In the middle of a harsh winter when I have been really battling with the cold weather, when the wind has been throwing up swells which keep us staggering around for six hours and the rain is forced into a horizontal stinging spray that blows the snot out of your nose, all of a sudden we have a weekend that is sunny and calm.
It was unbelievable! Clear sky, no wind and temperatures up in the low to mid twenties celsius. Saturday was lovely and actually we didn't do very much but I said to Janet; "Tomorrow we are getting the bike out, we have to go for a ride!"
When Sunday dawned and I could hear the birds fighting over the nearly empty feeders in the back garden I actually entertained the idea of staying at home and having a braai. It was only whilst we were in the spa bath having our usual discussion over a couple of glasses of JC LeRoux sparkling Sauvignon Blanc that we decided we were definitely going to hit the road.
After the bath and over the sounds of Janet's hair dryer I phoned Frank to see if he wanted to join us but all I got was his voice mail, obviously he had had another late night at the Phoenix, I left a message telling him about our intentions but did not expect to see him.
We ended up riding down to Capetown, a lovely cruise almost within the speed limit, I actually let a couple of cars overtake me - that's how relaxed and laid back I was feeling! We enjoyed a beer or two at the Viper lounge which was doing a pretty brisk trade and that's where we met Linda. We strolled over to the "Ocean Basket" for a very enjoyable, leisurely lunch and after saying goodbye to our friend we headed back.
We stopped to get a photograph overlooking Table Bay and the iconic Table Mountain, which is on the list of the "New seven wonders of the world", as usual I was going to take a photo of Janet and then she would take one of me, but a kindly passer-by offered to take this shot of the two of us.
The ride home was great, we stopped to have a cup of coffee with Dave and Nicky, he is my brother who lost his left leg as a result of a bike accident on the way home from the first Polar Bear run and who is going to join us on the run at the end of this month, he will be travelling by car but I know Dave very well and it won't be long before he is on a trike.
As is usual after a Sunday run we pulled into the Phoenix bar for an A B F to end off a perfect day, I did tell Janet on the ride home that I have now officially given up raising a hand to other bikers on the road. As you would expect there were plenty of bikers out and about and I have always just raised a hand in greeting and to acknowledge the bond between us, the common love of motorbikes and of being "on the edge", but not one responded and about halfway home I just ignored the rest. So if you are Capetown bikers reading this you will now know that the rider on the big red machine will no longer be greeting you. Pity about that.
8 comments:
Sounds like all us southern hemisphere types have been chomping at the bit to get a ride in Andrew!
Waving.... in NZ, I wave to all but cruiser types unless they wave first. I'm not really biased against cruisers but Harley riders over here seem to think it's not macho to wave, even if they might be perfectly nice in reality when not riding.
Yeah Geoff the weather's been really bad so it was great to have a break!
As far as waving is concerned if I could recognise an oncoming bike as a Harley then I wouldn't bother because they just ignore you,what is it with them, do you sign a waiver (waver) when you buy the bike?
Other bikers need to acknowledge the brotherhood, or so I thought - I'm feeling pretty disillusioned at the moment.
We were also at Blouberg beach on Saturday - not on the bike, but in the cage unfortunately. What a magnificent day, eh?
I must say, it also kinda erks me when fellow bikers don't acknowledge the nod of my head in greeting, but I guess each to his own. I'll be on the lookout for you on the big red BM, and if you get a nod from a guy on a big white XR pig, that'd be me, and you better wave back! :)
Keep the rubber side down.
~Tony
Thanks for the comment Tony, I'll look out for you for sure.
Looks like this great weather's going to be with us for a while longer too.
Looked like a perfect weather day. Glad that you were able to get out and enjoy it on the big red machine.
I'm sorry the bikers are being antisocial. They are still pretty social here for the most part. Even the Harley's. :) I sometimes worry about offending them by not waving, but sometimes I just don't see them in time when they are on the other side of the freeway!!
-Lori
Hi Lori, yes I can understand it when it's the other side of a freeway but I'm talking about the normal country roads - out in the middle of nowhere, it's so easy to just lift a hand to acknowledge the brotherhood.
Andrew:
I'm beginning to wonder whether some non-American Harley owners tend to identify their machines with the badass elements of legend, Maybe US and Canadian residents in the main simply regard it as a locally-made machine. Much the same as the British would regard a Triumph for example - no big deal to them.
Mind you, H-D have pushed their marketing along the "rebel" lines in overseas markets.
Maybe it has something to do with that Geoff, here they push the Harley Davidson "lifestyle" although everyone knows there is no such thing, perhaps there needs to be a questionaire handed out "Why don't you wave to other bikers?" please list your reasons here;
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