As soon as I got back into biking, when I bought my Yamaha 1.1 I decided to start going to some rallies and the first one I chose was the Woman's International Motorcycle Association rally in the pretty coastal town of Port Alfred, a distance of some 280km from where I lived at that time. This was back in 1982 and as I booked accommodation at the hotel Janet was happy to come with me although she didn't spend much time at the rally!
Janet stopped accompanying me to rallies when I started camping at the rally sites, which I did for two main reasons; firstly I enjoyed being where the action was and secondly I was (still am to a slightly lesser extent) a party animal and I didn't want to be riding my bike late at night under the influence of alcohol.
The Woman's International Motorcycle Association was established in 1950 in the USA, I do not know if they are still active in South Africa, I was not able to get much information from Google but the rallies were not restricted to women, we were welcome to attend. It was not a very big rally but it grew in popularity and by the time I attended my third one it was a lot bigger.
This dude has a pistol on his hip, he's 37 years older now, I wonder if he's reading this? Leave a comment if you recognize yourself in these pictures.
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| You often see this at rallies |
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| and there are often minor falls |
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| Evening in the main tent |
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| drinking beer |
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| This guy wearing a BSAP cap wasn't an ex member |
The mass ride took place around the town and the harbour and the following year the W.I.M.A rally was held in Cradock, I don't know if they were not wanted back in Port Alfred but I attended two more and was accompanied by more riding friends on those, along with wives. As a first rally it wasn't too bad and I was to go on and attend many, many more over the years.
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