Trip Reports

Namaqua Lodge solo tour by Simon Groves

Simon’s Bains passes Tour (At the end of this trip report is a link to my Youtube video of the trip) Sunday 2nd October 2022 After many hours in front of my computer planning routes and booking accommodation, finally today my adventure starts. With day one GPS loaded...

Simon’s Vlog of the BMWMCC Prince Albert two night away mixed surface ride.

A well-organized and fantastic day shared with like-minded people – missing out on this ride would certainly have seen me on the wrong side of the tracks.

Cederberg Oasis has an annual spit braai for adventure bikers, that is one of the highlights of the calendar.

LOS-LIT-LAMBERTSBAAI by Jani. This is by far my favorite trip to do with the BMW Club. It is a great kick off for the year.

When frowns turn into smiles – Cederberg Oasis Relaxed Overnight ride By:-  Carel van der Merwe. The training team of the BMW Motorrad Club Cape decided to have a relaxed overnight ride to the famous Cederberg Oasis for the riders who participated in our training...

Breakfast ride Koppikofi Porterville 26th September Sunday morning, 5am … I’m wide awake! A bit nervous, but more excited! Today is my first breakfast ride on my own bike with a bunch of awesome people I fell in love with since I joined the club back in February. So I...

Sutherland all-tar ride by Rowan Williams-Short   What a weekend! While it’s still winter in the Southern Hemisphere, why not head by bike to South Africa’s officially coldest town, Sutherland all-tar ride. A group of about 17 riders and a three pillions met at...

To soon we reached the railway crossing where we joined up with the N1 again at Konstabel. Why in the name of Peter the Apostle a place would be named after a police rank, heaven only knows. But it is what it is.

Prince Albert and the passes 18th- 22nd March 2021 by Simon Groves                     My wife mentioned to me back in January that she would like a trip to Prince Albert.  Erica is an accomplished artist and had read that this small town in the Karoo is home to some...

Dirt roads took us through the country side and into Greyton, with rolling green hills of the Overberg region that make me feel part of a Windows Wallpaper. Passing Khomeesdrif Camping Site and pulling into Riversonderend at half 10, we took a mix of tar and gravel to get to McGregor an hour later for brunch at the lovely, family run café, At The Courtyard.

As I woke up early Saturday morning, a wave of excitement was running through every single fiber of my existence. Today we leave on our weekend trip to Lamberts Bay! After a welcoming cup of coffee, we got up and started to get ready to leave for the Swartland 1-Stop,...

The lodge was accommodating enough to send us off with a packed breakfast as they did the previous day so that we could leave at our usual early bird schedule. We went back up to Middelpos and then all the way down the R354 to Matjiesfontein. It was a strange sight we witnessed of a lone baboon, with no mountains for miles around.

After breakfast we left for Vanwyksdorp via the Rooiberg pass. The tar road turn to gravel and the the gravel road turns into a narrow road over the pass with some twisty rocky sections. The pass has a constant steep climb and you are soon elevated to beautiful views and a change in vegetation.

Once on my feet I saw that Peter had also gone down about 20 meters behind me. Warning the others, I was able to watch Stephan and Ernst make it through while Baron did a spectacular off in front of the camera.

Most of us took the route over the Franschoek Pass home. It was great seeing the dam 100% full, even the big yachts were out sailing. On the way home I stopped on at the Saggy Stone Winelands Pub and restaurant for a pint of my favourite craft beer in the shade of the Oak trees.

Coming down Hoek se Berg, we were treated to visas of wild flowers down in the Biedouw Valley where we stopped for roadside lunch at 12:00 just before rising up the Kouberg Pass to Wupperthal. Going through the town, you can see clear evidence of fire damage in the area. Everything happens slow in this area, and one can’t blame them, the journey to the outside world (and resources) is a long expedition away.

In a sincere effort to be socially distant, we packed a picnic and flask for lunch. We set off at 09:00 and up the N1 this time and over the top of du Toits. At least that’s what I’m told because I couldn’t see a bloody thing with the sun in my eyes! Next time we’ll leave earlier, I promise. I entered a very blissful state, coming down into the eastern catchment area, surrounded by dramatic mountain faces watching over the morning travelers. Even though we had a long day ahead of us, I was in no hurry. Unusual for me, but I was enjoying it.

What a glorious start to the MotoGP 2020 season! I cannot write about motorcycling without mentioning the aliens that are those racers. Seeing as almost every weekend from now until November will have either MotoGP or WSBK race weekend, I hereby declare that all Sunday breakfast runs will be held on Saturdays for the rest of 2020 (Apologies to the club ride leaders if this causes issues…whoops)

We are trying to come up with innovative ideas – like adding a sacrificial sign board lower down for anyone to add stickers (even that will cost a considerable amount of money) or developing a culture of rather putting the stickers on the back of the sign or even better, not add it at all.

With bellies full and coffee inserted, we fled south via the R406 and turned right onto the N2 west of Caledon from where we cruised west. As we approached Steenbras Dam, Steve’s bike gave a little splatter even though the gauge said 50km remaining, but while whispering sweet nothings into his steed, Steve managed to coax his ride up Sir Lowry’s

At the start of Lockdown Level 5, I made myself an infinite To-Do list of jobs that just never seem to get done. One of the more interesting items was to sit myself down and learn how to use my GPS and Basecamp Software, also, to learn some basic geography. My riding tactic is usually to find the starting point and just follow the bike in front of me. I’ve come to the conclusion, that I have to figure out where the hell I am in the world.

This one is biker heaven. 301 corners, 866m altitude drop, river monsters, remote villages, 38.2 km of gravel mountain pass through indigenous forests and the rolling hills of the Wild Coast.

An engine kicks, a flash of light and movement from up the road is the trigger needed, the beast are ready and roll in unison, hierarchy sorted and in formation.

UNLOCKING OUR LIVES

The time has come to start living a normal life again. Around the world and in South Africa, the tedious process of unlocking has commenced. Now the question is, when will we reach Level 1? From our point of view, it is time to start planning the rest of our collective lives. It is unwise to live life too prophylactically and this can lead to mental illness (Joking, of course!) The message is PLAN A TRIP – with or without us.

This week we you take on a scenic ride (since you can’t go yourself) through an area known as the Klein Langkloof and where we stop in at Katot Meyer’s private nature reserve to reconnect with the botanist William Burchell who maneuvered his narrow wheel base ox wagon through this valley in 1811. There is a four piece video set packed with historical information, so sit back with your favorite tipple (if you still have any left) and enjoy some fresh country air via your device or PC. You’ll need about 20 minutes.

Our brand new video voice narration service in English and Afrikaans called MPSA VOX and a fantastic knew virtual tour guide GPRS activated system on mountain passes called VoiceMap.

Mike, Ed and David … share their West coast around trip to Alexander Bay and back