Rough times

Times are tough, times are hard, now here is your f.....ng Christmas card. This what I once heard a boss tell his workers when they asked if they were going to get a bonus for Christmas. It would seem this is one of those years.

New house

Moved into our new home this month. Telkom only now, three weeks later connected my ADSL. Love my new home.

The Long Road 2009

Overview of

THE LONG ROAD 2009

“The BIG 5”

September 19th to 30th inclusive

Day 1- 19th
Johannesburg to Ladybrand, a distance of 430kms. Accommodation will be at the Cranberry Lodge (4 Star). Dinner, which is included in the price, will be in the Cottage Restaurant.



DAY 2 - 20th
Ladybrand to Queenstown (via Barkly East), a distance of 505 kms. Depending on the number of riders, accommodation this evening will be spread over one or two 4 Star Bed & Breakfasts – Positano and AN Other.

        

As most of Queenstown is closed on Sunday nights, we will have dinner, which is included in the price, at the nearby casino (or somewhere else that is open).

DAY 3 - 21st
Queenstown to Port Alfred (via East London), a short ride of 330kms. Late afternoon will be spent having a sun downer (booze) cruise on the Kowie river. We spend the night at the Halyards Hotel on the waterfront, with dinner in the hotel restaurant included.






        

DAY 4 - 22nd
Port Alfred to Storms River Mouth along some of the most beautiful coast line in the country. A distance of some 330 kms. An activity has been arranged for the afternoon. We will spend the night in the chalets right at the mouth. Dinner at a local restaurant is included.







DAY 5 - 23rd
Storms River Mouth to Arniston – a fairly long day of 460 kms. We will be spending the night at the Arniston Spa Hotel. Dinner will be a local speciality, and is included in the price.





DAY 6 - 24th
Arniston to Sutherland (via Cape Agulhas and Montagu) a distance of 370 kms. Depending on the number of riders, accommodation this evening will be spread over one or two Bed & Breakfasts – Krambrokind and AN Other. We will have a tour of the observatory and have a expert talk to us followed predictably, by dinner under the stars. Both items are included.




DAY 7 - 25th
Sutherland to Paternoster a distance of 370 kms to join up with Tyger Valley Chapter’s West Coast Rally for the next two days. Accommodation has been booked with the rally organisers, but no details are known as yet. Dinner for both nights is at the rally site and is included in the price, as are the rally fees.




DAY 8 - 26th
Join the rest of the rally goers in the events, out rides, stalls, side shows etc. We will have an alternative day ride on offer for those who do not want to join the rally out ride.





DAY 9 - 27th
Paternoster to Cape Town a distance of 180 kms. We will be staying at the City Lodge at the Water Front for the next two nights. The rest of the day is at leisure. We will meet at a local restaurant for dinner, which will be for your own account.







DAY 10 - 28th
To coin a phrase, the day will be spent on a “Magical Mystery Peninsula Tour”, the details of which have not as yet been finalised. The route will depend on the weather, the condition of the Long Road participants, but it will involve a ride and lunch in great surroundings. We will meet at a local restaurant for dinner, which will be for your own account.





DAY 11 - 29th
Cape Town to Johannesburg on the Premier Classe. The Harleys will be collected from the hotel and transported home to Johannesburg. We will board the train at 9:00 am on Tuesday morning and arrive in Johannesburg the following morning the 30th September at about 10:00 am.






The Harleys will be delivered to a convenient location in the Johannesburg area for collection on Wednesday morning.







The cost of the Premier Classe, including meals “on board”, and of transporting the Harleys to Johannesburg, is included in the price of The Long Road 2009.


The Alternative Route Home

The alternative to travelling home to Johannesburg on the Premier Classe is to ride home accompanied by the back-up vehicle along the following route from day 9 onwards:

DAY 9
Paternoster to De Rust a distance of 537 kms.

DAY 10
De Rust to Colesburg a distance of 485 kms.

DAY 11
Colesburg to Johannesburg a distance of 685 kms.

