The Road to East London…

I wanted to get today’s ride over as quickly as possible… I climbed up past Harding and Stafford’s Post, and then into the timber-lands surrounding Kokstad, the road surface conducive to high speeds, the scenery a minor distraction… My momentum was significantly reduced the moment I passed the sign that said, “Welcome to the Eastern Cape”… Whereas the Kwazulu-Natal roads had been well maintained, those of the Eastern Cape had been forgotten about… Within metres of the provincial boundary, the first pothole loomed…

The pause before the dog...

Shortly before Mount Ayliff, I ran into a spot of bother, in the shape of a large brown dog, known locally as a “Transkei Terrier”… I had seen it lurking on the side of the road from about 80 metres away, and had eased up on the throttle… The dog was watching something on the opposite side of the road and as I approached, it darted in front of the bike without taking it’s eyes off whatever it had been looking at… There was no time to avoid it… I hit the poor animal just behind it’s right shoulder-blade…

With a sickening crunch, the dog disappeared under the bike, clipping my left boot as it did so and slamming my ankle into the bike frame… The Big Fella reared up and then slammed back down again, without so much as a wobble… I looked back to see the lifeless form of the dog lying in the middle of the road… It had been the same size as my own dog, Jessie, and with a pang of regret, I rode on… Mercifully, it had been killed instantly…

I stopped in Mount Ayliff to refuel and check the bike for any damage, and found none…!! The balance had not been affected at all, and the rim and spokes showed no sign of the impact… It had been a lucky escape for us both…(the Big Fella and I, that is….) I had hit the dog at about 100 km/h, and the bike had hardly flinched… Had I been on a lighter bike, I am certain that there would have been a different result…

Time out on the road to East London...

Still shaken and a little stirred, I rode on through a busy Mount Frere, and Qumbu… It was Friday…. The main road runs straight through the centre of town, and is regarded by the locals as a pedestrian thoroughfare… The road was much improved as I wound my way down into the valley where Mthatha is located… Inside the town, roadworks had caused pandemonium… Traffic lights were out at most intersections, and I took a wrong turn (“Garmin Gal’s” fault !!) and wound up heading off on the road to Queenstown !! Luckily an alternate route back to the N2 presented itself and after a few kilometres of a less than scenic township tour, I was back on track…

Looking for shade...

It was blisteringly hot, with the temperature in the mid-thirties… I needed to get some water down my throat and pulled into a newly opened petrol station, parked the bike in the little shade afforded by the midday sun, and gulped down a litre of water… I had covered over 300 kms so far and had made good time, but the heat was getting to me… An hour later, I needed more fluids, and began looking for a shady spot to pull over into… No luck !! What has happened to all the trees in the Transkei ??? Nary a decent-sized one anywhere along the N2 ! I eventually pulled over near a homestead, put my cap on to prevent my “pip” from being burnt to a frazzle, and stood about drinking the rest of my water while the sun blazed down around me…

Still no shade... Rural Transkei.

I figured that I would have enough fuel to get me to East London if I eased off on the throttle a touch, and resolved to take it easy on the last leg down to the coast… I rode through Dutywa and down into Butterworth, through the rolling countryside south of the Drakensberg foothills, wary of the cattle, horses and sheep that grazed unattended on the roadside… I had passed at least a dozen carcasses and breathed in the accompanying smell of rotting flesh, since leaving Mthatha. A flock of Pied Crows squabbled over the remains of a donkey, and rose into the air in a cloud as I roared by, just before the descent into the Kei River Pass…

This stretch of road is great for biking… The sweeping turns, short straights and steep drop-offs, ensure that you stay focused… There was also the added complication of fairly heavy traffic… I crossed the Kei River, slowing down for the traffic entering and leaving the Ultra City, which is located on the final bend before the bridge, and then geared down and pinned the throttle back for the ascent out of the pass… So much for “taking it easy”… This was just too much fun !!

Roadworks on the run-in to East London slowed our progress, which was not a bad thing, as the Fuel Management System was sending an urgent S.O.S., advising me that pushing the bike the last few kilometres was becoming a distinct possibility… I took the turn-off to Beacon Bay and stopped at an Engen garage… I removed my helmet and chatted to the pump jockeys while the Big Fella gurgled happily as his tank was filled…  Just then, the manager of the petrol station came skipping across the forecourt, stopped alongside the bike, and with a huge grin on his face, said,

“It is an honour to meet you, Sir !! I saw you on T.V. last night, and here you are, filling up at my garage !! I can’t believe it !!”

This came as a surprise to me, as I thought the program was only being aired at the end of the month. It would seem that “Woema” has split the two interviews and the first one had already “gone out on air”… The Big Fella seemed to push out his chest at the news, but perhaps it was just because his tank was full again… After the usual round of questions and more handshakes from other interested bystanders, who had left their cars to come over and chat to me, I waved them all goodbye and proceeded down towards the beach front in East London, where the Garmin Gal redeemed herself (after the Mthatha debacle…) by leading me unerringly to a place where every road trip into East London should end…. See below…

The Heineken Tent...

After 7 hours and 565 km of hard riding, numerous stops for fuel and water, and a  collision with a vagrant dog, the days ride was over… But the day itself was far from over…

© GBWT 2010