Breakfast crawl to Cullinan - 22 March 2009

Richard, Harm (not the grievous bodily type of Harm, but the Afrikaans version pronounced "Haa-rim") and I decided to meet up on Saturday morning and do a quick GS breakfast trip towards Cullinan. I phoned Sharkie the day before to get the route following the train tracks, but with the recent rains we decided to rather hit the gravel off the Boschkop road towards the old Bronkhorstpruit road, and if that checked out OK, we would work in some more gravel going towards Cullinan.

We met up at the Lynnwood Engen at 06:00am. It was a great day for riding - cool but not cold, cloudy, but not rainy, and a blanket of mist changed everything into a surreal fantasy world. We stopped just after leaving the tar to disable everything that kept us safe on the road, but more importantly to contemplate the condition of the road we were taking.


Richard and Harm. Harm previously had a Dakar, but this was only his second "roughed up" trip with the GSA. Richard's been riding for some time already and gone to Country Trax before, so that puts me in the middle as far as experience is concerned.


Misty and wet. The road wouldn't get much worse, hey? At least there wasn't more water coming from above...


The spirit of GS - why they were built in the first place.


Time to get going. This was after all a breakfast run and not a photo shoot. This picture SO says "Shared Riding Pleasure"!
Somehow the whole "disappearing like mist before the sun" did not apply here.

We were following the road making quite good progress and found some stretches actually quite nice. The best part was the complete absence of dust. There were however areas where the back wheel lost traction just a little more than expected, and we also encountered some shallow, watery ruts running across the road.

Richard was leading, I was in the middle and Harm was bringing up the back on the Adventure. Harm at the back actually makes a lot of sense. For one, if he should have a spill, I would not have to pick a line around him!

We were settling into a nice groove when Richard came to a stop and we were confronted by what seemed to be a series of inland lakes right in the middle of the road! We stopped and Harm contemplated the size of the GS Adventure relative to the size of the pool in front of us. I was fighting my own demons having had a couple of "incidents" involving (much less) mud.


This looks like at least Category 3 stuff!

Richard is however more a man of action than words, so he got up, looked up and opened up... The first pool was much deeper than we all thought and he made quite a splash going in. He cleared the first pool and the second long one with relative ease and steadiness. With the misty conditions fogging up things, Richard had left his visor open. The initial splash left him drenched and the muddy water was running down his half-opened visor, impairing his vision. Coming out the second pool, a rock in the middle of the road redirected his bike to the right. The surface unfortunately did not allow for emergency stops, so when he saw the fence next to the road, he brought the bike down into a side-sliding halt.

When we noticed Richard leaving the road, Harm just asked "Is he supposed to go that way?" We parked our bikes and made our way through mud and puddles to assist with the recovery. Richard was fine, but the bike's rear wheel hugger broke off. Harm and I tried to convince Richard to go back so we can take another route, but obviously he was not going through this alone. We then walked Harm's GSA through.

Walking through the water holding onto the GSA's frame, water was seeping into my boots, which I did not appreciate. But I did get a good feel of the texture at the bottom of the pool. It was reassuringly firm and even. Walking back I made up my mind and decided to give it a go... with my visor closed and taking it "as slow as possible, and as fast as necessary". I was still supposed to make a mental note of pushing the kill switch when I drown the bike, but that left my mind as soon as a started my GS.


Me taking the plunge! She was unexpectedly steady and solid in the water and this went a long way to keep my eyes up so I could focus on a line coming out on the more slippery stuff.


Nearing the end of the swim. This was one hell of a ride!!!!!! The GS was steaming like an angry dragon!


Richard inspecting the damage on his bike. Fortunately only cosmetic in nature.

We reached the Old Bronkhorstpruit road without further difficulty and turned toward Cullinan. On the way there we turned off to do a short circular route that Richard knew. This turned out to be a very pretty 2-spoor trail steadily winding downwards until Richard called a stop. His front wheel got stuck in some real sloshy mud. We decided to rather leave the road and hack a path through the veld.


Front wheel going in... Richard and Harm are debating the "hardness" of the mud.

After a short while we came to a stop again - this time because an imposing rocky hill was standing in our way. Only Harm had knobblies fitted, so Richard and I had more difficulty getting good traction with wet tires on the rocks. But a helping hand here and there and we all made it up top.


Richard revving up the rocky hill... or was it a hilly rock? Somehow pictures never capture the actual steepness of the hill...


One adventure coming right up...

After conquering the hill and making it back to the main road, we realized how hungry we were, so we decided to cut a straight line to the food. The road towards Cullinan was covered with that boring black stuff with only the odd pothole demanding some attention. We had a very nice breakfast at the Lemon Tree and I had to resist the impulse to take off my soggy boots until I got home (something that caused my feet to wrinkle up in some interesting ways!!!).

We took a much less interesting road back to civilization and only stopped to say our goodbyes and take a last picture. It was a great morning ride and we once more realized how blessed we are to be able to make an adventure out of nothing other than mother nature, the finest motorbikes ever built, and our friendship and camaraderie.


Richard, Harm and I finishing off the morning with a smile.

Great report! The close trips are sometimes the best!

Very Very Nice !!!!

Thanks for sharing

Did you take a GPS Track log of the route? If you did could I please have it, that little rocky climb looks interesting.......

Great report with beautifull pictures

Good report and well documented with pics……you certainly have a way with words Marnus - thanks for sharing

mmh….. I have to think about this one for a while

seems like any great off road trip includes at least one fall…………..like I said, I need some time to think.

