To all my friends and family and the many wonderful people I have met around the world over the past three years, I wish you all a spectacular and successful 2013, and trust that you had a restful and peaceful festive season…
I managed to “down tools” for a few days and spent time with my parents and sister down on the coast… I had not seen my folks since landing in Johannesburg on the 18th of November, and getting to spend a few days with them was very special for me…
On the way back to Gauteng, I stopped over in van Reenen, to spend the day with my very good friends from Swaziland, the Barnard’s. Charlotte’s sisters own and manage the Oaklands Country Manor, where Patricia and I had stopped for lunch on our way back from the coast during our whirlwind honeymoon…
The grand old manor house at Oaklands…
I look forward to visiting here again with Patricia, and this time spending a few days to explore the beautiful countryside…
Standing on the bluff opposite the Manor, with Louis, Charlotte and Guy…
Although I had only planned to stay for lunch before continuing on to Johannesburg, the beers and red wine flowed too smoothly down my gullet, and by late afternoon, we decided that it would be a far better idea for me to stay for dinner too, and leave early the following morning… (4.00am to be exact, to get me back to my team in time for a 7.15 am start-up…)
The Tully Clan: Simon, Charlotte, Kathy, Annie and Caroline. Thanks for a wonderful afternoon, evening and very early morning…!! Looking forward to joining you again in the near future, have your yoga kit ready…!!
And as usual, I was left holding the baby…. Someone had to do it…!! I was apparently chosen because of the fact that have an “air of responsibility” about me… Go figure…!!
I then spent three days having components and lumber moved across from one factory to another while the engineers continued fine-tuning the machinery in preparation for production on the 7th of January.
The last few days of 2012 have found me quietly reflecting on the past year and the new one that lies ahead of me…
Exactly a year ago today, I left Santiago in Chile, to begin my ride down to the southernmost tip of the world, Fin del Mundo. I had spent the previous evening ringing in the New Year with my good friends and fellow travelers, Michel and Brita, and was a little the worse for wear… I should not have been riding a bicycle, let alone a big, bad-assed bike…
I made it down to the Argentine border in one piece, riding in searing heat down the centre of Chile… It was an amazing beginning to the new year, one in which I would realize so many of my dreams…
On the border of Chile and Argentina, on my way to San Carlos de Bariloche…
Like conquering the dirt roads and high winds of Ruta 40 in Patagonia to reach Fin del Mundo and achieve “The Double” of riding my bike to the most northern and southern tip of the world; seeing the Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian / Paraguayan / Argentine border; riding up through the high mountains at 5 000 metres above sea level to get back into Chile; reaching La Paz in Bolivia and then the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru…
Windswept, bleak, beautiful Patagonia and Ruta 40 stretching out into the vast emptiness….
On the hell road to Tres Lago, close to the little town of Gobernador Gregores, I came across this wetland and stopped to take in the beauty….
The dust that was kicked up on Ruta 40 had me wearing my bandana over my mouth to prevent my lungs turning into a muddy mess…
One of the many glorious sunsets I witnessed in Patagonia. This one at Tres Lagos….
Fin del Mundo. The End of the World. Another dream realized….
It’s official…!! And takes up a full page of my passport…!!
Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian side of the border. One of the most spectacular sights in South America.
The road to Susques and the Chilean border. The Big Fella and I were both gasping for breath once we climbed up over 4000 metres above sea level and later peaked at close to 5000 m….
It got a lot higher after this, and later we crossed one of the highest border posts in the world when we entered Bolivia through the “back door”…
Volcano in the clouds. The Bolivian border post was just a few kilometres from here. I had ridden dirt roads for three hours to get here and was exhausted by the combination of effort and altitude….
El Mystico…. I will never forget my chance meeting with this amazing man, who gave me a renewed sense of vigor to complete what I had set out to do.
Magnificent Machu Picchu, one of my highlights in South America.
I rode through the Atacama Desert, the driest place on the planet, through Equador and into the mountain passes of Colombia; whizzed through all seven Central American countries, and then visited the Mayan ruins in Guatemala and Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula; climbed the Aztec Temple of the Sun near Mexico City; entered the USA (the 100th country on my journey around the world) and visited the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Death Valley in California; then rode up the coast to Big Sur and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on my way up to Oregon and Washington State; meeting my good friends the Wilson’s in Vancouver, and together with them, reaching Dead Horse on Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean…
The scary Canon del Pato in northern Peru, where I came to grief for only the third time on my journey. It was the mud’s fault….!!
High mountain passes in the jungles of Colombia on the road from Pasto to Cali.
The Jaguar Temple, Tikal, Guatemala. The Mayan capital covers a vast area north of the lakeside town of Flores.
I climbed the Aztec Temple of the Sun at Teotihuacan just outside Mexico City..
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona… World’s biggest crack….
Big Sur on the Californian coastline. Great ride to easily match the Great Ocean Road in Australia.
The Dalton Highway was taken slowly, but for one of us, not slow enough as it turned out…!! My friends, Trevor , Chenty and Mark were there to pick up the pieces when the Big Fella and I decided to see what the Tundra felt and tasted like…
I had made the ride from the southern tip of South America, to the northern tip of North America… A very proud moment for me.
And then spoiled my day by losing control of the Big Fella in the thick mud on the Dalton Highway. My biggest “OFF” on my World Tour…
We rode down through the Yukon Territory in Canada, then the long ride across North America, through Yellowstone National Park to the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Dragon’s Tail in Tennessee which were the highlights for me; and on to New Jersey, where my dream girl waited for me to end my ride and join me in holy matrimony on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean…
The hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park.
