Geluksburg,
Memel & Country Trax
by Alpha Greeff
We then had a fuel stop in Montrose and from there headed to Collings
Pass which we would be riding backwards this trip – no, not
in reverse, riding it from the other direction! On our last journey
we got to the opposite side of the Wilge Spruit and the spruit looked
more like a pan with the result that we had to turn around and change
our route. Not this time! We drove through and past and came to
a good spot to have lunch – actually one of the sidecars needed
a new rear brake spring so the rest of us couldn’t wait to
unpack our padkos again! A very friendly local man and his horse
and his 6 dogs came for a chat and waved goodbye again and not long
after we were getting ready to ride Collings Pass down and then
on to the biggie for the day – Normandien. Click
here to read full report |
|
The
Garden Route
by Frand Naude
We spent 2 days in Clarens and Golden Gate, after which we joined
the Sidecar Convention at Clocolan. On the Sunday morning, we left
for Queenstown on the worst road in SA between Wepener and Zastron.
The next day we went to Hogsback, where we spent one night before
going down to East London.
From East London, we drove along the coast over a period of 10 days
to Somerset West, where we stayed for 3 nights and drove around
the Cape Peninsula and Chapman's Peak (which was the highlight of
the tour) as well as Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Villiersdorp and
Grabouw. We left Somerset West and went through Wellington and Ceres
to Beaufort West and via Kimberley back home. Click
here to read full report |
|
Sidecar
Convention 2012 - Modderpoort, Clocolan
by Alpha Greeff
We then got to ride round the arena a few times and parked our beautiful
sidecars in a long row for everyone else to admire – we also
did some admiring. Interested ‘feesgangers’ got taken
for a whirl by our more enthusiastic riders.
I saw my first real ’smiley’ – with its little
sheeps teeth! I watched as the man did a roaring trade in sheeps
heads - all golden and crispy, that he sold off his Weber at 60
bucks (or is that sheep?) a head. Must confess if I was less of
a stadsjapie I might have bought one, it smelled fantastic. Then
I could have a monkey and a skaapkop in the sidecar! Also watched
some real Volkspele, this place really has a bit of everything.
Click
here to read
full report |
|
Waterberg
Weekend - November 2011
by
Alpha Greeff
...To
get to our cottages we took the Melkrivier road out of Vaalwater,
turning at the 24 Rivers until we got to a sign that said Charles
Baber’s Bonsmara Stud and Waterberg Cottages. The road got
progressively more 2- track and sandy until we passed through a
gate into another world. The one moment we are travelling through
real Bosveld terrain and the next we’ve entered a spectacular
English Country garden, magnificently beautiful. It is one of those
colonial gems that have been loved and tended to for longer than
one generation. What joy! The oldest part of the homestead dates
back to 1929 to give you an idea.
Click here
to read full report |
|
Diary
of a Namibian sidecar ride - Sept 2011
by Ryno Greeff
...After lunch
at the Kunene River Lodge, we took the road all along the Kunene
river towards Ruacana. What a great experience to travel this
piece of road with our sidecars. We had a real blast as it was
a mixture of stone, sand, puddle/river crossings and even a mountain
pass toward the end which was badly eroded in places. Lots of
breaking, leaning and throttling had to be used in the right doses
to transverse this road which was absolutely perfect for our sidecars.
The 2 wheelers also had a blast on this section of road...
Click
here to read full report |
|
Zen
and a Sparkplug Spanner
by Greg and Louise Wheeler
The day of the 4x4 challenge dawned upon us with a beautiful surprise,
this time Malcolm spoilt us to the old “Coachman’s road”.
Let’s say that this is for the more adventurous amongst us,
however I think with a name like “Wheeler” we qualify
at birth (or marriage), especially when halfway down Greg suddenly
yells “we have no front brakes”! Obviously I hit panic
stations and tried to McGuyver an anchor out of 6 used tissues,
lipstick, 3 Fishermans Friends and a handbag strap. This did not
work and I invoked the ancient and forrgotten sidekar monkey art
of “Deja Fu”. It’s quite easy, you concentrate
really hard, feeling that you have been here before and scream “FU**”.
