My name is Dominic & I ride a Royal Enfield Himalayan – they call it Himalayan Salt but everyone calls it grey & pink (long story for another time)
I planned the ride over the long week-end, the idea being I could leave on Saturday evening, return Sunday evening & have the whole day Monday to recover without falling asleep at work
I tried to make sure I was not going to ride into the sun in the morning or afternoon, I wanted to do the night part on a big highway & I thought it best to stay on main tarred trunk roads for the whole route
Planning involved plotting the route on Google Maps & writing out a list of garages in order & my expected arrival times which I stuck to my tank bag. Being winter I changed my normal BarkBusters for Storm ones – this proved a wise decision, the difference it made was significant.
I planned stops under 300km – my longest distance between filling stations was 255km (Upington to Kuruman). I also planned to finish in 21 hours so if there was a problem I would have time to make a plan. I packed some bottles of water (my doctor said to stay away from coffee & coke) & some Lunch bars – heavy meals were out for the preceding 2 days to keep pit stops to a minimum & having snacks & drinks meant I did not have to waste time buying them at the garages
I left Engen Big Bird South at 21:46 Saturday night as planned. Of course things went almost immediately wrong – I missed a turn-off & ended up heading into Soweto. A little detour & I was back on the route. The roads were fairly empty (late Saturday night, long weekend) & the road to Kroonstad & then onto Bloemfontein was okay. They are fixing the N1 & in places there are detour signs & the road surface was stripped down & not re-tarred in places. My biggest problem was trucks – some have these banks of search lights on their roofs & light up the road for kilometers & they do not seem to have a dim switch fitted – I had to pull over a few times. No one was travelling at my speed (I tried to keep to 120km/h) so I was pretty much on my own. Most people pulled over for me & overall the ride was fairly uneventful. I did learn not to put the whole route on my GPS, just the next garage so I knew how far away it was.
As I neared Bloemfontein it got cold & stayed cold until Griekwastad where the sun started warming things up. I was wearing 2 pairs of gloves & the BarkBuster Storms helped. It was cold but not crippling. Once I was through Kimberley the road narrowed but was largely empty. I stopped in Griekwastad where the attendant was super friendly & asked about the bike.
The road from Griekwastad through to Upington is a hidden gem (N8 & N10) – this perfect road disappearing into the distance with the blonde grass lit up by the rising sun behind & the long twists. This road was designed by a biker. The big trucks largely stay off this road so the surface is still excellent & I was alone for most of the time – very good for the soul.
It was after 06:00 I started to feel drowsy, I may have even dozed off for a second. I found this surprising because I always believed that 03:00 in the morning people were at their lowest ebb. It was still cold so I lifted the visor & boy was I awake – I kept the visor a little open all the way from there & that was the last of the drowsy feeling
Nearing Groblershoop I saw Google Maps wanted me to turn onto the Gariep road but that looked like a sand road, the bike is capable but I had already decided to stay on tar all the way so it was onto Groblershoop & the N10. I later found out there is not much of a difference distance wise.
Upington woke things up, I was an hour behind schedule – the first garage I planned to stop at was a building site – Google Maps does not tell you about renovations. Not a problem, my back-up garage was a truck-stop – they are open 24 hours & have everything I could need. Turns out this one only sold diesel so it was a moment of panic then a 4.6km (notice how accurately you remember every wasted meter) trek back into town to fill up. It was after 09:00 in the morning & I thought I had better stop along the road & have some water & a Lunch bar. I was not hungry or thirsty but I thought I am filling the bike up, may as well get something into me too. I had the Lunch Bar & half a bottle of water which was enough & left for Kuruman, my next fuel stop. I also decided to speed things up to make up for lost time – 120km/h went out the window
I passed through Olifantshoek where a whole load of bikers were at a pub – they waved & I was tempted but I just kept going. Filled up in Kuruman as planned, then Vryburg, & then the route seemed to take many turns – I was not sure I should be turning onto so many different roads but I was tired so it probably seemed worse than it was. I had decided at the beginning to trust the GPS no matter what I thought & Delareyville, Sannieshof & Coligny eventually led to Ventersdorp
From outside Ventersdorp the traffic started to pick up & got heavier as Roodepoort & Krugersdorp fell behind me. Eventually I was back on the N1 & filled at Engen Big Bird North at 17:26 with 1776.3km on the odo. From there it was a short hop home. I was tired, my neck was starting to ache & my butt was starting to complain. When I got home I thought it would be into bed for the next 12 hours but I was pumped that I had finished so it was a few drinks with friends, a braai then into bed late.
Thinking back there were things that worked well & things I would change
Things that worked well – having a planned route with all the garages & times taped to my tank bag was a huge help. Ensuring I was not riding into a setting or rising sun. Dressing warmly & the Storms was a biggie. I have an Air Flow cover fitted over my seat – these should be compulsory for everyone. Having snacks & water with me was a worry off my mind even though they landed up in my fridge. Speaking to a doctor was probably a lifesaver, knowing to stay away from heavy meals, hot drinks, coke etc., sleeping for 5 hours on Saturday afternoon, prepping the bike & everything Saturday morning, having a plan in my head & sticking to it even when doubts crept up. Having 3 power banks when 1 was enough, having spare earphones – these were all things that made it possible
Things I would change – not much. Heated gloves without a doubt. Truck headlights – guess I have to live with those
Things that surprised me – that I did not feel as tired as I was expecting to – a little drowsy but the cold in the face helped. I have 2 phones – a Huawei which played music & took pictures & kept me in touch with WhatsApp the entire route & when I got home still had 6% battery left. My other phone is a Samsung (need Google Play for my GPS screen & that is verboten on the Huawei) that only lasted 12 hours & all it was doing was Google Maps. My Garage card only allows me to fill up 7 times in a day although that may be a setting on my side. How beautiful the country is especially when you have the whole world to yourself with just you, the bike & music blasting in your ears – heaven. We are very lucky to live where we do.