Back in the saddle

Last time we rode this road MD and me had some "Boulder" trouble, well since then Mitchell's pass has been fixed and the ride home was more like a highway trip down the mountain... but not boring at all, it still took concentration around the curves. This time it was a solo ride back to Bloem and apart from the wind quite uneventful, fortunately the trick of sticking a knee into the gale does help.
Will do some backposts with pics we took, hopefully my blogging will pick up again in 2010.

Back in the Saddle - Aerosmith
I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again
I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again

Ridin' into town alone
By the light of the moon
I'm looking for ol Sukie Jones
She crazy horse saloon
Barkeep gimme a drink
That's when she caught my eye
She turned to give me a wink
That make a grown man cry

Come easy, go easy
All right until the rising sun
I'm calling all the shots tonight
I'm like a loaded gun
Peelin' off my boots and chaps
I'm saddle sore
Four bits gets you time in the racks
I scream for more
Fools' gold out of their mines
The girls are soaking wet
Not tounge's drier than mine
I'll come when I get back

I'm back in the saddle again
I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again
I'm riding, I'm loading up my pistol
I'm riding, I really got a fistful
I'm riding, I'm shining up my saddle
I'm riding, this snake is gonna rattle


Ridin' high
Ridin' high
Ridin' high already

"Life is just a chance to grow a soul."
A. Powell Davies:

The Glory of thy Creation

Boxing day at Hoggies we went sightseeing, showing the new visitors some of the sights of this enchanting village... as we left the Chapel on the Hill this greeted us!








What is amazing to me is the way the sun fell on the tree.. which has a resemblance to a Cross. Coincidence? I do not believe that for one instance.
God is always with us and has given us the greatest gift of all.







Plaque at the Chapel...
The words say it all...



















I believe this is the message we should take with us in the coming year...
Here the rest are amazed by the sight of sun on trees...

Inside the chapel... each one with their own thoughts...

G&A in a stolen moment...


Before the Chapel we took a walk around the Labyrinth and then took a peek over the Edge...
The Labrynth

The Edge

A looking very pensive as she sits on the Edge.

On the Edge...

More edgy stuff...

G&A on the edge...

MD and M on the edge...


G&MD admiring the vista


Of course I could not resit taking some pictures of the flowers that crossed our paths...
Pelargoniums... all at the Chapel, these are new to me.

Another pelargonium.

Pelargonium in pink

Budding Aloe at the Labrynth.

Fittingly this came to mind as we drove back to the house in Hoggies.
"Genesis Chapter 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,"

Ja well, hasta la Vista baby...

This Rockwood is very funny in the light of what is happening over in Richmond at Microsoft... Sales of all their software seems not to be meeting expected targets world wide... I wonder if Ubuntu may have had a hand in that as well as the unwillingness of users to move over to Vista with the resultant hardware expenses that it entails? Sometimes it pays to listen to what the customer wants and not what you think he needs... Long live the Penguin!
I have recently bought an Asus Eee PC, running Linux on a 2 Gig solid state disk! I can surf the net, connect via Skype, get E-mail, do spreadsheets, run presentations and write letters... what more do you need if you are an Adventure junkie like me? The neat part is that the little machine weighs less than 1kg with it's mains power supply! Ideal to take on bike trips too.

Had fun using it as a digital jukebox as well, plug in my USB external drive and all my music can be played as well. Will be taking it with us on our Argentina Adventure as well... Come to think of it, this baby has more power than the first Mainframe I worked on... amazing...
"Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vaccuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1.5 tons." Unknown, Popular Mechanics, March 1949

Happy Birthday Shrek

Shrek the KLR650 that is... today is the anniversary of me saying, "The Green one is mine!" and signing on the dotted line...
So around 11AM MD popped around to my office and we took a coffee break... then we decided to take Shrek for a Birthday Ride to Hoopstad to visit friends of MD's.
First thing was to but on the tankbag and pop the warm gear in the topbox and fetch MD... when I arrived she was already ATGATTed.

Did not take any pics on the way but what we did next made up for that, here we are about to go Offroad in a diffrent way!

The combine is a factory on wheels, with all the latest data gathering electronics, here we are being shown how much yield the particular stretch of maize is giving, this information is then used with soil samples to determine next seasons nutrient dose.

The business end...

First of two loads we saw ofloaded in the run across the field...

Taking a break before the next run... yeah... parts of the dirt road to the farm looked like this field track... but we beat the Sand Monster.

Off into the sunset goes the Monster...

Then we saw the momma of all tractors!

Showing MD the controls and GPS assisted computer guidance system... similar to that on a cruise missile... but being used to literaly guide the plough... all the operator has to do is drive it to a particular field, do the first row, set the system and wait for it to finish the back row to turn it around again. All this with a 10mm precision. The newer ones do the turning around as well I hear... who needs a driver!

