NOTHING DULL IN DULLSTROOM
What wins isn’t always the bark in the bike but the dog on the bike, writes
Invited to attend the annual leg of the GS Trophy, hosted by BMW Motorrad, I felt a combination of excitement and nerves. While I have no quarrel with mounting a motorcycle and heading into the sunset with reasonable urgency, it’s the offroading that challenges me. I have no experience on fickle surfaces, so that explained the butterflies. But I was happy to chart new waters on the smaller 750 GS. The two-and-a-half hour trip to Dullstroom, where the event was taking place, I was not prepared for. Not pacing myself and jumping throttle from word go, I was fatigued halfway. Rookie error. With an hour left to reach my destination, the mercury took a sharp dive into single digits accompanied by rain and fog.
With self-pity setting in, I realised I couldn’t get emotional because staying alive in deteriorating conditions was now the priority. The 750 delivered me in one piece and the evening went by peacefully as I sat by my fireplace, thawing and mentally preparing for day one of the GS Trophy.
The following morning I found a group of riders and let them know I would be tagging along. They looked reliable, but not conservative — good. After our riding routes were selected from a preset list, we set off. Off-road routes were off the cards as the rain from the previous day made safety an issue.
The fog, rain and cold couldn’t dampen our spirits. We set off towards Sabie, where we could put our motorcycles to good use. From there, our sights would be set on Long Tom Pass. The weather eased up on the assault, allowing for much-needed sunshine and luckily the roads were dry through Pilgrim’s Rest, lifting confidence levels right through the six-motorcycle convoy.
At this point the wheat was about to be separated from the chaff. Admittedly, I had the smallest displacement, where the bulk of the convoy enjoyed the splendour of the 1250 GS. I decided it was time to ruffle some feathers and began picking off the bigger bikes, one at a time, through the sweeping bends of Mpumalanga’s best roads.
I’m not always the fastest rider on the track, but I possess reasonable skill, which is not always visible. Suffice to say, cages were rattled and animosity was thick in the air by the time we made a pit stop. It goes to show it isn’t always the bark in the bike but the dog on the bike that wins the race.
After a full day of riding and over 500km later, we were back where it all began — the Dullstroom showgrounds, just in time for the GS Trophy competition — the reason we were there. Witnessing the skilled riders (men and women) taking on the obstacle courses on their sizeable GSs was admirable, and how they managed to navigate the tight course is a wonder on its own.
At the end there were three riders at the top — Cobus Theron, BJ Vosloo and Brandon Grimsted. They will compete at the international version of this coveted cup in New Zealand next year, while the women still need to work their magic at the qualifiers in Spain next month.