Eventually Greg couldn’t keep the giggles any longer and told
me that he was kidding. This did not help, as he was laughing so
hard he could not see where he (and by extension we) were going.
click
here to read full report |
|
Impi
Warrior Strikes in and around the Berg
by Greg and Louise Wheeler
Eventually we found the entrance to the Kop. These days you need
to duck for cows rather than bullets and I suppose cow dung smells
a bit better than it would’ve in 1900. Spion Kop has breathtaking
views and on a clear day you should be able to see straight into
heaven… I definitely want to build my retirement home here.
I’ll spoil the ghosts of the English soldiers with some
gin and tonic, because this place must be haunted.
click
here to read full report |
|
Raiding
Wartrail with Ural - Rallye Raid 2011
by Alpha Greeff
Try -5 degrees as a welcome and a reality check at the same time.
That was the temperature on the first morning of the Raid as everybody
emerged from their tents. Wide eyed and covered in icicles we all
surveyed our world. Nothing
warms one up like an anticipated ride in spectacular country side
on twisty little country roads. That was what awaited the Route
3 or Green Route riders.
So when we had to kick start our little Russian steeds on the first
morning, in the cold – this was a special Ural challenge from
our intrepid leader for the Ural riders only (normally we would
use the happy button to start the engine), it was with huge excitement
that we set out on the first day’s 197kms. click
here to read full report |
|
Sidecar
Riding in the southern Drakensberg - April 2011
by Alpha Greeff
"Driving from Underberg to Himeville was a very eerie
experience. This dark Stephen King business of a storm was moving
across the landscape like the big nothing – draining the landscape
of all colour and light as it came over. I glanced back once and
saw this fat short lightning strike that just made me ride faster.
At this stage the sound track in my head was Wagner’s ‘Ride
of the Valkyries’ – nice and dramatic and ominous. (This
is the music that played when the choppers are flying over Vietnam
in that movie that was loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s Heart
of Darkness – I think?). The interesting part came when
we had to turn left onto the dirt road to Sani Pass as our hotel
is about 12kms down the road. Now we were travelling at a right
angle to the storm and I could watch it out the corner of my eye
in all its frightening splendour. This did not last long before
the first wall of rain hit us. I made the mistake of opening my
visor to see better and almost drowned." click
here to read full report |
|
| Yearly
Sidecar Convention 4 - 6 March 2011
by Alpha Greeff
"We arrived just about perfectly on schedule in Clocolan
where the sidecars featured on the Show agenda. At 12h30 the sidecars
took to the arena and after some flying the car and waving, adventurous
members of the public were monkeyed around as well. Grant had
a real race with a huge John Deere tractor"..
..."Our next event involved
jousting a toilet roll with a mop handle! The rider was not allowed
to use his clutch while the knight/monkey had to collect toilet
rolls with a mop from strategically placed positions. This caused
much laughter and Alpha almost lost her little monkey Klara, who
luckily fell into the sidecar while Salome was not so lucky. Her
rider got a good whack with the mop handle!!"...
click here to read full report |
|
Memel
to Koppies Camping Trip - 16 - 19 December 2010
by Alpha Greeff
"Do you have any idea what it does to you when you
wake up on the morning of your much anticipated camping trip to
drumming rain? Yes, drumming rain! Picture this –
the night before the Weather Service had issued warnings for heavy
rain in the particular area that we were heading for. They had
actually said, from Newcastle to Soweto. So in the light of us
travelling from Joburg to Memel, our first stop, we weren’t
exactly going to escape the heavy rain? But hey you know what
it’s like – the Weather Bureau gets it wrong from
time to time? Surely it couldn’t be that bad? At 4h30
on the morning of the 16th it was actually that bad and worse..."
"...Once
the nerves settled and the water started dripping down into places
you didn’t know could get wet in your rain suit and your
gloves were soaked enough not to be upset about it anymore, riding
in the rain takes on its own kind of charm. The air is wonderful,
no smelling horrible exhaust fumes, dry dusty tarmac getting up
your nose – none of that! One also figures out the perfect
angle to hold your helmet for most effective rain drop blow-off!
