mikedabike
Race Dog
I don?t know about you but I find that when I am about to begin a long ride I get a little anxious mainly about whether I have I packed everything I need etc etc and this trip started no different except that I found I had forgotten my earplugs, not serious but why bother to buy custommade earplugs if you are going to forget them on the dining room table at home IDIOT but then as I start to ride my mind clears of all the mundane stuff that normally clogs up our thought processes and I really start to focus on my surroundings and the thrill of just being out on the road on the bike. The sights. the smells, the wind, the views, the sheer exhilaration of being alive and ??.riding..
I was in need of a good road ?steek? (as my dear mate Arnold refers to ?brisk? 1up road rides with your mates) and that?s how it was on this crisp clear Saturday morning as I began to ride, cruising ?briskly? on the road from Warmbaths to Rustenberg, marveling at the number of game lodges and private bush camps that have sprung up and been developed in the area, when Shmorty my close buddy and one of my riding partners for this trip pulled up next to me and gesticulated wildly pointing at the rucksack on my back.
As I began to pull over I already sensed something was amiss and as I stopped and opened my visor Shmorty pulled up alongside and said what I suspected but was hoping not to hear, ?your bag is open?.
Upon inspection I discovered that the bag had indeed opened because I had not pulled the 2 zip-pullers down to one side and had left them in the middle, IDIOT depositing somewhere along the 180 km stretch of road my wallet, my cellphone, my clean t?shirts, socks and underwear, spare gloves and medication for some lucky person to find like abandoned treasure. We rode into Rustenberg and now my mind was racing, what to do - what can I do - what should I do etc etc I bet you all know the feeling and then not wanting to hold up my two friends and co-riders I suggested that I abort as we still had 1100 km to cover for the day and I didn?t want my stupidity and misfortune to be the reason that they would have to ride in the dark.
Eeissh that man Shmorty he is a determined and enterprising fella, 2 phone calls to the banks and to Mtel to stop credit cards and sim cards and a stop at the Dis-Chem to replace some vital diabetic muti and we were back on the road, albeit nearly 2 hours behind schedule.
Shedule and back on the road?..to where I hear you ask?..well the ride had been put together with the intent and goal to visit all of our country?s 9 provinces in just 2 days and in order to do that careful planning and keeping to a tight schedule was required. Not exactly the start any of us had planned or foreseen but then on any decent adventure the unexpected is always lurking around the next corner and I suppose adds to the thrill?.
I love my coffee, not that I am an addict or anything but my day doesn?t really begin unless I have had a double espresso or at least a good cup of filter?.
I favour Italian blends but a good Columbian also hits the mark and I have been known to drive an extra km or 3 to get real coffee as opposed to having ?kits? or instant coffee. As we approached Kimberley it had suddenly got chilly and the dark clouds overhead had splattered us with raindrops, so can you imagine my delight when we entered the Steers at the Ultra City on the outskirts of the town and I saw the lady behind the counter pouring fresh unground coffee beans into their fancy coffee machine. Ah a good cup of freshly ground java, just what I really needed and I even managed to persuade Howie (the mastermind, deviser and leader of the trip) who is not one to take a drink or known to eat whilst riding to also order a cup of brew. We sat outside nursing the hot cups in our chilled fingers shooting the breeze with some local bikers out on a Saturday afternoon spin. I took my first sip and then a second, hey this doesn?t taste like freshly ground, but I definitely had heard the sound of the beans being ground so what have they done to make it taste so insipid.
I have no idea why they bother to go to all the trouble and no doubt expense of taking fresh coffee beans grinding them up and then making something that tastes remarkably like weak ?kits? something or other and its only similarities to real coffee are that its wet and warm and comes in an insulated cup. Why bother??
They would be better off having a tape recording of the sound of beans being ground and then they could simply just play that everytime the button for coffee gets pushed.
Anyway I digress, the trip was successfully completed, all 9 provinces where visited, 2450 km covered over the 2 days, 540 odd litres of unleaded combusted by the bikes and a lamb chop or three digested by us (it would just be plain rude to go all the way to the Karoo and not have a bit of lamb don?t you think) oh and the odd rum and Red Bull imbibed (just because they were on special).
