Chapter Ten - Mist, Heat, Durban - Valentino Rests

STOP - or suffer the consequences!

Waking to an overcast Gonubie Beach morning, Daddy Harley Dude made coffee for Mommy Lila and started packing before they went down for a full breakfast in the hotel dining room. Packing the Harley in front of the reception, a man who turned out to be the hotel owner stopped to chat. He remembered Mommy and Daddy from when they visited here three years ago while travelling to Knysna on their honeymoon. So nice to have that connection and memory. After a friendly chat he warned that the road to Umtata looks like having rain.

Twenty km's along the road proved him right. It started with light drizzle and a bit of mist, then got steadily worse, with the mist alternatively lifting, then getting heavy and thick, slowing us down to a slow third gear crawl, then slowly clearing as we got to the Kei River garage. The Harley rain gear from the Durban dealership kept all dry, but one needs riding savvy to safely navigate this weather and the traffic through mountain passes safely. Even fully loaded we never even had any close calls on the reputedly dangerous road through what was the Transkei. By the time we got to Umtata for a wake-up coffee, the sky was clear and it was getting rather warm. Rain gear off!

The ride from Umtata to Kokstad was getting hot, really hot. After all the riding for the last 10 days and 300 km's so far today, the heat resulted in us stopping for a leg stretch and water drink mid town. Even this part of our country is beautiful. A ten minute rest saw us able to get on and do the rest of the road to Kokstad, where we had lunch.

Now the last 270 km's were going slowly, but gave a chance for some reflection on the roads travelled, people met, and towns and sites seen in the last 10 days. The roads were now more familiar, having been used for many HOG breakfast runs over the last eight years. While our Blue chrome steed never missed a beat on the 4 020 km's travelled on this trip, it was showing the road dirt and a bit of an oil leak when it stopped back home in Durban. Mommy and Daddy unpacked and tiredly made their way upstairs for a restful relaxing bath.

This trip was one that doesn't leave you, but gets filed in the memory banks, and re-visited many times as one encounters what was familiar and draws comparisons with the experiences and feelings of the last few days.

Would this have been similar if done in a car? Not even close!!! The trip to Cape Town on our Harley made this a life experience that gives you a rush when recalling it. It's a feeling that reflects the slogan on the "T" short that says "If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand". Fellow riders know what this is about. Till the next trip!!