……..maybe it’s just a mind set thing……….on the black stuff we try our utmost not to go down……..so that we can call it a great trip

Wow.. 3 brave men...
Great report, spectacular pictures!

MadnohB wrote:……….on the black stuff we try our utmost not to go down……..

Believe me, we also try our utmost not to go down!!!

That is why we like the off-road riding, yes your risk of falling is higher than on tar, but your risk of serious injury is much less. We very rarely fall at speed, we normally fall at slow speed when you loose your balance or if you cannot keep the bike upright in a technical section.

If you fall on tar at speed, it is whole different story, so you see, dirt is safer......

I feel compelled to say something more at this stage...

The reason for my trip report was not to scare the living daylights out of prospective/inexperienced GS riders. I rather wanted to show that obstacles that seem impossible at first can be overcome with a bit of courage, common sense and experience...

Experience however comes through action and pushing yourself that little bit further everytime (within reason, of course!) I would not have done the water thing a year ago either

Anyone that wants to spend some time in the saddle, on da gravel to gain experience / confidence is welcome to contact me at any time and we can tackle a more sane route

And if there are any people going on the Sani trip that feels like riding up a gravel mountain pass or two for practice, let me know, because I'm going up a couple over the next few weeks... and taking it very easy...

Great report Marnus! Thank you for sharing!!!

Somtyds, maar baie somtyds, kry ekke ok lus vir 'n GeeS!

...veral as ek stories soos hierbo lees.

Nou gaan ek eers op-en-af spring tot die lus wegraak.

Somtyds, maar baie somtyds, kry ekke ok lus vir 'n GeeS!

...veral as ek stories soos hierbo lees.

Nou gaan ek eers op-en-af spring tot die lus wegraak.

Very cool ride report!

I must say I do not enjoy falling but sometimes, it is the only way to learn new techniques. Off road riding is so much more technical and difficult than on road riding. Luckily as Sharkie mentioned, usually a fall is only injury to pride and nothing more.

Next time you guys plan something like that, I think I should come along.

M

@ Marnus.........eintlik sommer vir alle toekomstige GS pelle

ok, speaking for myself…….time to level

Compared to some of you here, I’m a complete noob.

However, I owned a GS before, done the Zwartkops introduction course, been on gravel and bliks@med down in sand more times I care to remember. The progressive (potential) damage to my bike (after my sand encounters) was amongst the reasons why I decided to sell the GS. So I thought……..maybe my approach/attitude was wrong. Therefore, I will ask a lot of questions here as I’m really keen to learn.

Now, reading reports and watching the pictures from adventure riding trips - which I btw really enjoy - , one thing remains a constant…..the falls during almost every trip. The “why” can be debated and I’m sure for a lot of them, there are “justified” reasons.

The question I need to ask myself is, will I take my bike through conditions where I know full well beforehand I’m going to walk away with some damage. I’m not yet on that page where I regard “battle scars” as character .
Note the reference to the bike and not the person.

Saying all this, please take my word……I’m not criticizing any opinions or actions different to mine……..I’m here to learn…….really and please……….

keep on doing your reports the way you have been doing in the past……..even if it’s just for amusement value……….nah, just joking.

I might make some noises but you don’t scare me. On the other hand, my ego is not too big for me to admit when certain off road situations are above my ability and willingness to take on.

Someone suggested elsewhere “baby steps” (see I take note of all the advice) and I guess the more you do off road, the more confident you get. There are very few things I wouldn’t attempt on tar but I have learned never to let confidence overshadows respect for the bike and the conditions.

Don’t think I’ll ever become particularly fond of mud and sand…..not on a GS anyway and also my aim is not to win the skills challenge at the GS challenge but rest assure, I’m observing, listening and reading a lot about “your world” and who knows, soon I’ll have the courage to join a formal group. Another lesson learned a long time ago…..there will always be people more knowledgeable than you regarding certain situations but luckily some will be less knowledgeable as well.

I’ll do a couple of dry runs (pun intended) all by myself or maybe with a friend (personal trainer) or two before that time though……but I’m working on it.


A reaction like this will probably get me fried in a place like “Wild Dogs” so fire away…….I don't plan to go away

Wow!

What awesome misty pictures you guys took. While I was getting my boots, you lot were having huge fun. Thanx for the feedback of this very interesting adventure. Definitely beyond my level of skill at this point of time. Maybe one day soon I be doing these kind of terrains too.

great report marnus! next time you might consider inviting some club members looks like you guys had great fun!

Jamie, you are SO ready for the Country Trax course. Although the course is meant for anyone who can at the very least ride straight on a smooth gravel road, I think someone like you and Dani will benefit the most!

This is part of the criticism, or rather limitation of the 1-day Zwartkops off-road intro. You get to learn some theory and then gets exposed to it - and that's where it stops, unless you go and practise and I know of nobody who does that.

Jan's course make the theory part of your fibre as you repeat it in different ways for 3 days on end. On day 2 it is sobering to see how most people battle with exactly the same exercise they mastered on day 1, and similarly, but way better on day 3. I am a very average rider, but most of my buddies were astonished by my improvement after the course.

And because of that you will really enjoy gravel 10x more afterwards, knowing that what you do will put the bike in the best position not to get damaged.

Amen.. just do it now! Would love to see you master the Bumble-bee the way you are master of the K!

Wow ... I'll maar stay on the tar ....