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Welcome to my blog, these are the ramblings and musings of an (upper) middle aged biker and if you enjoy braais, (barbeques) beers and motorbikes then hopefully you will enjoy what Janet and I do; we do lots of braais, we drink lots of beer and we tour South Africa on our motorbike, which at the moment is a BMW R1200RT. Join us, read about what we do and please leave us your comments.



Monday, September 28, 2009

We're going to Sturgis!

For quite a long time now I have been talking about doing one of the big American bike jols before I die, or before I am too old to get my leg over anymore - and here I'm talking about the motorbike!
I had spoken about Daytona Bike week or Sturgis to all of my friends and they've responded with "Ja Lekker!" (Which means "Yes Great/Good/wonderful etc., but which could also be taken to mean "Yeah right!)
Friends and acquaintances have done it and have returned with colourful "Sturgis" tee shirts and fantastic stories and photographs of thousands of bikes and wonderful people partying for days on end until I can't take it anymore, I read my American counterpart's blogs and their stories of the Sturgis experience which most of them attend almost every year and I realise that we have to do it!
Something else that has made us make this decision is the fact that life is short, the queue is getting shorter and you have no idea about what is going to happen in your life. Too many times we put things off "until the house/car is paid off." or until "things get a bit better." - the years pass and suddenly it's too late and all you have is the regret; "We really should have done that when we could have."
One of my oldest friends died at the young age of 54! Had he done the things he always wanted? I seriously doubt it - I must do this with Janet so we have decided; "Screw it, let's do it!" (To quote one of my heroes.)
The long and the short of it is that we are going to Sturgis 2011 come hell or high water! Next year is unfortunately just a bit too close, we have to put quite a few South African Rands together but mark my words; We are going to the Sturgis Rally in 2011!
I'm hoping that some of my SA friends will come along, maybe Frank - but if they don't we are still going. I also hope that some of my new American friends will help with advice and I would definitely want to meet up and have a beer with you; Chessie, Stephanie, KT Did and Mr Motorcycle to name a few.
I don't ride a Harley here but I'm thinking that I will most certainly have to ride one over there just to get the whole experience right so I will investigate hiring one. What about you Harry? How about meeting us in the USA for an unforgettable experience?
Keep the shiny side up and stay in the wind!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Andrew,
You never know! Only thing though if you ride a Harley you will come home and sell the BMer

IHG said...

How exciting! Glad to hear you are coming to the states in 2011! You'll have to look me up for sure!

Canajun said...

It will be worth the trip!

One suggestion, if you are planning to rent a Harley over here, you might be better off renting one on (or near) the East Coast and riding it to Sturgis. Ran into some folks from Saudi last year who did that. According to them, the difference between what they paid and the premium rents charged in and around Sturgis during rally week covered the costs of the extra cross country travel. I can't vouch for that, but it's worth checking out.

Anyway, however you get there,just get there.

the rider said...

Thanks for the comments friends, I doubt that I will sell the BMW after riding the Harley but you never know!
I look forward to meeting you Stephanie, we'll have a couple of beers together.
Thanks Canajun that is exactly the sort of info I want, also a good road trip will add to the experience.

Christie said...

Wow Dad - that would be amazing to do. I really hope that you and Mum do go. Growing old disgracefully and on a bike!