One Dam, lots of dust and three Skurwe okes!!

So, today was the annual Three Dams Club Trip that happens in February each year. Initially I was not all that worked up about the ride as I have done the roads in the area many times before, but a ride with the club is ALWAYS worthwhile, so it was with great enthusiasm and excitement that we met at the usual starting point at the Atterbury Shell Garage.
After Pieter did the route briefing, advising us all about the do and don’ts of Club riding, as we had a number of newbies on the ride, we were off. Included in the group was two Orange Machines, straight from the dark side of Dual Sport Motorcycling, a 990 and a 640 nogal. Now I have HUGE respect for these bikes, and one normally assumes that anyone riding an Orange Beast CAN ride. But these two machines were WAY to clean for my liking, so I thought, we will see.....

So after the 640 gets dropped in the parking lot, in front of ALL the BMW riders, I guess that can happen to anyone, and I really felt bad for the rider, I regret not having met him, we set off towards Erasmia for the first taste of dirt. I shot ahead to take some pics at the Hennops River crossing, but sadly it was bone-dry. When we did the crossing last year, it was a different story, with Pauli having to drive some Lady’s 4x4 through for her.

Here are some pics of the “dry” crossing:
Our Trip Leader – Pieter de Koker


Bruno


Drix


Deon, one of the three Skurwe’s – will explain later


Shangali


KaTooM 990


Dani, the sole lady, AGAIN, and Andre Bezuidenhoudt Snr


Andre Bezuidenhoudt Jnr


KaTooM 640


Marius with an old Funduro in close pursuit


And our patient, loyal and dusty sweep for the day, Colin



More to follow:

Then, after the dry river crossing, we made our way through the Skeerpoort towards Breedtsnek Pass. We were warned in the briefing that we might encounter some mud, but I am still looking for that mud. All we found was dust, dust and to top it all off, a little more dust. I feel for poor Colin, the oke had to scratch the dust out of his eye sockets at Van Gaalen’s !!!

Again, I made my way up Breedstnek Pass in front so that I can get some pics of all the dusty devils making their way up the Magallies berge. But bloody Pieter rides so fast, that as soon as I stopped, he was there already. So I missed taking a pic of him. I got one of both him and Bruno as they went up the pass in the distance.

Here are some of all the guys on their way up the pass:

Bruno in a happy mood


Duncan doing some low flying on his way up


Pieter (also one of the Skurwe’s) making his way up the bends


The 990 on the way up


Two pics of the lone lady, Dani, WELL DONE!!! – Check the face in the 1st one



Shangali


Marius


Andre Bez Jnr.


640 up and up


Andre Bez Snr.


The story of the three Skurwe’s to follow:

Great pics and report back
Thanks
Looks like it was a great ride !
Well done Dani !!!

After a nice rest at the top of Breedts Nek, we descended the pass again and took some lovely dirt roads back to Van Gaalen “Kaas-plaas”. As I mentioned, we did not see any mud, but I am actually very glad about that. The road had seen its fair share of rain, and was very rutted at places. It would have been quite a different story in the wet.

After lunch and few cold ones, most went their separate ways back home, but a few of us, including the two KTM’s decided to take the same road back through the Skeerpoort and back via Erasmia. Joining us for the dirt road back was the road-ride leader for the day, who has been known to delve into the fine art of gravel road riding on occasion. He does ride a 1200GS after all, Richard Hussey.

Now, this is where the story of the three Skurwe guys fits in. See, on the way back from Harties towards Erasmia, you pass this little hill on the left, called the Schurweberg. Now, there is this little track that leads to the top of the Schurweberg.
But to get to the start of the track you have to ride this very nice little “2 spoor paadjie”. I was leading, and thought to myself: “Let’s just go to the bottom of the climb, and see what it looks like”. So I was leading, and took the 2-spoor path.
When I got to the start of the climb, I saw that the KTM’s were nowhere to be seen, only GS’s. I found that strange, but anyhoo. So then, standing at the bottom of the climb was myself, Pieter, Deon, Bruno, Colin and Richard. I thought “Hey what the hell let’s go for it”


