G
Gothica
Guest
26 January: On this day in history ..
1978 – International Ultraviolet Explorer placed in Earth orbit
1980 – Mary Decker became 1st woman to run a mile in under 4½ minutes
1988 - "Phantom of the Opera" opens at Majestic Theater New York City NY for 4,000+ performances
1998 – Intel launches 333 MHz Pentium II chip
2008 – My first ever ride on a motorbike .. getting one on one with a two wheel so to speak
* * * * *
As the horizon gives birth to the rising sun from behind the black silhouette of the Stellenbosch mountains I prepare for a day which I would never have thought possible, not in my wildest dreams and certainly not in this lifetime.
52 available weeks in a year .. But alas yours truly has to go and pick one of the hottest days with a weather forecast of 34°-40° max between Cape Town and Paarl. (Never fear when my stalker Murphy is near ..) And don’t forget my ever present secret valentine: Insomnia. :
So off I went to my first ever personal encounter with a motorbike. ‘Jeans and tekkies’ they said. I’m nót the ‘jeans and tekkies’ type (at all), but I’ll make the sacrifice and try to camouflage the self consciousness with a brave smile. Me smiling? I know, the thought scared me as well at first .. but it turned out to be okay.
‘Meet me in front of Steers opposite Sanlam Head office’ the voice on the phone said. And there I was, not knowing what to expect and thoughts clouding my mind like the Milky Way. Then I see them. Billy on the bike with an anxious looking group of people around him. I forget to breathe one last time and proceed to join them. Jeans and tekkies .. oi.
Billy greets everybody and explains where we’re going to next .. ‘just follow me’. Everybody heads back to their cages and the guy standing next to me turns to me and says ‘Hi, lekker om nog ‘n Wild Dog hier te sien.’ Pause. Mooi man! There I am, not knowing whether I want the sun to condensate me into something invisible or whether I want to give the guy a high five and be the proudest WD there ever was. ‘Ek is Thys.’ ‘Hi, ek is Rounelle.’ We proceeded to follow Billy.
Yeehaa! A quick ATGATT 101 for dummies intro by Billy. The value of your life is worth the price of your helmet. Wear leathers, not textile. Wear full gloves, stay away from anything black (at which point I raise an eyebrow in silent protest of giving up or trading in who I am for the sake of visibility), boots that cover the ankles and any reflective-bling you can possibly afford.
And off we went on the scoots .. I’m sitting on a Poegie woot! It has two wheels, although it requires ‘voetjies bymekaar’ I’m content for the moment. Around and around and around we go. And the voice in the back of my head says ‘remember, you have a WD eye witness, go forth and don’t screw it .. you only have this one chance.’
I soared like an eagle for a few minutes. Mentally had a few WTF moments where I couldn’t believe my luck and that I was there, I was actually thére taking that very first step towards a very big dream which, as I sit here right now, sometime still fades into exactly that, a dream .. something nearly unimaginable.
After a while we had to do the cones. Suddenly the term ‘cones’ became a lot less fun than when we were kids and ice cream was served on them. But hey, I got a pitch black helmet for the day (grins) so I might just as well show it off while zig-zagging the cones as though it was a modelling ramp .. anything to boost the confidence hey?
Wicked. Loved the scoots. And then .. (do you hear harps playing at this moment with the harmonic voices of the angles in the background?) .. the motorbikes. It is certified .. I have died and gone to heaven. Motorbikes. No flippen way .. am I going to ride that? ‘Yes mam’ says the voice. I grin .. again. Evil grin this time .. bring it on boeta!
Pause. Just for the record, up to now Thys has (unknowingly perhaps) been giving a lot of moral support. He was a blessing in disguise and I felt the WD spirit come to life again. Pause .. again. Mental note to self: find a helmet compatible hairstyle .. vinnig! Disaster .. deluxe. I was starting to look like an accident waiting to happen .. and everytime I took the helmet off it only got worse, and together with the smudged eye-shadow in that heat I must’ve looked like a Halloween Fugitive in January. Not forgetting: jeans and tekkies.
Then the moment of glory. Me officially coming out of the closet and sitting on a motorbike. They were allocated to us randomly. (Grins with delight at this point) .. a black Yamaha SR250. Like calling a computer a glorrified typewriter, that could just as well have been a black and silver KTM. Nevermind die ridder op sy wit perd .. ysterperd is nou die wagwoord.
[Dankie vir die foto Thys!]
Corny as it may sound, for a split second there I pictured Leonardo and Kate at the front of the Titanic .. arms spread wide with the wind in their hair and freedom and joy in abundance .. simply letting go. That was exactly how my first few successful rounds on the bike felt (but the bubble burst everytime I heard the words ‘jy’s te vinnig’ .. apparently I’m addicted to speed he he) ..
