What GS's are made for! Cullinan dirt ride . .

What a great day!
We (Marius and I) were prepared to meet Happy at the Shell and will then decide which way to go..
But he wasn't there.. so the two of us decided: let's start with the gravel roads between Boschkop and Old Bronkies Road and onwards to Valtaki and maybe a drink on the way home at Sambok - an easy 50km or so of gravel for a lazy morning.

Just before we started, a call from Happy came through. Although a bit late for the initial appointment, he still wanted to join us and will meet us corner of Hans Strydom and Lynnwood where he needed to fill up his Yamaha 250.

As we turned in at the garage on the said corner, another GS pulled in. And another. And another.


Club friends Graeme and Max who were joined by two other friends, Des and Pieter, were planning more or less the same route - and more! - and we promptly decided to join up!

Graeme knows the roads so well and led the way. Marius kept an eye on me from sweep position and I was smiling all the way!
Somewhere between ... ermm .. let's say at another dusty intersection, not too far from Cullinan, our roads crossed with a very familiar figure on a brand new XChallenge - Sharkie on his Solo Recce Ride!

In conclusion: Seven bikes, old & new friends and several happy hours on the road, (including a brunch in Cullinan and a last beer at Sambok with Sharkie) made for 250km of gravel roads - and back home just in time for the rugby at 15:00!


Max, Marius and Alun - (Graeme and Des were too quick for the pic!)

Marius


Thanks Graeme, for the unexpected, GREAT company and for showing us all the back roads! That's what GS's are made for!?

Have to post this one


PS: Thanks for joining Happy and well done on a great ride!

Nice,

Good running into you guys, today was a great day for riding!!!

Well the day started with me being very lazy. Doing nothing much. After loafing for 2 hours, I decided to take a shower. Feeling rather refresh from the shower, not completely dressed I decided to visit the forums. That was when I saw Dani mentioning Marius and herself wanting to start at 08:00. Looking at the clock I saw the time was 08:15. Thought that I may have missed the trip. Having nothing planned for the day I decided to try my luck. So I phone Dani, after hanging on for answer (Dani was putting on her helmet when her phone rang, and had to get to her phone) she answered saying they were about to depart and I was in luck! We then arrange to meet at the Engine at the corner of Hans Strydom and Lynnwood as it is close to me and on the way out towards the east, also save time that I don't have to go to Shell. I got dressed quickly, put on all my riding gear, grabbed the keys (both F650GS and TTR250 keys on say ring). Hopped on my bike, gave it a little warm up before making my way to Hans Strydom to meet up at Engine, believing that the trip would be short just being the 3 of us.

Upon arriving at Engine, I was pleasantly surprised not to see 2 GS, but 6. Having enough fuel for 80 km I thought it was enough, until Marius promptly told me to fill up, for the trip would be much longer. I was glad to see Max was there, also coming on this dirt road trip after both of us had unfortunate incidents that resulted in us not riding back from the Waterberg GS trip a few months back. As this was my first trip on dirt again since the Waterberg trip, I was concerned about my ability on dirt. Though having a few extra riders and Max being there with support by Dani and Marius too sure lifted my spirits and wild sense of adventure. This trip would also be my first dirt trip on my tiny TTR250 (when parked next to the 6 GSs, even though the TTR250 saddle is much higher than my F650GS).

So the trip began with us heading down Lynnwood road to Boskop road, from there about 1.5 km we were greeted by a smooth dirt road. Marius stopped at the intersection, and I passed him to take 2nd last place. Even though the first piece of dirt road was good quality, really newbie friendly stuff (even go far to say it is rated as 0 out of 5), I almost went for a spill at the first river crossing (bridge). I almost did not spot the dip in the road right in front of the concrete of the bridge. Spotting it too late, I had no time to pick a new line to go around the dip, so prepared myself to hit the concrete lip perfectly straight on and the bounce that would come afterwards. As I hit the concrete I flew forward with my stomach landing onto the handle bar while loosing my balance. I thought I was going to wipe out at that moment, yet lying in an awkward position on my handle bar I accelerated (something at the back of my head said I must not brake or slow down) which actually helped me to move back to my seat and gain control of the bike as I climbed the slope. I did not see Marius behind me, so he missed my horrid line I took. Now my arms was hurting from the shock they took from impacting the concrete lip. As I continued along the road I saw Marius behind me again in my mirrors, my mind was deciding whether to go home once we hit the tar road a few km later or to continue.