Eish,
I have never in my life worked so hard on a bike, EVER. It was steep, VERY rocky, VERY rutted and washed away, and I was all over the place, trying to just keep my momentum going, because if you lose momentum and stop, you are screwed. All went well, and I felt good, until I came across a badly washed away section, I hit a rock with the front wheel, it threw me off line, and I lost momentum and balance all at the same time, and went down.
So now, I am BLOODY tired, BLOODY hot, BLOODY angry at the stupid rock, and my bike is lying in the only line there is. As I got up to move the bike out of the way, Pieter came bobbing up and down on his way up the track. But as my bike was lying in the line, he had to stop, and so he lost his momentum.
I managed to get my bike out of the way and Pieter attempted to ride to the top to turn around, but with no momentum, he made it about 10m before he came down. And then Deon followed and parked his bike behind mine. We managed to turn all three bikes around to head back down, but we were TIRED!!!!!!!

I snapped my radiator hose in the fall, so I had to get the bike all the way down with the engine switched off. It was not as hard as I thought it would be. Pieter and Deon managed to ride their bikes down. After about an hour of struggling up and down that mountain, we finally met up with the other three still waiting at the bottom.
We fixed my bike with some cable ties and had a good couple of cold ones at Zwartkops Raceway, we needed it!!!

Here are some pics, not a lot, as I was barely able to stand, so tired was I.

I did not get Pieter’s fall, but it was spectacular. Here it is after we picked it up


Here is Deon, parked behind my bike. He did not fall here, but lower down, he went into a huge rut. He will e-mail me the pic he took, and I will post.


And just to prove that I was actually on this ride, here is my bike having a rest. Check that rut man!!!


See how far the guys at the bottom are – this is at 18x zoom!!!



So to my fellow two Skurwe’s, thanks for the help and attempting that climb. We will make it soon.
Thanks to the guys for a lekker kuier and drinks at Zwartkops.
Lastly thanks for all the people that joined in this Club trip, it was an awesome ride, and thanks to Pieter and Colin for leading and sweeping!!!

PS:
I do actually like KTM’s!!!!.............. and their riders!!!!!

I'll reserve comment till the last part.......I smell something brewing

thanks for sharing





ok my post was made more or less as the last part was published........and I was correct

difficult to understand for me but nontheless a great read

MadnohB wrote:I'll reserve comment till the last part.......I smell something brewing

thanks for sharing

Huh ???

Wat mis ek ?

If any of you guys (Dani and Drix as I recall) have some pictures please post them !!!!

Dankie....

PHEWEEE! Tough one Skurwes - tough one!

Say what?!?! No mud, jissie-nee where was I this time (I do so love the mud [not] ). Just think, I could have had a "mudless" ride. Next time.

Well done Dani and thanks for keeping the "gals" name high. I may not make every GS ride but I'll be joining you again sometime soon and then there'll be two of us.

Thanks for the report Sharkie, fun reading!

Ah, I have recieved Deon's e-mail with his photo:

Yo Yo Yo

Thanks for the report and pics, Sharkie!
I really enjoyed today's ride - Thanks to Pieter and all the others for the opportunity to gain experience.

Sharkie wrote:If any of you guys (Dani and Drix as I recall) have some pictures please post them !!!!

Ag nee Sharkie, the pics I took are very smooth.. nothing skurf or exciting about them, but here they are:
1 dam and 19 happy bikers

Some of the GS (dirty) faces ready to eat at the Kaas-plaas



As for the Skurwe manne - Wow.. but why?
Not needed for Sani Pass I hope..

oh yes and "long live the cable tie"?

Wow! It seems I missed a great ride - except for the last skurwe part! I was really looking forward joining in the fun, but on Saturday me and the YZ450 had a slight altercation with the ground, so I was licking my wounds

Note to self: don't go do silly rides before club rides

Looks it was a great ride - can't wait to get back on the bike.

It's being collected for its 10k service today so it will be ready as soon as the doctor gives the go-ahead.

Looks like a great ride! Wish I could've been there!

I have done that Skurweberg thingy with a pit bike and that was no mean feat so well done in getting as far as you did.
M

GSlady wrote:As for the Skurwe manne - Wow.. but why?

Want ons kan!!!!


Thanks to all the GSers that came along for the ride. It was as always very enjoyable ride, that is until certain members did that left turn up Schurweberg.


Note to self: Do not ride up Schurweberg with your Seekoei again!!!!!! Even if Colin says it a very easy ride up.....

pdekoker wrote:

GSlady wrote:As for the Skurwe manne - Wow.. but why?