The end of the Dragon’s Tail at Deals Gap… With 318 curves in just 11 miles, there was no time to take any photos, although I did get some great video footage from my on-board camera…
The Big Fella held his own against the speedsters and got us onto the front cover of a motorcycle magazine in the process… Good on yer…!!
And there to meet me in Freehold, New Jersey, was the love of my life…
A great way to end a day’s ride from Washington DC, let alone one that took me around the world…!!
And just a week later, one of the happiest moments of my life, when Patricia became Mrs. Borrageiro… A magical end to a magical journey…
My comrade in Arms, the Big Fella stood in as Best Man…. After carrying me around the world, he insisted on being part of our special day… And who were we to deny him this honour…
What a year it has been…!!
I have been blessed with good fortune, good health and the companionship of some of the most wonderful and generous people you could ever hope to meet. And I have discovered the love of my life… Together with the things I have seen and experienced, they have made my journey the success that it has been. I have no appropriate words to thank them all, or to properly express my eternal gratitude… I salute each and every one of you…
And lastly, without whom I could never have achieved what I have, and who is waiting patiently in Pennsylvania for my return to the saddle; the “Big Fella”. This amazing bike has carried me over 187 500 km, and but for a few small niggles, is raring to chew through many more thousands of kilometres in our quest to experience new adventures… (He has been muttering something about riding across Russia, through all the ‘Stans to Valdivostok on “The Road of Bones” in 2014… I have no idea how he comes up with this stuff…!! )
We have shared an unbroken bond since the first day I swung into the saddle… This is a bike that has become a legend in it;s own right… I salute you too, old friend….
You’re as Grand as that Canyon you are peeping over the edge of….
The details of our immediate future are being carefully mapped out as I write this…
My beautiful bride will be joining me here in South Africa in the very near future to spend the next few months with me while I complete the task of moving another four factories into their new premises.
We will then spend a few months back in the USA, visiting family and friends, riding the eastern seaboard from Florida to the Canadian border (another of the Big Fella’s “Big Ideas”…) before deciding where we will settle and what exactly it is we will be keeping ourselves occupied with…
But that’s all down the road and a long way around the corner. Until then all I want to do is look forward to a bright, happy, and fun-filled 2013, and cross my fingers that it will be as amazing as 2012 has been.
And to all those people wondering when I will complete my journal and perhaps scribble it into book form… Patience, my friends…
©GBWT 2013
Just realize as I read your comments that a year has past already, almost a year that I have been following your journey. It has been so wonderful and I have enjoyed and watched your trip to conquered you soulmate and the world.
It has been in some way my love dream come true, but you have been the protagonist of this story.
Wish you the best for you and Patricia, and never forget that here in Santiago de Chile my home is yours.
All my love and best wishes for this new year 2013, that has already arrived. Hugs.
Hi Carolina, so good to hear from you again. It seems so long ago that we sat down to dinner together in Punta Arenas and then went over to Tierra del Fuego on the ferry with Carl, Roberto and your daughters. Yes, I have lived the dream and found my soul mate into the bargain… I am the luckiest man in the world to have achieved all that, and met so many wonderful people like you. I have convinced Patricia that we will some day soon tour South America, and you can be sure that we will knock on your door when we get to Santiago de Chile… I very much look forward to that day and seeing you again… I hope that 2013 brings you all the joys you may wish for… RB
Looking back at what you have achieved gives one a sense of WOW, did Ronnie and Big Fella really do this. We have your blog to prove that you did and we, your family, just want to once again say how proud we are of YOU, GYPSYBIKER. Thank you for always keeping us up to date on your travels, we have thoroughly enjoyed going on-line to see where you and your steed were.
We wish you and Patricia an awesome 2013, filled with lots of love, happiness and success. We also look forward to one day hugging Big Fella here in South Africa.
All our love and best wishes,
Dad, Mom, Craig and Charmz xoxo
It’s quite uncanny,your shot of the view down at the winding route en route to Susques ,& the signpost to PASO DE JAMA,is exactly the one i took on my trip in 2011 and presently on my computer as a screensaver.
We must have stopped at exactly the same spot to snap it!Check out my blog at http://www.tonyheathtransamerica.blogspot.com dated 15th February 2011
At first I did a “double take”as the shot is so familiar to me.
In fact many of them have been.
Well done Ronnie i did a fraction of your trip (45000km) but have some idea of the lifechanging experiences you encountered en route.
Tony
Happy New Year to the Big Fella, You and Patricia. Big Red, me and Trev are missing the road and the good times we had, work sucks as Im sure you are finding out too but alas we must work a bit more so that we can ride again, South America next for us then South Africa so you better be there to show us around, you’ve got about 5 years before we get there.
hugs
chenty
Ronnie
I have been following your journey even before it started in 2010. Thank you for sharing it with us and I am sure you fulfilled what a lot of people dream off. Now that it is sort of done, it feels like when the OJ Simpson case came to an end. What now? ( Not that I followed it!) When ever you are in the Southern Cape, please feel free to contact me. We have some nice rides down there, as you most probably know.
Thanx again
Piet
Hi Piet, sorry for the late reply, but I have had my hands full up here in Jozi !! I am hoping to visit the Cape before I return to collect my bike and make a last few ride in the USA. I hope we can meet up if I do come down, but would prefer to be on 2 wheels rather than four when I do !! Thank you for following my journey thus far and hope you will stay tuned for my rides in June, July and August. I still have some miles left in me and can’t wait to get back on the road again !! Take care, Ronnie.
Thank you Tony !! That sure is a special road and a special place… “I’m going back one fine day, to those green hills far away…” A line from a song by Mike Scott and the Waterboys. I hum it often to myself, and I am sure going to try and make it come true… Once just wasn’t enough !! Take it easy, and hope to meet up with you “one fine day”…. R.