Shrek patiently waiting for us to finish guzzling coffee, tart and flapjacks! Typical Free State Platteland hospitality!

And by the time we got to Bultfontein it was getting dark... arrived back home just after seven after a wonderful ride and visit. Nice way to celebrate 12 months with Shrek!
Wow... what an amazing twelve months this has been, not without it's sorrows but nothing unsurmountable, just like when you hid a rough spot while riding you apply some power, the same way when life had rough spots we were able to draw on God's power and make it to the other side... it would have been a much less rewarding trip without His guiding hand I believe.
"For believe me: the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and greatest enjoyment is - to live dangerously."
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)
This is my WD label... for all my future bike blogs.

Don't cry for me Argentina

Wow... our reservations have been made... My passport application has been done... Missing ones have been found...
We are on our way to Argentina!
What was an idea a few months ago is now gaining momentum.
Now we just have to figure out what to do in the week at our disposal... Patagonia is a tad far and we are thinking of the Iguassu falls... so we can also say we saw what Indiana Jones saw!
Moon Dancer is booked to deliver a talk on tick resistance when she attends the TTP6 conference... then we have a week to explore, hoping to get a bike trip into the planning as well. I will be scouting Buenos Aires while she is kept busy with ticks...
We should also remember these wise words, but I think as bikers we should be able to travel light...
Will keep everyone posted as the planning etc. progresses.
"He who would travel happily must travel light."
Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 - 1944)

Welcome to the Iron Butt club...

Once again we did over 2000 kilos in a week... to say our bums are numb is an understatement... that being said we had an amazing seven days break and had a good time getting in touch with family again.
Rain gear in Smithfield... and all the way to Sheppie.

The bridge over the Orange River at night...

Umdlodi... at last a decent Java.

Full Moon...

Waning Moon the next evening...

Cormorant drying it's wings on the rocks...

Ballito and more coffee...

Argyle Arms... do not let the cover of a book fool you... a warm bed and good food for the weary travelers.
The Berg...

The Tree... reminds me of two other trees... One being the Easter Tree... the other was one I wrote a poem about. Putting it up down below...

Lichens pass from the other end...

Red mountains... and mountainous clouds... Moondancer taking in the view from the edge...

Almost home...
Here is the poem, not meant to be pretty but fitting with what we as Christians believe;
The Tattered Tree

The smell of Semtex frightens even the vultures.
The horror of shreds of bone and sinew hang in the tattered trees.
Inglorious, unjust, incomprehensible inhumanity.
How can one justify gaining freedom by making victims
out of the very people you claim to be standing for?

Time is supposed to fade the memory,
but today it seared my mind again just like that day!
Today another tribe is claiming to be a savior,
more evil than before they slaughter kith and kin.
They claim to be of divine ordination.

When will those blinded by worldly rights become aware...
that the condescending stance is but a weakness in the eyes of
those that contemplate the downfall of the very freedom that these rights ensconce?
That these rights are used as weapons to tear themselves asunder.

How many more of these tattered trees must humanity endure?
What must be done for peace to endure?
Then I remember another tattered Tree with it's unbearable load.
That's when I sink to my knees and pray...
This Easter once more I realized how much we have to strive to live up to the example that was show to us on that Tree... Love one another as I love you...
Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Rough Ride

We went to Rouxville this weekend for me to clerk the Rouxville 200 off road race, stayed with the Heyn's family who were "hosting" the main part of the event activities on their farm. It is a small world when I found out that their son was a friend of my kids. Sadly he had passed away last year in September. Even in their sorrow they found place to remember what their son loved most and the organisers also dedicated the race to him. I hope that somehow the event helped them in the healing process after the loss. We will miss you Phillip but you will never be forgotten.

Inspecting the route... KLR style! We had great fun doing the shorter route, albeit at a lesser pace than the competitors.
The day before...
Race Day at 07h30... the first competitors set up pit facilities.
Documentation, the ladies sorting out the entrants.
Riders briefing... pointing out the things to remember.

First pair off...
Even the local Constabulary lent an enthuisiastic hand.
All seems to be in place, the Route Marshal and COC sharing a joke.
Race Control... before the radio fried.
Hold still for your tick! Tick marshal at work at Race Control.
Even the rain gave us a break, sunset after a pretty good day.
Trophies and the COC's drink waiting for the results to become final.
"Next year we will do it this way" doing some retrospection about the day's race. Andre, Carel myself and Francois discussing the event and some of the inccidents and feedback from the riders. As usual we could never please them all but one thing was clear... they all said it had been well marked and organised. Unfortunately we had two injuries and we wish both riders with speedy recovery.

Our hosts were amazing and we have new friends for life...

"Traveling there was really boring so I headed for the ditch. It was a rough ride but I met more interesting people there." Neil Young