Great trip, great fun, great adventure and great mates and riding partners to do it with?WHY?? For no apparent reason and simply because it?s there to be done
Ps?.. that coffee thing still bothers me though?..
Pss?.rather keep your cellphone and wallet on your person than in a your bag
I was in need of a good road ?steek? (as my dear mate Arnold refers to ?brisk? 1up road rides with your mates) and that?s how it was on this crisp clear Saturday morning as I began to ride, cruising ?briskly? on the road from Warmbaths to Rustenberg, marveling at the number of game lodges and private bush camps that have sprung up and been developed in the area, when Shmorty my close buddy and one of my riding partners for this trip pulled up next to me and gesticulated wildly pointing at the rucksack on my back.
As I began to pull over I already sensed something was amiss and as I stopped and opened my visor Shmorty pulled up alongside and said what I suspected but was hoping not to hear, ?your bag is open?.
Upon inspection I discovered that the bag had indeed opened because I had not pulled the 2 zip-pullers down to one side and had left them in the middle, IDIOT depositing somewhere along the 180 km stretch of road my wallet, my cellphone, my clean t?shirts, socks and underwear, spare gloves and medication for some lucky person to find like abandoned treasure. We rode into Rustenberg and now my mind was racing, what to do - what can I do - what should I do etc etc I bet you all know the feeling and then not wanting to hold up my two friends and co-riders I suggested that I abort as we still had 1100 km to cover for the day and I didn?t want my stupidity and misfortune to be the reason that they would have to ride in the dark.
Eeissh that man Shmorty he is a determined and enterprising fella, 2 phone calls to the banks and to Mtel to stop credit cards and sim cards and a stop at the Dis-Chem to replace some vital diabetic muti and we were back on the road, albeit nearly 2 hours behind schedule.
Shedule and back on the road?..to where I hear you ask?..well the ride had been put together with the intent and goal to visit all of our country?s 9 provinces in just 2 days and in order to do that careful planning and keeping to a tight schedule was required. Not exactly the start any of us had planned or foreseen but then on any decent adventure the unexpected is always lurking around the next corner and I suppose adds to the thrill?.
I love my coffee, not that I am an addict or anything but my day doesn?t really begin unless I have had a double espresso or at least a good cup of filter?.
I favour Italian blends but a good Columbian also hits the mark and I have been known to drive an extra km or 3 to get real coffee as opposed to having ?kits? or instant coffee. As we approached Kimberley it had suddenly got chilly and the dark clouds overhead had splattered us with raindrops, so can you imagine my delight when we entered the Steers at the Ultra City on the outskirts of the town and I saw the lady behind the counter pouring fresh unground coffee beans into their fancy coffee machine. Ah a good cup of freshly ground java, just what I really needed and I even managed to persuade Howie (the mastermind, deviser and leader of the trip) who is not one to take a drink or known to eat whilst riding to also order a cup of brew. We sat outside nursing the hot cups in our chilled fingers shooting the breeze with some local bikers out on a Saturday afternoon spin. I took my first sip and then a second, hey this doesn?t taste like freshly ground, but I definitely had heard the sound of the beans being ground so what have they done to make it taste so insipid.
I have no idea why they bother to go to all the trouble and no doubt expense of taking fresh coffee beans grinding them up and then making something that tastes remarkably like weak ?kits? something or other and its only similarities to real coffee are that its wet and warm and comes in an insulated cup. Why bother??
They would be better off having a tape recording of the sound of beans being ground and then they could simply just play that everytime the button for coffee gets pushed.
Anyway I digress, the trip was successfully completed, all 9 provinces where visited, 2450 km covered over the 2 days, 540 odd litres of unleaded combusted by the bikes and a lamb chop or three digested by us (it would just be plain rude to go all the way to the Karoo and not have a bit of lamb don?t you think) oh and the odd rum and Red Bull imbibed (just because they were on special).
Great trip, great fun, great adventure and great mates and riding partners to do it with?WHY?? For no apparent reason and simply because it?s there to be done
Ps?.. that coffee thing still bothers me though?..
Pss?.rather keep your cellphone and wallet on your person than in a your bag
