By: Séan Hendley
Sean flew down to the Fairest Cape to collect his spankin new Suzuki – and he rode it for 2300KM’s all the way up to JHB. this is part 2 of his trip – if you missed If you missed part 1, you can catch up here.
Do you yourself a favour – go read part 1 – it is actually quite lekker…. and quite informative on places to ride.
DAY 3 – After a quick breakfast and a general check over the bike to make sure all was in order, I aimed for DuToitskloof pass and the Klein Karoo. The pass is currently being renovated, so ‘Stop & Go’ checkpoints were the order of the morning minimising the amount of traffic going that way. This gave me time to try cable tying my phone to a selfie stick so I didn’t lose it trying to get some riding pics and vids for this story.
I eventually abandoned the idea. Once over the rock and onto the Karoo plains the sun stayed in Cape Town and all through Worcester and Robertson I had chilly grey skies for company.
It only reappeared sporadically somewhere just before Montagu, but I had already stopped in Robertson to procure some ear plugs and don an extra layer under my riding jacket.
After a quick refuel, I took the Suzuki through Cogmanskloof Pass through the arch and into the Klein Karoo aiming for Barrydale, then Ronnies Sex Shop for the traditional photo under the sign.
The R62 is a wonderful bit of tarmac winding its way through the Cederberg mountains. The scenery…. Well – you just have to go experience it for yourself – bucket list stuff.
By now, the bike had a few clicks on the clock, the road was perfect, the traffic nominal, but I had a very long way to go to my next overnight stop in George…
So the peace and tranquility of country life was split by a Japanese in-line four 1000cc brute coming on song as I whipped along to Ronnies for the pic, before turning around a heading back to Barrydale at pace for another refuel and the start of the Tradouw Pass.
Tradouw Pass is a bit of road I have heard spoken of on occasion in hushed awe and wistful tones, and longing in the eyes of the narrator. Can a bit of road really be that good? Well…. YES!!! The nicest, newest tarmac winding a black ribbon through towering mountains, dripping with greenery under the bluest skies….
From there on in the scenery just got better as I dropped in on the Southern Cape passing by little villages and towns on my way to the N2 towards George. The roads in this area are sublimely good, not a pothole in sight and by this point I had clocked up more than enough mileage to be able to get on the gas a bit harder.
This was a good thing, being the inquisitive explorer type traveller that I am, whenever I pass through a small town or village I have never been to before, I like to take a little ride around said settlement and have a bit of a look around to soak in the vibe of the place.
The shadows were getting long again and I still had quite aways to go and still wanted to stick my nose in at Heidelberg, I really did have to get a shift on to make it to George before nightfall.
Back on the N2 I was hovering around a ton and a half on the speedo on cruise control. The road surface is gorgeous, the traffic was sensible and with the sun behind me I could spy a speed trap from a mile away. I managed to pop in at Heidelberg, have a good ol’ look around, then whip along past Riversdal, Albertina, Mossel Bay and into George by around 16H30.
This gave me enough time for a stop in at Honda Wing George but I had to abandon overnight plans with friends in Sedgefield and find a spot in George for the night.
Easy enough to do, George is a great place and the guys and girls at Honda Wing recommended a spot a kay or two away from the shop which turned out to be very well priced and comfortable.
This was my first full day in the saddle for a long time and my posterior was starting to look like the Japanese flag – lily white with a big red bit in the middle.
And this is where we will end the story for now – Part 3 “Homewards over the mountain and into the Great Karoo, flying solo -Hell Yeah!”
