Kind of There, Did Some of It, Got the T-shirt…

… and the cap, and the metal badge.

Monday, 27 December

I’d been looking forward to this day for about 2 months. Why? Well, for those that don’t know, I’m a fan of motorbikes as well as aircraft and photography, and today was the day of the 9 Passes in one day motorbike ride. Over 400km of beautiful roads and stunning scenery.

Well, for the rest of the group it was, but not for me; I wouldn’t be able to do all nine passes because the bike was giving problems and ran the risk of overheating, so it was decided that I shouldn’t push it. Plus, I’m far from ‘riding-fit’!




So I did a whole two passes, then peeled off from the group and sat at Worcester Airfield. For 4 hours. After sitting around, twiddling my thumbs and watching South Africa get thrashed by India in the cricket, it was time for me to meet up with the group to go over the last pass (Du Toit’s Kloof).


Sitting at Worcester

On my way to the rendezvous point, I noticed that the clutch cable was sticking out of its plastic cover, and pieces of wire had unraveled. Once with the rest of the group, I decided that the safest would be for me to give the pass, well, a pass; the last thing I wanted was for the cable to fail or snap while I was going down a mountain.

So I went through the mountain instead of over it, breathing in car and truck fumes for several minutes, then I had to go through a toll gate when I got to the other side. Brilliant.

So I’m feeling a bit disappointed. At least I had a great breakfast, and got to ride the BMW R60/5. It’s probably the longest trip that bike has done ever since my dad bought it (I think that was over 6 years ago). Next time I want to do it on something that can go 120km/h without overheating. And I want to do all 9 passes and earn my shirt, cap and badge!