My holiday pix

Three posts in three days? Well, I've got some catching up to do. Besides, soon I might be too busy again to blog.

I left for home, Namaqualand a few days before christmas last year. The ride to Pofadder, where my mother lives, took exactly 10 hours, and was just over a 1000km. The Fazer is a supreme tourer; at some strecth I kept the needle above 200kph, while I was never below 160kph. Tank range averaged from 180 to 260kph, depending on my right-hand. Wind protection is good, and because of the upright seating position there was no strain on my arms, legs or lower back.

This is a lonely road I discovered turning of 40km east of Pofadder. It goes to a winefarm called "Raap-en-skraap" (not sure how to translate that) on the South African bank of the Orange river (it is the Namibian border). To my surprise the road was tarred all the way to the farm.

Met up with an old friend Werner who lives in the mining town of Aggeneys, 60km west of Pofadder on the N14. He has a ZX-9 and we swopped bikes.

I have fond memories of my ZX-6, and was always keen to sample a ZX-9. I wasn't dissappointed. It has that rough-and-ready feel that I remember so well. It doesn't have the same intoxicating wail from the airbox like the 600, but it does get up to 280kph in a blink.

Yes; I just can't resist these shots of empty roads and desert fields.


Annenous Pass on the way to Port Nolloth. Riaan rode up from Cape Town on his GS850L to join me.



The Orange River mouth at Alexander Baai. It was difficult to find beauty in this forsaken place; but it was there.

See what I mean. Who would have thought that you can ever get something called an ugly beach. The mining has really scarred the landscape, and no restoration is taking place (yet?).

The Alexander borberpost that will take you to Oranjemund, Namibia.

The rebuild Holgat river bridge that was washed away in a flood in 2006.

Momma's Restaurant is an institution in the town, and my mom used to work there. We had it for ourselves for an afternoon. Couldn't find any crayfish though.

The view towards the harbour from the table where we sat.

The sunsets were just magic; quiet and serene.

And no two sunsets are the same. Everyday was different.

And then there is the little holiday town of McDouglas Bay. The fresh sea breeze smell so strong; it burns the back of your throat, like when you swollowed seawater by accident.

This is the peak holiday season over christmas...

Durban or Cape Town over christmas? Sorry, no contest!

And we ate raw rock mussels and black mussels. A secret delicacy since childhood.

Take one more look at the crowded beach. This is as busy as it gets!

Mcdouglas Bay is protected by a reef from the strong Benguela currents; leaving a lagoon-like, shallow and safe, quiet bay.

One last look and then it was sadly time to leave.

On the way back to Pofadder.

Pella is a little missionary settlement in the middle of nowhere. This is the road to nowhere.

I took along Opperman; who still had to be trained how to be a pillion. It was terrible!

In convoy; Riaan, Werner, and me (with Opperman).

Werner on his Zed-ex.

Just outside Pella; the obligatory magazine cover pose.

I haven't seen the Augrabies falls since I was maybe 14 years old, and it is not that far from Pofadder. So on the way back home (that would be Joburg), I had to go take a peek at the 160m drop of water.

And incase no one believes I was there; here is the proof.

I split up with Riaan at Keimos; I continue east to Joburg, and he turned down south to Cape Town. This is the goodbye.

Thirteen hours on the road tend to attact a bit of attention...

The art of not crashing

I haven’t fallen of a bike in many years, and suddenly, towards the end of last year, I started falling and could not stop doing so. There was the cruiser in Lesotho, the quad in Brakpan, the Jonway in Kuruman, and the Fireblade on the N3.

I remember when I started riding I was crashing a lot. Me and my crashes became a joke among friends; and the anticipation about the next one provided lots of talk and entertainment. Then, one evening, lying in bed licking my wounds yet again, it dawned on me that there was a pattern. Until then I was blaming cars, road conditions, whatever. But one thing became clear, the accidents happened with a worrying, almost predictable regularity. There was a pattern.

Then I realised, thinking about my last accident; that it was entirely avoidable. If took a different action at a certain point, it would not have happened. I could then see how all my accidents could have been prevented; simply by me changing my attitude on the bike.

So from a bold, aggressive rider I became more circumspect and used my brains and eyes more; searching and predicting the behaviour of other road users. Needless to say, I haven’t had an accident again until early 2005, the first in probably 5 years.

I was accelerating hard on Riaan’s BMW R75, and made eye-contact with a Volvo S40 driver waiting to turn into my lane. I assumed he saw me, and therefor went for it, revving the tits of the bike.

