrating on the road, when you’ll see a large muddy section approaching. The first bike would hit the mud and start sliding all over the place. Then the second, then the third and then you’d hit it with all the luggage on the back wanting to overtake the front. Talk about chomping on your seat! And this would happen over and over and over again…

Then at times it would rain so hard that the whole road would be full of water. The problem with that is you can’t see the little ditches under water and suddenly your front wheel would want to follow an old spoor a vehicle made without you expecting it. Rooipoot very nearly came off when that happened.

When we reached Warmwaterberg we were wet and cold but in high spirits. We conquered a difficult section of road and all bikes stayed upright - I guess we won! Rooipoot even still had the pineapple he bought for dinner. We paid and proceeded to pitch camp.

A few cheers were in order on a great route well ridden and after a few drinks we headed to the hot spring pools to soothe the cold and tired bodies. We were also joined by Eisbein who was spending his weekend at the Warmwaterberg resort with his wife and some friends.

Maybe if the sun was out LGF could have helped himself to a tan as well.

Once again we had a great braai (like a BBQ) and chatted till late before turning in. Tomorrow we’d tackle Gysmanhoek Pass and the road home.

Day 3

After another rainy night we once again woke to a wet camp. Saddam got some bad news from home and decided pack early and hightail it home via tar. Rooipoot, LGF and I took it easy and packed up camp by about 9am. After we said our goodbyes to Eisbein & co. we headed off direction Barrydale.

3km down the road we stopped at the world famous Ronnie’s Sex Shop for the obligatory photos.

The bar was still closed though…

Shortly after we left the rain started again.

In Barrydale we stopped at the Country Pumpkin for breakfast. We were greeted by friendly staff that treated us with a sherry as we walked in.

While we were here another Wild Dog walked in – BMWPE! Nice to see you again. And as we were about to leave Eisbein and Vicky walked in. Hope you guys enjoyed your breakfast.

This establishment is very biker friendly and the food is great! Any biker can pop in any time for a free coffee or tee, they have very reasonably priced accommodation (including breakfast) for bikers and we even got 10% off the total bill because we arrived by bike. On top of this all we each got our “wings” – a metal Route 62 bikers pin shaped like pilot’s wings. I strongly recommend that any bikers traveling through Barrydale support this venue.

We bought really nice Breede River Valley Maps here and decided to take the tar Tradouws Pass over the mountain and follow several gravel roads to Gysmanshoek Pass.

This was the first time I’ve been on Tradouws Pass and even though it is tarred it is very nice.

Just over the pass we hugged the mountain traveling East along the gravel farm roads. What a road! Eisbein told me before that this road is absolutely amazing, but this surpassed even that description.

And once again we encountered some watercrossings

‘Tis the season to be jolly

On the turnoff to Gysmanshoek we said our goodbyes to Rooipoot (who rode back to Villiersdorp) and set out to Gysmanshoek Pass.

The first time I rode Gysmanshoek Pass I was bitterly disappointed. Eisbein told me that riding it from the Western side (the road we traveled now) and over the pass was much better and it is. It’s amazing how different the same road can be from different sides. This is definitely worth it for any rider coming from the Cape Town side.