RAT Jhb run to Fouriesburg 6th - 8th September

[DaveB]

It's that time of year again for our annual run to the eastern Free State. It'll be bone dry, brown & dusty as usual but the fantastic roads, mountainous scenery & warm sunny weather should more than make up for that. There should be about 50 of us. I missed this event last year because I was in the Isle of Man.

I need a good long ride on my bike because we've just had a tragedy at work. We employed this new engineer at the beginning of this year, straight out of university with his BSc. He was settling in well as he learnt the ropes and he was a particularly likeable individual. Just over three weeks ago he was attacked and stabbed in the heart. His fight for life in hospital never looked promising and he passed away last night (he turned 23 whilst in hospital). What was he doing when he was attacked? Returning books to a university library on a Sunday afternoon in broad daylight. Unbelievable- a disgusting & terrible tragedy and we've lost one of our own. He had his whole adult life ahead of him and some thugs took it away. RIP Syabonga, you'll be greatly missed.

I need some time alone to come to terms with what's happened. I'm looking forward to riding in the mountains this weekend.

 

[DaveM]

Dave that is so sad and I am getting so tired of hearing about things like this, it just never stops

 

[Gromit]

I have no words................... Condolences to all DaveB and enjoy that quiet time-out that you need.

 

[DaveB]

Thanks Dave, Gromit. The huge loss of blood caused irreparable organ damage and his limbs turned grey. The only good (if that's the right word) thing is that soon after the attack he lost consciousness and never regained it. I.e. his actual suffering was at the time, just for a few minutes. He came from Piet Retief in Mpumalanga- a local lad.

 

[Silli]

That is awful!! Sorry Dave. What is wrong with the alleged people (animals) that surround us. And for what? A phone.....??? A few bucks?? Pigs!!

Enjoy the time out, DaveB.

(I am missing it for the first time in seven years. )

 

[CarlS]

Dave, I am so sorry to hear of the needless loss of your co-worker. That just plain sucks. Enjoy your ride; it will be good therapy.

 

[DaveB]

And for what? A phone.....??? A few bucks??

(I am missing it for the first time in seven years. )

Yeah, presumably for a phone, a wallet or a watch.

I'll do extra sorties on the Fouriesburg - Clarens road on your behalf!

And I'll take pics of the Golden Gate Park & the Maluti Mountains.

I'd like to do a ride report here. I could work in a story about the Titanic & Oom Paul Kruger. Or the special story of Surrender Hill (it's right next to the road), perhaps?

Fouriesburg: population almost 30,000 incl. surrounds, altitude 1,796 m asl. It's a real Free State dorp (town) and it has two service stations & the last time I was there one had run out of petrol and the credit card machine at the other wasn't working- Eish! It is broken. I know of one ATM cash machine in the whole town and there is only the one hotel, where we stay. It is the quintessential one horse town and I love the place! It was the capital of the Free State until Bloemfontein was awarded that honour. But the authorities forgot to rescind Fouriesburg's capital status, right up to today! Basically the authorities forgot to tell the mayor's office in Fouriesburg- shame.

A 3-bedroom house there sells in the $ 40,000 to $ 80,000 price range.

 

[DaveM]

It would be great if you could do a ride report here for us

 

[CarlS]

I'm looking forward to that ride report.

 

[DaveB]

It's not starting off too well....

I prepped my sickle this evening, only to find that the bally rear tyre is flat. I'm supposed to be setting off fairly early tomorrow morning, but I'll have to go via the tyre shop first. :y148:

 

[avion]

Sorry to hear about your colleague Daveb. Good luck getting the tyre sorted tomorrow

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[DaveM]

Ooops not a great start at all

 

[DaveB]

It's been 4 hrs since I pumped the tyre up and in that time it's lost just 2 psi & I reckon half of that is due to the lower ambient temperature in the evening. I shouldn't have any problem riding it to Full Throttle in Cresta tomorrow.

The events of this week are on my mind. I've decided to ride solo tomorrow, avoiding the motorways as far as possible. Yeah, my mind's a bit preoccupied and I don't fancy riding in the big organised group from the Trad Triumph shop.

 

[Gromit]

I agree with you Dave. There are times when being alone is the best thing for the soul. Take the time out but enjoy the ride. Will be thinking of you.

 

[DaveB]

So we set off on our ride this morning. Three corners into the twisties one of our guys on a T955 went wide & was clipped by a BMW rider coming from the oppozite direction. The Tiger crashed and the rider hurt his foot but the BMW rider broke his toes & his foot. Very nasty, but it could have been so much worse.

Our planned ride got disrupted & I rode the rest of the day alone. We go home tomorrow.

 

[DaveM]

Wow that's not a great way to start off

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[DaveB]

I got home late lunchtime and I trust everybody else got home safely. We had about 33 bikes on the trip. It'll take me a day or two to edit my pics and then I'll post a ride report.

 

[DaveM]

A ride report will be COOL

 

[CarlS]

Glad you are safely home. Sorry to hear about your riding buddy's mishap. I am glad no one was seriously injured. Looking forward to the pics.

 

[DaveB]

I set out just after the rush hour on Friday morning and got to the area (Eastern Free State). It's nearing the end of our dry season. I had one stop for a drink of water along the way and surveyed the featureless and seemingly unending terrain. The Free State is our major corn growing area (except we called it mielies)- think Iowa, Indiana, Ontario.


I got to the town of Clarens and had lunch.


The town was founded in 1912, so it has just celebrated its centenary. Back in 1912 the news that dominated was the sinking of the Titanic. A local man was walking in to town one day and noticed that one of the rock formations resembled a ship's bow and it's been known as Titanic Rock ever since.