Don't worry, it's going to be an easy ride.........or so I'm led to believe

Roadie to GS rider – How was your ride?
GS rider – Lekka man, actually bevange, I have had 3 falls…….like I said…..lekka man




When I go out on tar, I’m in familiar territory. The boundaries of how hard to push, when to do so and how low to go down are known to me. Stupid things like what to take with for a ride, how to pace oneself during a ride and even where to refuel come natural.


This time around I will be somewhat out of my depth. (very) Cautiously optimistic in anticipation. Not scared but a fair few uknowns.

well I got meself a pair of GS gloves and ready or not, gravel here I come

……….and now I’m typing in the dark as earth hour has begun………

stay tuned for episode 2

Jamie, stop killing us with the suspense. Tell us of your exciting experience.

Happy-go-lucky wrote:Jamie, stop killing us with the suspense. Tell us of your exciting experience.

um - I think you are asking a bit early - he is probably out riding right now!

Back and still in one piece .......ook maar net

somewhat of a personal triumph. ......furthest that I have ever been on gravel in one go

Learned quite a lot and amongst others:

…….there is no such thing as an easy ride on gravel…….just too many variables which is cool......sort off a challenge

The overall classification might be easy but boy those tricky sections tested my will power and confidence (more accurate the lack thereof).

Sand (ja fo$%en sand), mud, water crossing, rocky sections and just for good measure a “sloot” or six. The "normal" gravel roads were fine, dis in daai tweespoor paadjies waar die onheile broei

Nice ride which I enjoyed thoroughly albeit a lot more stressful than “blitzing” down the black stuff at 200 and plenty









you just have to take my word that the described obstacles did indeed excist. I was far too nervous to think of photos……..in anyway, only had one thing on my mind…….. get to the other side

BIG thank you to my “personal tutor” for taking me along. The Shark-man certainly knows his way around gravel although he had to put up with somewhat of a handbrake today. He was not shy to share his wealth of knowledge either and be assurred - thanks to him - it will get better

THANKS MAN

oh yes………..

above all expectations my bike is also still in one piece



I think it might take a month to clean properly though

Where is the dirt that supposed to be caked on the bike.

Glad you arrived back in one piece and enjoyed the trip.

Where did you two go today? Scenery looks good from the photos taken.

What an AWESOME ride today!!!!!

Great bikes,
Great roads,
Great weather,
Great scenery,
Great company,
EVERYTHING, just bloody GREAT!!!!

The road we took had a bit of everything, some rocks, some mud, some stunning dirt highways, even a twisty tar mountain pass, a river crossing, and of course some sand.

I am not going to reveal too much of the route, but all I can say is that the April Club ride is gonna be AWESOME!!!!

Thanks to Jamie for a wonder full ride, I had a blast!! You can ride the club GS rides any day my friend!! One day I will learn from you how to handle those tar twisties properly. I was stressing my a$$ off around some of those bends, and suddenly, a blur, which I could vaguely make out to be a 800GS came flying past me, it looked like I was looking for parking, and just like that it was gone. It was so nice to see that 800 lying flat in the corners.

Sharkie wrote:.......The road we took had a bit of everything, some rocks, some mud, some stunning dirt highways, even a twisty tar mountain pass, a river crossing, and of course some sand.

uhmm ja well no fine............

like I said, "tweespoor paadjies" they are buggers.

this is not meant to scare takers for next weekend’s ride, just to outline my own inexperience on gravel………………

after the “incident” I did not see much of the scenery, I was watching Sharkie like a hawk…….as hy in sy neus krap, dan doen ek ook so…….just for in case.

ok, the lead changed lanes (in the tweespoor) well in time. Me no, I stayed left and when I saw the sand, it was too late to change. Now in the first 1200km, the GS and I came to like each other, you can say we bonded nicely and we learn to trust each other.

En so wragtig daar het ek ennie bike vandag ‘n menigsverskil – ons eerste………..I wanted to stay left but the GS wanted to go right and it sent me flying like a trapeze artist over the handle bars. In my peripheral I saw the mounted GPS is about to hurt me where I don’t particularly fancy to get hurt so I opened my legs and……..it missed me.

Nice thick bed of grass next to the “tweespoor” so no harm was done to either of us.
Well not exactly true………my ego was hurt and bruised……big time. To top it all, Etienne said, just stay put, let me see how the water crossing looks like (within walking distance from where I blik#@med down “so onwaardig”)

Die man praat met my soos ‘n kind…….follow my line, check my exit point, keep your head up and don’t be shy to give some gas.

I took out the grass from……well every where, gathered my wits, pray, closed my eyes and did the only familiar thing to me I could remember from his conversation – give it gas - and voila………no problems through the water crossing

bietjie styf vannaand but I'll be back.........

Nice one Jamie! Glad you enjoyed it.

Ag nee - are you now also going over to the "dark side" - in this case the sand/dust side. All jokes aside - am allergic to dust - only reason why we have not tried it.

diversity

moving to the dark side?.........mmh don't know about that one

for starters I'm not quite good enough (yet) on the GS to be classified "one of them" ; and

they will have to produce a pretty special GS for me to abandon a bike like the K1300S

Heeha! Well done Jamie!

That road looks awesomely familiar... : Loskop ride report

Hope it's dry this time!

Nice one Jamie

I see in your post you mentioned you had a really good time, oh and you fell as well??????????

Perhaps starting to see the allure? The fall you had is exactly what I am talking about, soft learners that teach you a lot without the lesson being too expensive. Although frightening, it did not diminish the joy of the trip?

Your skills will improve both on and off road now where is the harm in that!!

Well done, you did super well to get such rave reviews from the Shark man.

M

Well well, I struggled to contain my excitement as I read this. Well done Jamie! Looks like you had a nice and easy intro The prospect of sand on the club ride is already making my heart beat faster

And Sharkie - please don't pick your nose on the club ride

Exciting indeed! Well done Jamie!

@ Drix: thanks for the link to your report - Can't wait for Loskop-Sunday!

Welcome to the dark side Jamie . At first it is very stressful and nerve wrecking, but if you get it right, it becomes addictive.....

And you get the same adrenaline rush at much lower and safer speeds, whilst really improving your bike handling skills.

morpheus wrote:......I see in your post you mentioned you had a really good time, oh and you fell as well??????????.......

exactly my point it seems to go with the off road territory......almost mandatory to fall in order to become good at it - which is not the case on road

not too worried about the potential personal injuries although I must admit today I'm feeling like I was hit by a train - twice. My concern is far more about potential damage to my bike and as stated elsewhere, I'm not yet on the page where battle scars reflect character...........think in the mean time I'll keep fixing/replacing as and when required.......hopefully the frequency will be few and far between. The bike was lucky this time as there seems to be no damage........but it's oh so dirty now. Will wait for final assessment once it's clean.

Thank you for all the encouragement from you lot ....it really means a lot. Big up to Etienne who was willing to take me on the maiden long run on gravel.

I accept a few enjoy the amusement value, but I also know that the bulk of comments and words of encouragement/advice are sincere

oh yes the F800GS?.........well what can I say other than I'm extremely happy. The bike's ability outclasses my own by some margin and very economical too. I got more than 20km to the liter for a ride of approximatly 170km gravel and 220km (somewhat spirited) tar

Jamie, all I can imagine is how sore that GPS must be if it did connect you at the wrong spot.

Addictive for sure! Stressful, damn hell it is too! Do it again? Definitely! (of course once my leg is feeling better again)

Well this weekend it will be the black stuff for sure.

Marnus, you afraid you have to pick your nose in your turn of the que.

BIG respect Jamie