Previous Run - Bad News MCC Tulbagh run 7 March 2010
Everyone met at 08:00 - lots of buggies, bikes and some very welcomed air conditioned cars - and introduced themselves to each other. What a lovely sight to see both clubs together. We were about 55 people strong. We departed from Bothasig at around 08:20 and met up with Glenn & Cindy on the N7. Anton & Naomi had to put foot to catch up with us ;-) Travelled into Malmesbury and stopped at a garage for petrol, refreshments & a cig break. One of our friends couldn't get his bike started so left it somewhere safe and jumped into one of the cars. Also met up with Dave who was waiting for us in Malmesbury. From there we all continued on our journey towards Tulbagh. Johan had some trouble with his bug but got it sorted out with the help of a very special tool - a stone! Gustav & Juanita also had problems with their bug but could at east drive back home, even if only on 3 cylinders. Now this is where the adventure starts....
We made our way to the Boulders Bush Pub, where everyone got all their kit out and headed for the beautiful wooden "tree house". The kids found the pool and were swimming in two minutes from us getting there. The guys were the first to make a noise -> very little beer. Then we were told that there was no breakfast available due to a big turnout for the rugby the night before. Needless to say, I had a "friendly" (not!) conversation with the manager and gave him a piece of my mind. We then all packed up our stuff and headed to Paddagang. But guess what? No braai facilities..... Damn. Oh well, off to venue # 3 which turned out to be great. The hotels name escapes me but it was really beautiful and quaint. A bit expensive and no breakfast but they got a braai going for us in 5 minutes and everyone packed out their goodies and made the most of it. The kids found the pool so the parents were only to happy to stay. The food arrived in drips and drabs but by 2pm we were too hot to sit and chat so most of us made our way to the pool where a lot of us enjoyed the water. We were told not to make noise but of course the big boys just couldn't contain their excitement. And of course they thought their dive bombs were so cool. Ai tog, boys will be boys I suppose. I also found out that Mark Boucher
was visiting and I went and did the paparazzi thing. Clearly I just scared him off but I would rather think that he felt a bit intimidated by the big group ;-) Anyway, most of us left around 3pm. Some went directly towards Wellington and the N1 heading home while the others went back via Malmesbury. Bad News had to fetch the bike which had cooled down by then and was ready to ride. It was an awesome day and it was really great getting the two clubs together. Thanks to everyone who could make it. All I can say is: Yay, our turn for organising an outing is over for the year!!!! We look forward to the upcoming sleepovers & rides.
Cheers
Kareen
And more
OK, since Kareen was in one of the cars, I suppose Ill have to write a bit from the biker point of view.
I arrived at the Bothasig get together spot with a few of the Bad News MCC guys already there. Trust me, they looked quite an intimidating bunch with skulls and badges and scary looks. After spending some 50km with them on the bikes and then waiting in Malmesbury for the buggies to catch up, I felt much more at ease amongst them. As bikers do, speeds were pretty high between Malmesbury and Voelvlei Dam, but just before Nuwekloof the wind was gale force and I had to let the other bikes go as I was not able to keep up in that strong a cross wind. As Kareen explained above, the original lunch plans did not work out, but Im sure everyone eventually had something to eat.
For my return trip home, I decided to join Rita and Johan Visser in their buggies. Just as we left Tulbagh, Gifappel broke down twice due to a loose coil. After sorting that out, my ride was uneventful up to Wellington, but I almost turned into biltong. Rode fast, rode slow, with wet shirt or without, nothing helped. I left the buggies behind to make up some time as I had to fill up in Wellington, but had to go searching for a filling station in the scorched town first. When I rejoined the road to CPT, the buggies have already passed Wellington and I caught them just before the N1. All of a sudden the bike was running out of steam though. Nothing seemed to help, not even dropping a gear. Eventually I had to stop, luckily with Rita and the Vissers close by. Turned out the rubber throttle grip was completely loose due to the heat. Removed it with some help of Johans Leatherman and I had power again. Johans bug was struggling with pinging in the heat, so they could at best do around 100km/h. I stopped and waited for the buggies wherever I found shade. I had to wait for Rita to open the gate for me, as by then I had no cell and no keys with me - I left as much clothing and stuff In the buggy at the last break-down. What a day and what a pleasure to get into the pool when the gate eventually opened :-) MW
Message from the Vice President
Beach Buggy Club SA - Club Members
The Committee had an urgent meeting on Sunday 14 March 2010 to discuss our upcoming dance.
