Another alternative route to Moorreesburg
About three weeks ago, I suggested to Grego that we do a day trip to Moorreesburg. He was keen, so we started discussing and planning routes. Soon, there was a thread going on the Wilddogs forum. Most of the guys plan rides for Sunday mornings. I prefer to make church a priority, and luckily we live in Cape Town where (in summer) it only starts getting dark after about 7pm!
Grego and I decided to meet at 11h30 at the usual spot – the Richwood Total garage. We let everyone else (on the Wilddogs forum) know that we’ll be leaving later if anyone would like to join us. A couple of guys put their names down under the “late sleeperzzzzzzz” section.
After church on Sunday morning, I was rearing to go, so I hop on the bike and shoot over to Richwood garage to wait for the rest. I was busy checking and adjusting the pressure in my tyres when Grego pulls in. It’s not long before we were both ready, and waiting for the rest. Nobody comes... A quick phone call to some people who I had telephone numbers for, and we then realise that it’s just gonna be the two of us. No worries, I just wanna hit the gravel – let’s go already!
We both flex our right legs, and two XR’s roar to life! :D At first, we take it easy on the tar – we all know what affect an XR and a stretch of tar road has on rear tyres. We took Malanshoogte road past all the dairy farms and then Occultdale road through the plots. Slent road led us past the huge Eskom wind turbines and closer towards Malmesbury.
A few minutes after entering the Malmesbury farm district, I suddenly noticed that I don’t have any front breaks!! I changed the break-fluid in the front and back breaks only days before. Anyway, I slowed down, and upon inspection, I find that the bottom bolt holding the callipers in place has come loose, and the whole calliper has moved up allowing the disc to turn freely. I fastened the calliper temporarily in place with a cable-tie. Whoever invented cable-ties should be knighted! By the way, I just Googled it, and Maurus C. Logan was the man behind the handy little things. He came up with the idea, and patented it in the late 50’s. Fortunately, the rest of the ride was pretty uneventfull as far as mechanical problems go.
Just before 4pm, we arrived in Moorreesburg, and met up with the group that left earlier in the morning. They had gone up to the top of the Koringberg, and had stopped for a cold one (same as Grego and I) before heading back to Cape Town. The rest of the guys were gonna slab it back to Cape Town on the N7, but there are few things that I hate more than a monotonous straight road! We decided to rather do the alternative route backwards (from Moorreesburg to Cape Town).
We stopped at the old abandoned Kanonkop railway station on the way back to take some pics, and probably picked up most of the 3- or 4 hundred duwweltjies! :o
I noticed that my tank was leaking petrol quite badly (about a drip per second!), so we were really gunning it along the old jeep track to get to a petrol station before I ran out. Grego hit a melon with his front wheel, and fortunately managed to stay on the bike.
Nothing much else happened on the trip, and we pulled into Cape Town around 6pm. All-in-all a fantastic ride! :)
Grego and I decided to meet at 11h30 at the usual spot – the Richwood Total garage. We let everyone else (on the Wilddogs forum) know that we’ll be leaving later if anyone would like to join us. A couple of guys put their names down under the “late sleeperzzzzzzz” section.
After church on Sunday morning, I was rearing to go, so I hop on the bike and shoot over to Richwood garage to wait for the rest. I was busy checking and adjusting the pressure in my tyres when Grego pulls in. It’s not long before we were both ready, and waiting for the rest. Nobody comes... A quick phone call to some people who I had telephone numbers for, and we then realise that it’s just gonna be the two of us. No worries, I just wanna hit the gravel – let’s go already!
 |
| My XR650R (Priscilla) - waiting patiently |
 |
| Grego arriving |
We both flex our right legs, and two XR’s roar to life! :D At first, we take it easy on the tar – we all know what affect an XR and a stretch of tar road has on rear tyres. We took Malanshoogte road past all the dairy farms and then Occultdale road through the plots. Slent road led us past the huge Eskom wind turbines and closer towards Malmesbury.
 |
| One of the wind turbines at Eskom's Klipheuwel Wind Energy Facility |
A few minutes after entering the Malmesbury farm district, I suddenly noticed that I don’t have any front breaks!! I changed the break-fluid in the front and back breaks only days before. Anyway, I slowed down, and upon inspection, I find that the bottom bolt holding the callipers in place has come loose, and the whole calliper has moved up allowing the disc to turn freely. I fastened the calliper temporarily in place with a cable-tie. Whoever invented cable-ties should be knighted! By the way, I just Googled it, and Maurus C. Logan was the man behind the handy little things. He came up with the idea, and patented it in the late 50’s. Fortunately, the rest of the ride was pretty uneventfull as far as mechanical problems go.
 |
| The early-risers - already finished Koringberg and their beers, now heading home |
Just before 4pm, we arrived in Moorreesburg, and met up with the group that left earlier in the morning. They had gone up to the top of the Koringberg, and had stopped for a cold one (same as Grego and I) before heading back to Cape Town. The rest of the guys were gonna slab it back to Cape Town on the N7, but there are few things that I hate more than a monotonous straight road! We decided to rather do the alternative route backwards (from Moorreesburg to Cape Town).
We stopped at the old abandoned Kanonkop railway station on the way back to take some pics, and probably picked up most of the 3- or 4 hundred duwweltjies! :o
I noticed that my tank was leaking petrol quite badly (about a drip per second!), so we were really gunning it along the old jeep track to get to a petrol station before I ran out. Grego hit a melon with his front wheel, and fortunately managed to stay on the bike.
Nothing much else happened on the trip, and we pulled into Cape Town around 6pm. All-in-all a fantastic ride! :)
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