Secunda To Durban

My cousin invited us for the launch of the new 2010 Harley Davidson in Durban. Ok so they are huge Harley Davidson supporters and that's just fine by me; to each his own. However, do not try to convince me that you cannot tour with a Superbike. As I said, there is a motorcycle for every person on this planet.

Nevertheless, let me tell you about our great weekend. We woke up on Friday morning and it was raining. Luckily, we'd bought our rain gear the previous week and this would be a good test. The gear in fact proved to be the best - go check it out here:  OXFORD 

It stopped raining at about 8h00 but the weatherman predicted more rain from 9h00 and that it would last all day. Pretty accurate prediction, because it did rain the entire day. From Secunda we first had to go to Johannesburg to do a few things and then from there to Durban. We rode in the rain from just outside Secunda to Johannesburg and at some stages it came down very hard. But despite all this we made good time and our speed range was 120 - 160km/h. One thing about riding in the rain is that you have to be alert and your concentration must be 100%. You also have to go fast enough to keep your visor clean.

We arrived in Johannesburg at about 10h00 and did what we had to do. At about 11h00 we got on our wet bikes and took on the rain to Durban. We got on the freeway and then it was open throttle all the way to Harrismith. Speed range was 140 - 180km/h. The kilometres flew past and would you believe it, cops were on the road in that rain. Incredibly, we were lucky enough not to get a speeding fine. We had lunch at the one stop station.

From there it became very difficult to ride. The mist pulled in and the rain came down even harder. At the top of Van Reenen's Pass we had to stop to clean our visors and just take a breather. This was the worst ride ever for me. Here is the problem with a bike in the mist and rain with a wet road - you cannot go fast enough to clear your visor and if you wipe it with your hand it just makes it even worse. Then you get trucks as an added bonus. The only thing we could do was to go down Van Reenen's Pass at a record slow speed of 40km/h. I think no bike ever did it that slow. But safety always comes first!

At the bottom, just after the tollgate, we stopped to stretch our necks and legs. It was the most stressful ride ever. It was still raining but from that point onwards the road had no turns. We opened the throttle and made up the time we'd lost over Van Reenen's Pass.

Just after Mooiriver the sun came out and the roads were dry. The corners down to Pietermaritzburg were great and for the first time on the trip, we could take a breath and relax just a little bit.

It's always great to smell the ocean and have the fresh sea breeze in your face when you go down to the coast.

We arrived safely at our destination, the Honda again doing great under very difficult conditions.

We had a lekker braai and a few shots that night; basically we had a blast until late.

The next morning we got up a bit late and I found my cousin had already organised to get my bike washed and polished. Now that was great from his side because I must say the Blade was very dirty. After that, we took a drive up to Hillcrest to the Harley Shop. I have to say we felt a bit out with our Superbikes amongst all those Harleys but "who cares". We spent about an hour there.

We took a drive to Springfield Park for breakfast and then back home to just relax and spend time in good company.

Thanks for the weekend, we really did enjoy every minute of it. That night we took a long walk along the beach.

Sunday morning we got up and it was a stunning blue day with no wind or rain. For the last time we rode together to Howick, then from there we would carry on home and the Durban crew would turn back. The ride was great and I enjoyed it very much. At Howick Falls we had breakfast. We then took a few pictures, said our goodbyes, filled up our tanks and then it was open throttle back home.

Our first stop was Harrismith, about 220km from Howick, where we had a quick snack. At 15h15 we arrived in Secunda where we unpacked and relaxed.

It was a great weekend and I have to say, without our rain gear it would have been a disaster. Thanks to OXFORD, great product. If you want to get the latest prices on these then you can contact our local bike shop...

ROARING WHEELS
11 LAING STREET
SECUNDA
2302.
CONTACT ANDRE or LEANDRA ON 017 631 1838
EMAIL: roaring.wheels@gmail.com.

Thanks to Tienie and Ronelle for their great hospitality and for spoiling us the whole weekend.