Accommodation will be sourced in De rust and Colesburg in 3 or 4 Star Bed & Breakfasts, once demand has been ascertained for this option to return to Johannesburg.

Cost Estimates:
Cost estimates have been based on 24 riders sharing accommodation, and include the following:

1. 1.Return by Premier Classe:

• •10 nights accommodation on a Bed and Breakfast basis

• •Dinner on the first 8 nights (excludes 2 nights in Cape Town)
• •Excursions
• •Back up vehicle
• •Event co-ordinator costs
• •Premier Classe fare to Johannesburg
• •Bike trailed to Johannesburg
• •Pin and memorabilia

Cost: R10, 500 per person sharing (including 1 bike transported to Johannesburg).

2. Return by Road:

• •10 nights accommodation on a Bed and Breakfast basis
• •Dinner on the first 8 nights (excludes 2 nights on return trip to Johannesburg)
• •Excursions
• •Back up vehicle
• •Event co-ordinator costs

Cost: R7,950 per person sharing

Single supplements will be quantified should there be a demand. The petrol price used in calculating the cost of the backup vehicle is R6.50 per litre. Should there be a substantial increase in the fuel price, an adjustment will be made to the overall charge to each participant.

'Why do we scream at each other, this is what it sounds like when the doves cry"

The purple prince had it right when he wrote this in the 1980’s and yet we still waste time arguing and fighting instead of living life to the full. Don’t get me wrong I learnt the value of a good fight and whilst I am cursed with not having the advantage of height my heritage and the little Irish blood I have makes up for what I lack. Ludwig you taught me the way of the warrior and that you cannot fake experience. The thought of one day passing to the other side of the river Styx and spending an eternity in Valhalla to wake each day to a new battle is an enduring thought I have and in my corporate battle one I hold onto.

In the dojo we bled and in that brotherhood of blood we found our true selves and our true friends. Each morning I wake and when I feel the plate in my broken ankle warm up I think of the scars I bear and am more proud of them than the ones I carry from fighting for a war that was lost before it even began. They are a reminder of the brotherhood we forged.

We pay lip service to ideals, but we live by expediency and by tribal prejudice

It has always been easier to follow the herd. The problem with that route is that it is only by those that foster chaos that real change and progress is made. To follow that path is to be despised as it is easier to tow the line and accept things the way they are. Progress is stifled by those who accept the status quo. It is expedient to follow the ways of the tribe and not be a soloist. I chose the road of the soloist and the road least travelled. Whilst filled with more ups and downs than most I have lived long enough to know I would not want it any other way.

Ex altus vincimus

“How many roads must a man walk down, before he finds the one, the answer my friend is blowing in the wind. ...” Notwithstanding that this was written in the heyday of psychedelic recreational dugs and when listening to Dylan you never quite know what he is talking about, I recently had a conversation with my blood brother on how life has turned out. If you go back to the days when you were supported by your parents and the future was before you then almost anything was possible. In this rainbow nation of ours we borrowed from the Yanks that we could do anything we set our minds to. Life will teach you this is not correct. ‘Stupid is as stupid does“ is not going to be an astronaut with no amount of training. There are currently a few books out right now that a positing that if you spend ten thousand hours at a subject (roughly ten years) you will be a world expert at that subject. The books fail to mention that you will also be a bore. Who the hell wants to only know about one subject even if it makes you rich! You will be poor in other ways. I have many more hours on the subject of staying alive and have managed to do so for over forty years so far. What a ride it has been. Has my life gone to plan? It depends who you ask I suppose.

I have regrets but far more importantly I have memories that I am very happy with and friends that have lasted a lifetime. As I sit and type this I have an African grey parrot sitting on my shoulder and nibbling my ear. My German Shepherds are at my feet and the thought of impregnating my wife could be a good way to spend the rest of the afternoon. Buckwheat you are the rarest of all children and it is your insecurities and strengths that make you in some ways my best friend that I hardly ever see anymore. I like spending my days with folk smarter than me and chatting to you via email reminds me of the drunken discussions we would have when life was before us. Now that we are in the middle we have the advantage of hindsight and the future before us.The size of our group pushed us to be better than we really were and I think that continues today.