Want ons kan!!!! .....

A mystery to some but a good enough answer

Sharkie wrote:
After lunch and few cold ones, most went their separate ways back home, but a few of us, including the two KTM’s decided to take the same road back through the Skeerpoort and back via Erasmia. Joining us for the dirt road back was the road-ride leader for the day, who has been known to delve into the fine art of gravel road riding on occasion. He does ride a 1200GS after all, Richard Hussey.

Now, this is where the story of the three Skurwe guys fits in. See, on the way back from Harties towards Erasmia, you pass this little hill on the left, called the Schurweberg. Now, there is this little track that leads to the top of the Schurweberg.
But to get to the start of the track you have to ride this very nice little “2 spoor paadjie”. I was leading, and thought to myself: “Let’s just go to the bottom of the climb, and see what it looks like”. So I was leading, and took the 2-spoor path.
When I got to the start of the climb, I saw that the KTM’s were nowhere to be seen, only GS’s. I found that strange, but anyhoo. So then, standing at the bottom of the climb was myself, Pieter, Deon, Bruno, Colin and Richard. I thought “Hey what the hell let’s go for it”
.....

PS:
I do actually like KTM’s!!!!.............. and their riders!!!!!

Hey, dunno what was in your breakfast, but the 990 and I never joined the Skurweberg party. We went home a different route altogether. Good thing too, tried that climb with the Dakar twice before, never quite made it. Second time I was alone and that was when I encountered the Cape Cobra! It's one tough climb, can't believe Pieter even tried it!

Here are my few sedate non-Skurwe pics as well...

Etienne drooling over the 990... Morné, my KTM buddy was very glad when the 640 arrived and promptly rested after the first side-stand incident - took all the anticipated attention away from him



The usual hot air session...




The view...




Tx guys, nice and dusty and fun!

Thanks for the pics Drix !!!

Ja, I must admit, I do not think I had enought to eat at Van Gaalen, maybe I was seeing things......

YES, I did drool over that 990, I still think it is an AWESOME bike!!! I am glad to have met Morne, he is more than welcome to join on further club rides, and put that beast through its paces...

I can tell you one thing, on my way up Schurweberg, I wished I was on the 640, or even the Dakar. My 650 is not made for that red-route stuff, I must have hit the bashplate 20 times!!!!

dakardrix wrote:

Man, I love this pic !!!

The 640 has got to be one of the ugliest bikes ever made, but also one of the most beautiful. If you know what I mean.

It is like a car crash, ugly, but you are somehow "drawn" to it.

I still say, one has to have three bikes:
Long distance gravel tourer = BMW R1200GS
Hardcore Thumper = KTM640Adv
Plastic Bike = Yamaha WR250F

But this is a discussion for another thread....

MadnohB wrote:
Some (very) spirited road touring = BMW K1300S
To p!$s off the neighbours and other serious (high speed) sh!t = BMW S1000RR

fixed

Nee o hel, ek is te bang-gat vir daai bikes !!!!!

Ek sal maar aanhou "drool" oor hulle..............

MadnohB wrote:

Sharkie wrote:....I still say, one has to have five bikes:
Long distance gravel tourer = BMW R1200GS
Hardcore Thumper = KTM640Adv
Plastic Bike = Honda CRF250X
Some (very) spirited road touring = BMW K1300S
To p!$s off the neighbours and other serious (high speed) sh!t = BMW S1000RR

But this is a discussion for another thread....

fixed

Can not agree with you on the CRF250X. In the MOAM team we have two WR250F's that have been abused by myself and Jan Lock. No problems whatsoever. The lads with the Honda's (ask Bruno Gila) always have problems and it seems that the valves are still a problem. The Yammie is still the weapon of choice for enduro's if you do not go the 2smoke version.

PS I friend of ours had a heart attack on Schurweberg on Saturday on his plastic bike. Very fit and capable rider 44 years old. But it seems that Schurweberg is not for sissies

pdekoker wrote:

PS I friend of ours had a heart attack on Schurweberg on Saturday on his plastic bike. Very fit and capable rider 44 years old. But it seems that Schurweberg is not for sissies

Eish, not nice to hear.

Strongs for the family and friends.




ps. Edited, as I feel my comment was not appropriate.

sorry to hear about your friend Pieter.

I can identify with that scenario........sort of

condolences to the family