One quickly learns to hold your feet at such an angle that the
water runs down and not into your boots. All in all a fabulous
learning curve and one burns up some extra calories staying warm-eish
to boot. Riding your sidecar is an incredibly enriching experience
in all weather conditions!..." click
here to read full report |
|
| Radium
Beer Hall - October 2010
by Sidecar Sally
On Sunday, 10 October we decided to do things differently
for a change. We left our usual country roads behind and
headed for the big city!
7 Sidecars got together
at the Dunkeld West Shopping Centre in Dunkeld. We were
joined by Greg on his 2-wheeler and Duncan Cramer popped in to
say hi.
It was wonderful
to see all the regulars happily Riding Along Louis Botha Avenue
towards The Radium Beer Hall in Orange Grove. Ryno, Alpha,
Zeta, Jacquie, Noel, Grant, James, Ray, Bron, Oom Ken and Erhard
and Rosie on Snow White. Louise and Greg joined us later.
Good company and good food ... as usual. We were thoroughly
entertained by the Big Brass Jazz Band! |
|
Sani
Pass - September 2010
by Ryno Greeff
"Never have more
than two beers because up to two your sanity prevails. So it was
that after more than two we decided to plan a trip to Sani Pass
in Lesotho with our Ural sidecars. We got a lot of interest and
ended up being nine rigs in all. The arrangements were made, accommodation
booked and so the weekend arrived. We all met in Nottingham Road
outside the Notties hotel and set off to Himeville along the lower
Loteni dirt road to Himeville..."
"...Four
of the rigs made it to the top and two of them complete with monkeys.
The one with no clutch was one of them after the determined rider
figured out that you can put the rig in 1st gear and using the
starter motor you can get going again, he completed the entire
trip like this..." |
|
No
Rules 100 mile Sidecar Run
by Ryno Greeff
"Every year the
“No Rules” motorcycle club has a 100 mile sidecar
run from their clubhouse in Brits to Sun City and back. So it
was that we set off at 5 in the morning to the clubhouse as the
run officially starts at 6 am. Upon arrival we attended the riders
briefing and our rigs were scrutinised by the officials with torches
in hand as it was not properly light yet.
We set off just after 6 am and headed for Sun City. There is no
better feeling than riding your rig early morning with the sun
rising on your back with the fresh air and wind blowing through
your hair. |
|
Off-Road
Ride Along - African Swiss Restaurant
by Ryno Greeff
"...More dirt
roads and country tracks through a beautiful area called Doornrandjies
and then on to the "Gauntlet" - the name "The Gauntlet"
is derived from a Geocache hidden there which challenges you to
cross the river over the low level bridge when the water level
allows.
We stopped, assessed the water level and discussed some strategies.
The challenge to this water crossing is that a section of the
bridge in the middle of the crossing has been washed away by the
river and this poses quite a surprise when you arrive there surrounded
by a fast flowing river..." |
click
here to read full report |
Ride
Along - Plumari Game Reserve
by Alpha Greeff
"On Sunday morning , 8 August, the usual suspects, Ryno with
Humfree and Alpha with Lola, Jacquie and Jenna in Katarina and
Noel on his 2 wheeler, Ken Dalglish on his BMW, Richard with Paisley,
Grant without Aidan ( who had to study), Erhard and Rosie riding
sweep in the car, Ray Eckstein and Marcelle and their 2 wheeler
friend, Greg Gibb, set off to Plumari for our monthly RideAlong.
We also had 2 special monkeys join us – our very own Zeta
and her husband Arno." |
|
Sunday
Sidecar Ride
by Ken Dalglish
"A Breakfast ride organised by the Ural agents (Ryno Greeff)
to meet at Hennops River. Ryno and Alpha live there, and the Ural
showroom, workshop etc is there.