I envy you Buckwheat all the stories you will be able to tell your children as the few I know have always been an inspiration. There are some that you are not aware I know and will save them for the course of our next forty years. To you I say, ”Ex altus vincimus“, blood brother

Farewell Charles

I learnt this week of a good friend that has died. Charles was going to help us change a small piece of the world in this geography and he was taken too soon. The job is not yet done and we will continue to achieve that which you tasked us with. In the short space I knew you, I found you to be true to your word and a warrior. Charles may you find peace and I will see you again in Valhalla.

Colesburg Blister Butt

Went to Colesburg on the Blister Butt with Harley. We rode a thousand clicks in 12 hours. Normally a painful experience but on an Electra Glide an absolute pleasure. Stopped in Kimberley at the The Half to visit cousin. They have done the place up nicely. Cousin has a broken hand again - somebody needs to explain to Cousin that doing an Iron Man does not mean you can fight - woulda thought the broken hands over the years would have taught him that. Short of that join a full contact club like I did and work it out your system.

Colesburg is beautiful and sad at the same time. The town has nothing to offer but bed and breakfasts for truckers and Harley riders dumb enough to ride a thousand clicks in the middle of winter.

Glad I could contribute to the town and animals which is where the money we raised went.

"Take me down to the cold, cold ground,..."

So Jacko is dead and so is the every boy’s poster girl of the early 80’s. Not sure who the world will miss the most. It would seem the theme for over the last couple of years has been confronting my mortality through the finite end of others.

Met a friend who I have not seen since 1985. Made more money than god and would seem a better person for it. If you had asked the Brothers they would have told you that Chris was the devil incarnate and without his father’s money would not succeed in life - well he showed them. Nice family he has as well. The lottery of the womb does favour some more than others. Never understood the term that some are blessed more than others - does that mean the rest of us are FUBAR?

Swaziland

Went to Swaziland with HOG this weekend. Took Muffin and had a great time. Great place.

Back to Clarens

Went back to Clarens this weekend to play more golf. This time I went up on the Electra Glide. Nice ride and even nicer when there.

The writer in us all

Today I bought some software to start writing a book. Whilst I have no illusions of ever publishing one it is something the Christian Brother’s instilled in me - we had to hand in an essay each week and got whipped for each spelling mistake.

I also hooked up this month with some long last friends from school via Facebook - gotta love new technology that works! Kojak you beauty for a man with no hair you followed in daddy’s footsteps and have retired before the age of 40.

I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself - DH Lawrence

 The problem with us as people is that we focus on the future. The future is what makes us greedy and want more. Having said that without the future we would not have achieved the great things we have as people. Does it make us happy though – not always. We lost a good friend this week after a battle with cancer. Did she ever feel sorry for herself- I think not and what counted was we were at her side to the very end. We console ourselves by saying that the pain of loss we feel will too pass. For our friend the suffering is gone and the only suffering is that which we feel at the loss of the good friend. The Irish have it right – get drunk and remember the good times we had together. Heidi you will always be remembered and you were a loyal and true friend. Thank you for the time you gave us.

Spent the weekend in Clarens and played in the Beyerskloof Golf day. We won the tournament and will have to defend our title next year. "Wonnerful stuff". Pretty town and some interesting people - reminds me of UCT in the 80's.

"It's life Jim but not as we know it,..." Life certainly is a test and one which you never quite finish the exam until too late. Riding my Harley teaches me a few things and one of which is you cannot reverse a bike so keep going forward. Just when you think you are ahead of the game life bites you in the arse and then when you least expect it somebody does something nice for you.

Today was good day mainly as I got to spend the day of Christ's death riding my Harley in glorious weather. I am sure if there was a god she would have wanted me to spend the day on my bike. The rituals of my youth around such days are long behind me and now replaced by no less a religious experience. For those of you who celebrated the traditional way, in the words of my nephew down under "good on yer mate!"