To Plett and back aka freezing at 0 deg C

Myself, Dorothy and Wahl did a ride to Plettenberg Bay leaving Centurion on Friday morning (23 April) and returned today (Tuesday).

Our plan was to stay to cover 785km for the Friday and stay over in Steynsburg. Due to some road repairs and stop and goes we decided to stay over in Burgersdorp as when we got there at 5:30pm it was already getting dark and was already a cold 10deg C.



Stayed in Jubilee Hotel, had a few drinks and supper and then to bed for early departure to Plett.








...and what a start to the Saturday morning: 0.50deg C!!



.....and it got worse...down to -0.50deg C.

It was so cold that the lake had steam rising off it while the air temperature at that point was 0 deg C.







When we got going again, this was waiting for us in the distance




Thick mist for at least half an hour of our trip to Hofmeyer.

.... and for the hour it took us to get to Hofmeyer the temperature did not go above 3deg C and most of the time hovered at 1.0deg C!

Needless to say this was a welcome sight when we eventually got to Hofmeyer


Nice warm breakfast and coffee and a look around in this interesting shop




After breakfast we covered some amazing roads. This up Olifantskop pass


The road from Cookhouse to Paterson was awesome - high speed sweeps (sorry no pictures).

Got to Plett in the afternoon and stayed at Amakaya Backpackers






Sunday we took a ride through Blaauwkrans Pass to Storms River




Storms River




...and then on to Storms River mouth for lunch


...then back through Blaaukrans (why should we pay a toll when there is this beautiful road?)








Stopped at Nicks Place on the way and met Wahl's alter ego..


Monday morning we got going as the sun peeked above the horison. Stopped for breakfast in De Rust






...and on through Meiringspoort


After a day of 936km we decided to stop in Christiana for the night.

Tuesday we left at 7:30 - a late start for a change.

And then 10km before Bloemhof it went pear shaped for Wahl. He felt the back wheel start snaking in a turn and lost control, when down an embankment, was stopped by a barbed wire fence and was thrown off the bike over the fence.

He complained of a sore back and could not get up - an ambulance took him to Bloemhof hospital where x-rays showed he had broken his right shoulder.

What appears to have happened is that the rear tyre (Anakee) de-laminated and the tyre lost a piece of rubber. Eventually the canvas wore through and the blowout resulted.


Dorothy met Wahl at the hospital while I sorted out the bike collection


...and then joined them at the hospital. It was decided to transfer Wahl to Klerksdorp and we waited with him until the Netcare ambulance arrived.

They then prepped Wahl for the tranfer


..and he was met in Klerksdorp by his Lauren (his wife).

So, what had been a good trip until then ended on a somewhat sad note - thankfully with injuries that are not too serious.

What is of concern - another accident where the rider was not at fault.

Thanks to Dorothy and Wahl for a great 5 days riding!

Nice one! Sorry to hear about the accident Wahl! Hope you recover soon...

Thanks for the report Dave, everything seems fine up until the last day!
I was thinking about you guys as I rode home in the rain from the office on Friday Afternoon , wondering if you had missed the rain. Then again on Saturday with the cold and wet weather not stopping . Most importantly you are all back safe, even if Wahl is a little dented in the process.

AWESOME WRITE UP DAVE, Wahl you just cant seem to get a break at the moment. sorry bud. heal up soon.

Thanks for the report Dave,
sorry it ended so badly for Wahl
Good that you guys were there to help.

Ag nee Wahl

Ek het juis komputerwerk vir jou. Nou sal ek moet wag tot jy weer mens is

Jammer om te verneem. Bly jy is net seer en dit neem sy normale tyd.

Ek hoor net van GeSe wat loopvlak verloor... Tyd vir 'n RT?

An update from Wahl. The doctor sent him for a scan of his back today.

He has compression fractures in verterbras T4, T5 and T6. T6 is the one of concern as it is unstable (think that is the term?).

He will be transferred to Eugene Marais Hospital on Thursday and will be going into high care and will be operated on to pin/fuse the vertebrae.

Lauren will let me know details regarding visiting etc.

Sterkte Wahl, hoop alles verloop goed .

Nice pics, Dave. Looks like the weather was good down South!

Great of you guys to help Wahl like that, makes our Club special!!!!

And now, a lot of us with Anakees are going to either become paranoid and change brands, or hope that it does not happen to us.

Wahl was transferred to Eugene Marais Hospital today (29th April 2010). He is in highcare and is only allowed 2 visitors per bed.

Visiting hours are 15:30 - 16:00 and 19:30 - 20:00 for anyone interested in paying him a visit...

Thanks for the update

Will definitely go and visit him

They served very nice Tea when I visited Mike after his neck op
(even if it was meant for Mike !)

Another update on Wahl from Lauren.

He is going in for surgery today (Friday) at 2pm so will not be available for visits for the rest of the day. Suggest you call the hospital first before going to visit if you planning to visit after today.

They will be operating on his shoulder and his back during the time in theatre. Will apparently be fusing vertebraes T2 - T8.

Keep him in your prayers for a successful operation.

Wahl en Lauren,

Ons dink aan julle en ons weet dit sal goed gaan

Frik en Betsie.

Betsie????

Is die turbulensie nou 'n permanente nietigheid op die VK?

Vertel ons meer asb... Op 'n ander thread dalk???

Wahl came out of theatre at 5:30pm. They only operated on his back as that was the most important so he will still need an operation on the shoulder.

Wahl being transferred to Herfsmed, Webb street, Queenswood today.

GPS Co-ord: S25 43 38.1 E28 15 11.8

Below is a picture of Wahl's bikes tyre taken by the dealer where the bike was taken after the accident.

In the picture it can clearly be seen that a piece of the tyre is missing and the canvas is showing.

The insurance assessor says that this was probably caused by a pothole cutting the tyre or some other object. If this is the cause it must have happened some time before the tyre burst because there were no potholes on this section of the road. Of this I am positive as I rode along this stretch of road after the accident to see if I could perhaps see the missing piece of tyre and would have seen any potholes.

Please say hello to Wahl for me. I have been thinking of him and wondering how he is progressing. Did not make it to see him - in East London at the moment till June.

Same here.
Please wish Wahl a speedy recovery
WE miss him !!