A Spring Ride to Yorkshire. The 7,210 km Moto S.A. trip is finished - GET OVER IT!

Dr JK phoned me from Hull.

"Hey mate, do want to meet up for lunch at a pub tomorrow?"

"Definitely mate. What about Bawtry? It's about halfway between you and me!"

"Okay, sounds good. Looking at GoogleMaps how about meeting at the Crown Hotel?"

"Good idea. 12 o'clock suit you?"

"Yep. See you at 12. I might bring CE."

"Good. See ya tomorrow at the Crown car park. Hope that CE can make it!"

Tomorrow is here and it is a fine spring morning. I looked outside the house. The day is cool, but clear and sunny.

That's the car out of the garage. Now for the bike.

I'm wearing my ThinkBikeSA vest. This little run to Bawtry in Yorkshire seems tame after my hot 7,210 km South African ride.

Check the clocks before departure. It's 10:44. Should get to Bawtry by 12:00 easy!

Leave home and head for the A38. This is Red Lane at Makeney.

Just entering Holbrook.

From Holbrook I take the road to Coxbench.

Turn left here and take the B6179 to the A38 North.

Coxbench.

B6179 Coxbench to Kilburn.

From here it is the A38 northeast to the M1.

B6179/A38 on-ramp.

Having taken the M1 and M18 the first photo opportunity was here, on the A631 towards Tickhill.

Approaching Tickhill I spotted a good-looking little farm.

Called (yep, you guessed right again!) Friary Farm.

Maybe this place used to be a Friary. Perhaps Friar Tuck was here before King Henry VIII sold all the Friaries and Monastries and Abbatoirs (where abbots hang out). It's not far from here to Sherwood Forest!

I intended to photograph the daffodils. You'll have to make do with buttercups!

But, I think we are all agreed - IT IS DEFINITELY SPRINGTIME!

Tickhill's approach is quite pretty actually.

Some people like pubs. I think that they are great institutions and keep the psychiatric hospital numbers down.

This traveller carries more luggage than me!

This is called the Butter Cross. It is the centre of the village.

The A631 Bawtry Road out of Tickhill. There are no ticks and no hills here though.

Still the A631. Some folks don't navigate by road numbers; they use pubs as landmarks.

Having turned right at The Red Lion carry straight on past the Traveller's Rest and bear left at the Scarborough Arms.

Then continue straight on until you get to the Crown Hotel Posting House on your left.

You can't miss it!

Dr JK was on time and waiting for me in the pub car park. He had ridden from Kingston upon Hull. I arrived at 12:02 from Duffield, Derbyshire!

Maybe if I had not stopped to take that last picture I would not have been 2 minutes late!

CE arrived at about 12:30 from Beverley, Yorkshire.

Dr JK and CE. Isn't being retired just great? Time-rich and lovely pubs to visit on our powerful motorbikes! Brilliant!

We have soooo much time - why not another photo? What the heck........and then after lunch we can maybe ride to Rainbow BMW and check out the new bikes and gear.

2010 BMW R1200GS.

Ditto. Nice huh?

White, grey or red?

This is a 2006 BMW R1200GS Adventure.

Same one ...... different angle.

This would be my choice .... a brand new BMW R1200GS Adventure. Having ridden a similar bike in South Africa for 7,210 km (4,480 miles) I can recommend it. All you need is about £12,000. Time to go home. It has been an OK day!

Moto S.A. DAY 26. Cape Town. Final Day.

25 February 2010

This is the last S.A. Ride report. Moorreesburg, where I had stayed at the invitation of an old friend, is only 100 km from Cape Town. The 'adventure' is nearly over. I stopped at Swartland Service Station, on the N7, briefly. Then it was the final leg back to Motorrad Rentals at BMW Pavilion after more than 7,100 km so far. Seeing Table Mountain from the N7 on my final approach to Cape Town caused me mixed feelings. It was good to have completed the ride, but bad that this was the last day.

My flight to London was not until the evening. There was plenty of time for a ride around the city.

Cape Town will always be special for me.

This was taken from Beach Road at Green Point.......

....... and this is at Surrey Place off Beach Road. WAKAME restaurant is here.

There was some cloud on the mountain - normal - but at sea level it was a beautiful day.

This is the new work-in-progress football stadium. The football World Cup 2010 will be very interesting.

I have procrastinated long enough. The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront is very close to BMW Pavilion. I called in at the V & A for one last time. This little Honda with a young couple on board pulled up next to me.

I've heard of a Honda Africa Twin but never a Honda Africa Single!

I said, "Hello," to the young couple. "Have you come far?"

"From England!" was the reply.

My easy 7,210 km tarmac (mainly) ride around South Africa on a big BMW1200GSA suddenly seemed very straight forward and un-noteworthy. Time to hand the bike back to Danie at BMW Motorrad.

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Moto S.A. DAY 25. Calitzdorp to Moorreesburg.