The others were waiting for Marius and me to arrive, well I not that fast on my TTR250, only averaging 80 to 90 km/h on smooth dirt. They mentioned they were going to take the Donkerhoek road back to the Boskop road, so I decided I follow them back to the Boshkop road before I head home as my arms and guts was still feeling abused. By the time we got to the Boshop road I was enjoying the ride once more and decided to continue with the trip. Thankfully I decided to continue as the trip turned out to be an awesome trip after all, in good company. We zig zag from the SW side of Bronkhostspruit to NW of Bronkhostspruit (along a rail track at one stage), then to the N of Bronkhostspruit to an area known as Vlakwater (an area well known to me for other sport activities). This is where we meet our first serious patch of water on the side road river crossing as the actual road bridge was washed away again (yes, been washed away 3 times already in the last decade). I slowed down to a stop to pick my line right though all the water crossings, while Dani ahead of me went with full gusto through the water, making a huge splash on the first water crossing indicating that there was definitely water filled dips in the road. Dani, well done on keeping steady and staying on your line. I took it slowly through all the water crossings we came across.

By the small iron refinery that we drove past, I was at 101 km and started getting worried about fuel knowing that I have about 150 to 160 km before having to go onto my reserve. I mentioned my concern to Dani, who raced off ahead of me to the front runners on the tar road to query about filling station. I got the nod from Dani as we turned onto another road (something like Retief), so I was content again. This dirt road eventually crossed over a huge dirt road with a bridge under construction. We turned left to head toward Cullinan. This dirt was actually a new tar road under construction with mounds of sand dumped in the middle for some sections of the road until the Gauteng border.

As we hit the tar road towards I was reading 145 km and no town in sight. I realized I was going to end up riding on my 2 litter reserve soon. While riding down the dirt road I felt the first miss fire take place indicating I was about to run dry, so I stopped. Reading was at 156.2 km. Marius stopped behind me concerned that I ran out of fuel. Once I switched over to my reserve, I started again and headed down the road. As we exit the dirt road onto the tar road I saw a bright yellow-orange rider on a brand new white bike, that was rather familiar to my memory. It was Sharkie, doing his solo ride for planning the July Club GS run. Once we arrived in the town, I stopped off to fill up with fuel. I done 165.1 km from Engine.

We had a lovely lunch at an outdoor restaurant near the Cullinan mine. Pieter (sp?) left us so now we were 6 riders instead of 7. After we enjoyed our meals, we decided to zig zag back to Pretoria. The road next to the rail track was in excellent condition allowing us to really ride at speed, 100 km/h. Only to mislead me in a little surprise with the road turning left sharply, I slowed down slowly and not to brake hard as there was loose sand on the bend. I ended up coming along side Dani on the outer bend before I slowed down enough to allow a gap between Dani and me to form before the next sharp bend to the right.

We continued our journey, crossed over the N4 for the 4th time on our trip, before taking the road that ran along the side of the N4. This piece of road was the worst part of the trip. There was gravel made from crushed roof tiles, rocky pebble down slope that I stopped before the descend to pick my line and dropped to first gear to take is slowly down. Rather bumpy ride down at the end we stopped with Dani going a little ahead of us to take pictures of us. We were a little two fast for Dani, with Dani only managing to get 2 photos of us that Dani posted above. Soon after that nice stretch of dirt road in the 2 pictures, the road became very corrugated with plenty thick loose sand at some spots. No matter what speed you rode, you just could not find a happy speed to ride.

The last dirt road was the road to Sambok, via Donkerhoek. Here we bumped into Sharkie again. We had a drink or 2 before we departed on our separate ways. 70.7 km from filling up in Cullinan, to give a trip total of 235.8 km between start and end points of trip.

I must thank Marius for being our sweep for this trip. Thanx to all who was on the trip today. I really enjoyed the ride, and especially enjoyed riding my TTR250. I felt a lot more confident and comfortable on this bike today. The best of all it is my first dirt road trip with a group of club riders that I did not fall off.

Dani, thanx for posting the last picture.

Thanks for sharing. Great to meet other club members on route!

Thanks for sharing!!! I'm sad that we couldn't join in any of the great trips you had over the "long" weekend....

Excellent! I sure beats baby sitting

Hopefully next one I'll be "available" to go "there"