After several sms's and emails (and a phone call here and there) to all club members for help with ingredients and ticket sales, almost no-one sent any reply back. The only club members that emailed back was Eugenie and Kareen.
Anton started phoning on Saturday and the only person he could get hold of, was Ouboet. These were the only people (except for the committee) that made any commitment towards the dance. Thank you for everybody who tried hard to make this work. Last year we decided to do the dance again for fundraising towards the Year End Function, as the club funds are totally depleted and membership fees has not been paid by all. We need to pay for our monthly News Letter that MW so diligently sends out to all of us. Thank you Buddy for keeping us reading. However, we cannot cancel the dance completely as we have paid a huge deposit on the hall already. We need to postpone the dance again. We will keep you all informed. (Those that are interested in helping arrange and setting up of this event, to please let me know and I will ensure that this information is passed on to the rest of the committee)
I also believe that each one of us need to recommit ourselves to BBCSA and make a decision of how much involvement we want to have and if at all we want to be a part of this club. Time and time again, its only a handful of people making an effort to assist in arranging club events or arranging runs and some people feel that they are always the ones doing everything. This I can understand, could frustrate people and drive them away from the club or make them negative. Another thing that we all need to remember is that when one deals with such a large group of different personalities or opinions, one could become agitated with another, but would like to request that should any club member feel unhappy with anything in the club that they must please contact me and lets discuss and resolve any animosity. (I do house calls!) I personally enjoy every run due to the mindset its what I make of it. We all need to be reminded that the funds generated from our events are used to for our Year End function and therefore attendance to runs & dances is very important, otherwise we land up cancelling or postponing events which is unfair to those that are always committed.
Now I am not saying that you MUST attend all runs as we all have private responsibilities that require our attention as well, but it would be nice to hear from you a week or so in advance informing us that you cannot attend a specific run. Its great to see club members attend runs of whom I have not seen in a while. Now I have been around a few years and there are still club members that I have never even met; now that is just sad. Committee members are almost obligated to attend all runs unless their portfolio responsibilities have been seconded to another member of the club, for that specific run and this has been communicated to either the President or Vice President. We are also looking for a new PRO and as this post is very important we need to appoint somebody very quickly, please forward all nominations by the 19th March directly to me for correlation and then I will arrange for a special voting meeting.
The BBCSA was started many years ago and its main directive was to have lots of family fun and to become brothers. I want to see this vibe return as quickly as possible.
Regards
Christo Jacobs
Vice President
Next Run: Penhill Sleepover - Glenns and Cindys place, 24 & 25 April 2010
Unfortunately I have no more information on the above. You will have to contact Anton or Christo nearer to the event, for more up to date information - MW
Message from the Treasurer
Hi everybody - just a reminder that it is a new year and subs are due again.
The new subs are as follows: A Single Member - R120 per year; A Family - R100 per adult (so it will be R200 per family per year)
Please pay your subs into our Club Account and use your name as reference.
Swop Shop
Herman Van Greunen - a qualified mechanic in Goodwood will sort out your car problems. 083 253 1920
Wild Buggers get 10% discount on all goods bought from Beetle Bits & Beam Bug. 021 - 696 4110.
Biltong & Droe Wors can be bought from Kleyn Begin. Contact Naomi - 082 428 9216. Or see www.kleynbegin.co.za
Carpet, upholstery cleaning and flood damage. Contact Floris at F&B Carpet Cleaners on 082 956 5892