‘Bikes, gears, brake, let go of the throttle Rounelle, keep your head up, nice, don’t look down, easy on the gas, easy on the gas (again), well done.’
Then we had to do the 8-formation of the cones. Billy did the riding while he explained .. and each one of us got the chance to be pillions. Now I know why I refused to be satisfied as pillion from the word go. To all the SWAMBO’s out there, give the man a break .. get your own wheels.
The 8-formation thing was definitely a notch up. Concentration and focus two very important things at this stage. And we were tired and hot. Btw, mental note to self to be shared with the pack: never get so excited about a bike lesson that you forget sunscreen. After today I can say: been there, done that, got the scars to prove it. My new definition of Kamp Staaldraad: the texture of a towel on an arm like this. The guy at the chemist found it very entertaining. A stranger at the local Mall’s Pick ‘n Pay sympathised with the ‘pain I must be enduring’ .. I couldn’t interrupt him quick enough to let him know that it was my first bike lesson ever (hence worth every and any pain imaginable lol).
[Btw, this is me inside out lol. Guess ATGATT would've prevented sunburn as well?]
After 5 hours in the sun we headed back home. Unbelievable. I asked one of the ladies if she had her own bike yet? ‘No, only my husband’s bike parked in the front of the garage, but it’s too much trouble getting it out’ she replied. I was like ‘oh, what kind of bike is it?’ ‘Black and silver KTM’ .. nevermind let go of the throttle I wanted to strangle the woman for being so blasé about it and asked her where she lived, coz I’d love to help her out. >
It was tempting not to drive one of those toys home with me. I was doing maths and dreaming and vizualising like never before. Un-flippen-real. Thys, thanx. Daai was amptelik die lekkerste Coke Light in die geskiedenis van die mens op aarde! Was ‘n voorreg om nog ‘n WD daar te hê vandag.
Got back in the cage (strange feeling btw!) and headed back home, where the truth regarding my where-abouts was revealed for the first time to some family members who are still getting used to the idea of me on a bike. My medium-rare to well-done fried flesh gave me away in the end anyways. But too late she cried … I have 5 hours of training behind me en nou is daar nie brieke nie. Ons scheme oor ‘n collective learners toets en droom groot.
The journey has only just begun … on more personal levels than meets the eye .. that very first single step ..
1978 – International Ultraviolet Explorer placed in Earth orbit
1980 – Mary Decker became 1st woman to run a mile in under 4½ minutes
1988 - "Phantom of the Opera" opens at Majestic Theater New York City NY for 4,000+ performances
1998 – Intel launches 333 MHz Pentium II chip
2008 – My first ever ride on a motorbike .. getting one on one with a two wheel so to speak
* * * * *
As the horizon gives birth to the rising sun from behind the black silhouette of the Stellenbosch mountains I prepare for a day which I would never have thought possible, not in my wildest dreams and certainly not in this lifetime.
52 available weeks in a year .. But alas yours truly has to go and pick one of the hottest days with a weather forecast of 34°-40° max between Cape Town and Paarl. (Never fear when my stalker Murphy is near ..) And don’t forget my ever present secret valentine: Insomnia. :
So off I went to my first ever personal encounter with a motorbike. ‘Jeans and tekkies’ they said. I’m nót the ‘jeans and tekkies’ type (at all), but I’ll make the sacrifice and try to camouflage the self consciousness with a brave smile. Me smiling? I know, the thought scared me as well at first .. but it turned out to be okay.
‘Meet me in front of Steers opposite Sanlam Head office’ the voice on the phone said. And there I was, not knowing what to expect and thoughts clouding my mind like the Milky Way. Then I see them. Billy on the bike with an anxious looking group of people around him. I forget to breathe one last time and proceed to join them. Jeans and tekkies .. oi.
Billy greets everybody and explains where we’re going to next .. ‘just follow me’. Everybody heads back to their cages and the guy standing next to me turns to me and says ‘Hi, lekker om nog ‘n Wild Dog hier te sien.’ Pause. Mooi man! There I am, not knowing whether I want the sun to condensate me into something invisible or whether I want to give the guy a high five and be the proudest WD there ever was. ‘Ek is Thys.’ ‘Hi, ek is Rounelle.’ We proceeded to follow Billy.
Yeehaa! A quick ATGATT 101 for dummies intro by Billy. The value of your life is worth the price of your helmet. Wear leathers, not textile. Wear full gloves, stay away from anything black (at which point I raise an eyebrow in silent protest of giving up or trading in who I am for the sake of visibility), boots that cover the ankles and any reflective-bling you can possibly afford.