I left soon after seven
past Diepsloot, with lots of cooking smoke and the sun at about
2 o’clock, and darned cold. I got there in plenty of time,
in fact first. I suppose there were about nine or ten bikes and
only one BMW. The Ural people have formed quite a community, it
is great."
|
click
here to read full report |
Ride
Along - Hornbill Lodge
by Alpha Greeff
"On Sunday morning, 11 July 2010, we got together at the
Blue Shop as per usual on the second Sunday of the month for our
monthly RideAlong.... When one comes around a corner the one thing
you don’t expect to see filling the road is a hot air balloon!
Well there it was, huge and colourful and right across the road!
Very very exciting!" ... |
|
1000
Bike Show
by Alpha Greeff
On Sunday, 4 July a few sidecars decided to check out the 1000
Bike Show at Germiston High School.
We were 4 sidecars and one 2 wheeler heading out towards Rand
Airport’s Harvard Café for breakfast with Ray Eckstein
and wife Bronwyn. Driving on our World Cup roads was great and
in no time we pulled in at the Harvard Café where we met
up with Paul and Ray and Bronwyn.
|
|
| The
Winter Waterberg Trip
June 2010
by Alpha Greeff
Saturday morning dawned crisp end beautiful. Chilly to start but
once the sun had opened its eyes properly it was perfect riding
weather. Wynand was leading the ride and after a very civilised
bacon and egg breakfast, we were off on the sidecars. Everybody
had a wonderful time Good roads with just enough sand to keep
the heart pumping. |
click
here to read full report |
| The
Great Cape Road Trip
December 2009
by Alpha Greeff
"....The
weather had changed significantly. The night before the wind had
picked up and it got overcast. What fabulous weather on the way
out – cool with a slight chill even. I couldn’t believe
our luck. There is no better travelling weather for the sidecars.
Today was also a biggie for us as we were travelling down to Knysna
via the Prince Alfred Pass..." |
click
here to read full report |
| Ride
Along May 2010
On Sunday,
10 May, sidecar enthusiasts travelled to the Cradle Auto Estate.
We had a request from Phyllis Woolf to Ride Along. Phyllis
has had Cerebral Palsy since birth and decided to spoil herself
for her 61st birthday.
What an inspirational lady!! Phyllis has travelled extensively
to her family in the USA, swam with dolphins in Mozambique, canoupy
toured in the Tsetzikama Forest, micro-lighted, rode elephants
in Zambia and much much more.
We feel honoured to have made one more dream come true.
Thank you to everybody who joined in - we hope you had as much
fun as we did.
Contact us
if you would like to
... 'RIDE ALONG' ... |
Phyllis 'riding along' with
Alpha
|
| Ride
Along April 2010
On Sunday,
11 April, 18 sidecar enthusiasts joined the Ride Along to Van
Gaalen Cheese Farm in the Hekpoort area.
The ride
was led by Wynand and Hannelie Rood and the following people joined
in:
Charles & Retha
Ellis on a Suzuki;
Leroy & Joey Venter on a CJ;
Johann, Monique & Bonita on a CJ;
Erhard & Rosi Langanke on BMW Snowhite
Jacquie & Jenna Pastor on a Ural Tourist;
Noel Pastor on a 2 wheeler;
Grant & Aidan Pitt on a Ural;
Dieter & BiBi Kallenbach joined at Van Gaalen. |
Van Gaalen Cheese Farm
|
Ride
Along March 2010
The 1st
Sidecar Africa Ride Along was
held on Sunday, 15 March 2010.
We would like to thank the following
sidecar enthusiasts who joined in:
Ryno, Alpha, Emma & Klara Greeff,
Jacquie & Jenna Pastor,
Johann & Bonnie van Rensburg,
Nick & Claudie Smit and
Erhard & Rosi Langanke who joined
along the way with Snow White ...
winner of the most good-looking
sidecar category at the yearly convention!
A suggestion
was made that the next
Ride Along be to the Van Gaalens
Cheese Farm.
Let us know what you think and whether
you would like to
... "RIDE ALONG" ... |
On the way to The Cradle Auto
Estate
Snow White
|
|  Yearly
Sidecar Convention 2010 - Graskop
The annual Sidecar Convention
was held in Graskop from 5 - 7 March 2010.
A wonderful time was had by all. A huge thank you goes out
to Giel and Linda van Niekerk for an event well organized.
|