To my disbelief he turned right into my path. I hardly had time to brake or swerve. In an instant I was on the ground, pinned underneath the bike, with the nose of the car on top. I was angry, but the horror on the face of the driver was something else. He really, absolutely did not see me, inspite of my headlight being on and the noise of the freeflow megaphone pipes.

The accident simply proved my principle that kept me from falling for 5 years. On that day I was cocky, showing off, and didn’t feel like backing off. I shouldn’t have assumed he saw me. And how lucky I was; I had no protective gear on (not even gloves). The boxer cylinder kept the bike resting of the ground, and I was pinned neatly into the gap. No injury at all. I picked up the bike, and went on, very slowly.

So, why have I started to crash now again, two years later? My feeling is that I allow myself to feel pressurized. I have to be able to push a bike hard, and way out of my comfort zone. As a journalist that is my job. I have been attending track days, and Philippe (my senior) made it clear that I have to be fast. How else can I give credible feedback, especially on superbikes.

I tend to agree, but I haven’t admitted to myself that perhaps it takes longer and is more difficult to go fast then I am prepared to admit. In other words, I haven’t mastered the technique of fast riding (i.e. cornering, as wide throttle has nothing to do with it).

But my old bashfulness has a role to play too. On the Pan-European ST1300, I simply forgot that I was on a tourer without adequate ground clearance. I saw a corner coming up, and got excited. I opened the throttle, and started leaning. Have a look.

The corner looks fast and wide.

Then, to my surprise, the Pan starts scraping. But I don’t worry, thinking it will stop any moment.

By now I realised it is not stopping, and I am running out of road.

It was too late to panic here. I knew I was in trouble, and was ready to crash. Big. Still, I kept the throttle pinned, and left the brakes alone, not wanting to cause an upset to the bike that will guarantee a crash.

The corner opened up without me having drifted into the oncoming lane, and I live another day. Was I lucky? Certainly! But not panicking helped. Was that because I was getting rather used to crashing?

Whatever the case; it is back to square one with my mental attitude. Keep doing what kept me alive so far; and don’t show-off my still developing skill. Leave that for the track, not the public road.

A long overdue update

I have neglected my blog. I don’t think anybody still checks on it. Who would, if nothing gets posted. I just lost the time and energy.

Is my dream job getting the better of me? At some point I went through three months without a weekend off. Not a problem for a workaholic like my French colleague, but if you are a lazy hedonist like me, it can get tiring. My friends wondered what happened to me, as they didn’t hear from me or saw me for so long. It is still unusual to be at home on a weekend, although it is beginning to become more frequent over the holiday season, since we have become less busy. Needless to say, updating my blog was the last thing on my mind.

February I will be a year at TopBike. I will have to stop referring to it as my “new” job. But it is perhaps a good time for reflection. (Note to self: a Sowetan journalist got fired for saying bad things about his company on his blog, so watch your step!).

I still enjoy my job (I get ostracized for referring to it as a job). What I have to complain about is the company, and its people. We faced closure recently; and it – in my opinion – has a lot to do with people in positions of responsibility either unable or unwilling to do what it takes to make the magazine fly. Perhaps, we are too small to be effectively accommodated by the workings of such a massive bureaucracy as Media24. We need quick reactivity in this business, and the chain of command doesn’t allow for that. Add to that the needs of a number of magazine titles any given manager has to worry about, of which TopBike is never a priority.

After more than a year under Media24’s wing, many bikers still don’t know we exist, and those that do, struggle to find TopBike on the shelves. As a brand we are weak; people know they have seen my face in a bike magazine, and they usually think it is Bike SA! General feedback from readers, importers and advertisers is that we are the best magazine on the market. But still we faced closure. It is sad that magazines less respected than us are able to stay on the shelves.

Along with an equally slimmed down TopCar magazine, we are the only titles in the company’s motoring stable left. First to go was TopDeals, then TopMotor, and recently, MaxPower. Are we lucky, or we just on borrowed time. The company has obviously misjudged its ability to be a force in this market segment.

My esteemed French colleague finally left to join the competition (Twowheels magazine); tired of fighting and not getting the support he needs to get the job done. He won’t be replaced. We are slimming down; the next best thing to do if you cant bring in money is to spent less. This also means I will not go on those fancy trips anymore. I test bikes within Gauteng from now on. The magazine is thinner now, and we will reduce the cover price. Is this enough to pull us out of the red? Time will tell.

Philippe used to do this job on his own until I came. Will I be able to do it on my own? I feel confident. I hope I am not naïve. Again; time will tell.

I cannot really think of anything else I want to do. This is still it. But the honeymoon is clearly over.