24 February 2010

This is the Sunshine Cottage (CLICK HERE) at Calitzdorp that had been my refuge for the night! The motorcycle is just visible, parked behind the cottage. It is dawn.

I was kind of reluctant to leave this comfortable cottage and interesting town. But I had to press on as always.

However, before starting up the motor, I had a last little look around in the quiet of the dawn. This is the view from the cottage doorway ........

........ and so is this ..........

...... and this ........

This view is from the main house stoep.

Here is the bike at its overnight parking ...... and packed up ready to take me wherever I want!

My few belongings were secured with my cargo net. Although my kit had been hanging up in the shower all night, some of it was not quite dry. It will dry on the way. Boots, no socks, again!!

About 50 metres from the cottage I stopped to take this picture. Then I refuelled (Trip: 6,551) in Calitzdorp and set off on the R62.

Is this orographic cloud caused by an anabatic wind I wonder?

There are two towns in South Africa named after Lady Juliana Smith, the beautiful wife of Sir Harry (One Town) Smith. The Ladysmith in KwaZulu Natal has a 'y'. This Ladismith has an 'i' - in fact almost two!

Ladysmith was under siege for 120 days from 2nd November 1899 to 28th February 1900 in the Anglo-Boer War

The R62 took me across the Touw River between Ladismith and Lemoenshoek (Lemon Corner).

Actually, I think it the TouwS River not the Touw River. "Hello ............!" (I have just seen a comment from Andre & Mags - It IS Touw River. The town is called Touws River.)

The bridge is about 43 km from Barrydale - where I hope to get breakfast!

The weather cleared up. Here we have: the open road, no traffic, beautiful scenery, mountains ahead and blue skies .... any questions?

Yep ...... no traffic - confirmed!!

Barrydale will be the first stop this morning - after that stop at the bougainvilla bush and the garage for fuel that is!

I stopped here! It was not yet 9 am. There was no sign of life. Maybe everyone was still in bed!!!

Actually, I had heard about 'Ronnie's Sex Shop'. As 'Ronnie's Shop' business had been slow for years. He changed the name. Business has been booming. But only BEFORE 9 am obviously!!!

15 minutes later I reached this beautiful little town. My immediate aim was to find some breakfast. As you know, I do B+zero, and stop for breakfast on the road!

From the town sign, one descends into a lovely valley. Barrydale is nestled between beautiful mountains on the south side of the Little Karoo.

At the bottom of the valley I followed signs to a little cafe .........

....... called (yes, you guessed it) The Blue Cow.

I sat on the deck stoep veranda. This was the outlook! Breakfast was first class and served by Doree de Villiers. She was charming!

ThinkBikeSA (CLICK HERE) had been very helpful to me and I wanted to meet Jinx a ThinkBikeSA-er. Jinx lives in Montagu. I phoned ahead.

"Hi Jinx, I'm thingy. Blah blah blah ........... meet for coffee?"

"Of course we can! When will you get here?"

"Ummmm.... in about an hour!"

"Okay. See you then at the Wimpy!"

Then I just had time to ride around the town for a looksee before heading off for coffee at Montagu. Is this a beautiful church or what?

Back on the R62 to Montagu it was impossible to resist stopping and photographing these flowers. Are they Cannas?

Well ARE they??

That is Montagu at the bottom of the hill. This is a beautiful fruit-growing area. There are also ostriches here and, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, some EMUs.

Montagu was easy to find - it's on the R62! It's a lovely little town.

The rendezvous was the Wimpy. I rode right past it in spite of the clue on the huge sign: WIMPY. Jinx talked me down luckily! Here we are.

So, I met Jinx (Emu farmer and tool hire specialist), her husband Andries and her mom Wendy. They are lovely people and it was a pleasure to meet them. Thanks for all your help ThinkBikeSA.

This is a farm stall place on the R62.

It is open, but I was only interested in the garden, the driveway and the flowers ........

.......... as you can see .........

Actually, these two pictures are the last taken today!

Soon after this I reached Ashton, home of Koo and All Gold brands, famous in South Africa.

Robertson was the next town on the R62. From there the pretty little town of McGregor, 22 km away in the mountains, beckoned.

It was a good ride to McGregor, where I stopped at a shady place and bought some lunch. A young man called Clinton Meyer took an interest in the bike and the gear. We chatted for a while, then it was time to go back to Robertson (the only way out as far as I knew).

The heavens opened up and I just made it to the shelter of a petrol station before the downburst! It was at least 45 minutes before I was able to continue, but the sun did shine again and I headed for Paarl via Du Toit's Kloof Pass.

Paarl is a great town, but I didn't stop there this time because I had been through Paarl on Day 2 with my son. My aim was to ride, via Malmesbury, to my friend's place at Moorreesburg.

Tomorrow evening I have to be at Cape Town Airport for the flight home.