Up the hills, more and more up, then the Marrianhill toll plaza. It wasn't THAT long ago that we paid... was it 50cents? to pass through here? Now its R8 if I remember correctly. Eish, inflation... The road to Maritzburg is still the same though, and slowly I started remembering the "hot spots" where the dudes would sit under the trees. Town hill was a breeze with the GSA, and it was fun throwing the bike into the corners. But eventually we were up and the road flattened out a bit. By now my arse was getting numb again, and eventually Mooi River came into sight. I turned off and stopped at the Engen. While I filled up the tank Liefie went into the Wimpy and got me another coffee.
I also double checked the tyre pressures. I have read enough stories about tyres making kak if they are too soft, especially when the bike is heavily loaded. Believe it or not the pressures were exactly the same on my Snap-On pressure guage as what the dash display told me. So now I do trust that bit of technology. Oh, I have had my Snap-On tyre pressure guage since 1999. Its really accurate, and because I have looked after it, it still looks good too. I'll try remember to get a pic of it up sometime ;D
After filling up and checking the tyres I reversed the bike into a shaded parking spot where the missus and I sat on the pavement drinking our coffee and talking about the rest of the ride home. Thats when I noticed that there was a significant amount of mud stuck on the number plate :eek7: I was about to give it a wipe when the devil stopped me. Suddenly the rest of the ride didn't seem so far
We pulled out of Mooi River, paying the toll on the on-ramp, and slowly the speedo crept upwards until I may have been going just slightly faster than I should have. But it was exhilarating! Man, that beemer certainly pulls! It wasn't too long and the next toll gate appeared. While we were paying I told the missus that the next section was going to be really fun, and that she should hold on. All I will say, without incriminating myself, is that Van Reenens pass has some very lekker bends :drif:
At the top of Van Reenens we stopped again, I needed more coffee, and my butt was no longer mine. I am now saving up for a set of those air-filled seat covers. Riding is supposed to be fun, not a pain in the arse. There was also a dude selling curios at the filling station, and I bought a little wire-and-bead warthog for liefie. She is crazy about Vlakkies, absolutely mad about them. Then it was onward. The next fuel stop was scheduled to be the Engen just over the Vaal river at Villiers. Just as we passed through Warden we passed about 6 DS bikes coming the other way. I waved, maybe they were Wild Dogs?
We stopped at the Engen/Wimpy (do you guys see a pattern here?) just past Villiers where I again filled up the tank. The consumption on the bike had climbed somewhat. Must have been all the uphills
;D Liefie got me my caffiene fix and I had a couple of smokes.