And off we went on the scoots .. I’m sitting on a Poegie woot! It has two wheels, although it requires ‘voetjies bymekaar’ I’m content for the moment. Around and around and around we go. And the voice in the back of my head says ‘remember, you have a WD eye witness, go forth and don’t screw it .. you only have this one chance.’
I soared like an eagle for a few minutes. Mentally had a few WTF moments where I couldn’t believe my luck and that I was there, I was actually thére taking that very first step towards a very big dream which, as I sit here right now, sometime still fades into exactly that, a dream .. something nearly unimaginable.
After a while we had to do the cones. Suddenly the term ‘cones’ became a lot less fun than when we were kids and ice cream was served on them. But hey, I got a pitch black helmet for the day (grins) so I might just as well show it off while zig-zagging the cones as though it was a modelling ramp .. anything to boost the confidence hey?
Wicked. Loved the scoots. And then .. (do you hear harps playing at this moment with the harmonic voices of the angles in the background?) .. the motorbikes. It is certified .. I have died and gone to heaven. Motorbikes. No flippen way .. am I going to ride that? ‘Yes mam’ says the voice. I grin .. again. Evil grin this time .. bring it on boeta!
Pause. Just for the record, up to now Thys has (unknowingly perhaps) been giving a lot of moral support. He was a blessing in disguise and I felt the WD spirit come to life again. Pause .. again. Mental note to self: find a helmet compatible hairstyle .. vinnig! Disaster .. deluxe. I was starting to look like an accident waiting to happen .. and everytime I took the helmet off it only got worse, and together with the smudged eye-shadow in that heat I must’ve looked like a Halloween Fugitive in January. Not forgetting: jeans and tekkies.
Then the moment of glory. Me officially coming out of the closet and sitting on a motorbike. They were allocated to us randomly. (Grins with delight at this point) .. a black Yamaha SR250. Like calling a computer a glorrified typewriter, that could just as well have been a black and silver KTM. Nevermind die ridder op sy wit perd .. ysterperd is nou die wagwoord.
[Dankie vir die foto Thys!]
Corny as it may sound, for a split second there I pictured Leonardo and Kate at the front of the Titanic .. arms spread wide with the wind in their hair and freedom and joy in abundance .. simply letting go. That was exactly how my first few successful rounds on the bike felt (but the bubble burst everytime I heard the words ‘jy’s te vinnig’ .. apparently I’m addicted to speed he he) ..
‘Bikes, gears, brake, let go of the throttle Rounelle, keep your head up, nice, don’t look down, easy on the gas, easy on the gas (again), well done.’
Then we had to do the 8-formation of the cones. Billy did the riding while he explained .. and each one of us got the chance to be pillions. Now I know why I refused to be satisfied as pillion from the word go. To all the SWAMBO’s out there, give the man a break .. get your own wheels.
The 8-formation thing was definitely a notch up. Concentration and focus two very important things at this stage. And we were tired and hot. Btw, mental note to self to be shared with the pack: never get so excited about a bike lesson that you forget sunscreen. After today I can say: been there, done that, got the scars to prove it. My new definition of Kamp Staaldraad: the texture of a towel on an arm like this. The guy at the chemist found it very entertaining. A stranger at the local Mall’s Pick ‘n Pay sympathised with the ‘pain I must be enduring’ .. I couldn’t interrupt him quick enough to let him know that it was my first bike lesson ever (hence worth every and any pain imaginable lol).
[Btw, this is me inside out lol. Guess ATGATT would've prevented sunburn as well?]
After 5 hours in the sun we headed back home. Unbelievable. I asked one of the ladies if she had her own bike yet? ‘No, only my husband’s bike parked in the front of the garage, but it’s too much trouble getting it out’ she replied. I was like ‘oh, what kind of bike is it?’ ‘Black and silver KTM’ .. nevermind let go of the throttle I wanted to strangle the woman for being so blasé about it and asked her where she lived, coz I’d love to help her out. >
It was tempting not to drive one of those toys home with me. I was doing maths and dreaming and vizualising like never before. Un-flippen-real. Thys, thanx. Daai was amptelik die lekkerste Coke Light in die geskiedenis van die mens op aarde! Was ‘n voorreg om nog ‘n WD daar te hê vandag.
Got back in the cage (strange feeling btw!) and headed back home, where the truth regarding my where-abouts was revealed for the first time to some family members who are still getting used to the idea of me on a bike. My medium-rare to well-done fried flesh gave me away in the end anyways. But too late she cried … I have 5 hours of training behind me en nou is daar nie brieke nie. Ons scheme oor ‘n collective learners toets en droom groot.
The journey has only just begun … on more personal levels than meets the eye .. that very first single step ..
