Lesotho 2011

[geoffshing]

Lesothoooo!


A quick nip to the top of Africa!!
Good times are here again..!


It was only the week before in the middle of October that I’d managed to get away from a disastrous spell in Iraq and what has to be one of the longest 6 week tours of ‘the Pit’ that I care to remember. As usual, working in hostile environments the stress levels get pretty high up on the agenda and the chance of blowing off some steam comes never too early! I had 2 glorious months to look forward to and even though I had enrolled on a medical course I was damn well going to do something with my time to remember..! And that idea included a motorcycle and somewhere off the beaten track.
My course fortunately was in Cape Town, South Africa which, although a touch far from my home in Bonnie Scotland, is a beautiful city and its levels of home grown domestic trauma make excellent testing grounds for an up and coming Paramedic! Actually it’s a bit like Iraq but better wine..! South Africa has always been an odyssey for me and the final stop of a 2008/9 ride through Africa from Edinburgh to the Cape (www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/geoffshing)and I found myself pulled back to its awe and magnificence like a moth to a flame (it’s sooo warm… ouch…ouch…ouch..!).
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The idea grew in my head through countless conversations with a good buddy of mine Al, A South African native, fellow biker and the purchaser of my rather battered ’03 Yamaha XT600e (Bully 2) the veteran of my 08/09 African adventure. He regaled me with stories of endless miles of sand riding with Bully 2 in the Northern Provinces, Long winding coastal roads in the East, stunning Mozambique beaches, Namibian deserts and high mountain plateaus in the Kwa-Zulu Natal, longing and free to adventurous bike riders and one of the holiest of holies… The SANI PASS in Lesotho..! Whoop, a place I’d heard of and always wanted to experience and the ‘Top of Africa’ to boot! I was salivating to say the least.
So, here was the plan…! Medical course for 3 weeks, give myself an extra week to bomb-burst around South Africa with my suitcase packed riding gear and be home for tea and biscuits on the plane home. The bike was to be my old and rather well used ’03 XT600e ‘Bully 2’ loaned by Al. It was in need of some fixing up after been garaged for a year but hey, we were to be re-united again for another little adventure. Al was to join me after riding his ’99 BMW 1100GS to Jo’berg and we were to meet up at the base of the Sani Pass after my course had finished. Bring it on Al; you think you’re the daddy of Adventure riding, Ha..! I’ll show you!! And there started the banter.


During time off on the med course (supposedly studying-oops!), I set about going over Bully 2, getting the engine started which fired off clouds of black smoke (but assured the top end had recently been overhauled by a local mechanic less than 2,000kms before), recharging the battery, new rear spring, brake pads and bleeding, front fork oil, engine oil, new seals, rebuilding the rather seized swingarm, general cleaning, lubricating, inspecting and after a days test riding I felt confident again with Bully 2 under my arse!
Security doesn’t exist in nature……
Before I knew it the course had finished but a spanner had been thrown into the works giving a little stress, as usual medical courses generally require a criminal record check of which I’d neglected to correctly apply for (Arse!) and I wasn’t able to sit the final exam until it, the original copy, had arrived in South Africa Aaaargh! Shall I stay and forgo the trip hoping it may arrive before I lose all this new found knowledge and study like mad..? Or…. If I don’t know it now, I never will! Bugger it I’m off ‘Cede Nullis’! So I quickly packed what gear I may fit into the Giant Basin rear bike bag and headed off onto the N1 headed North East towards Jo’berg. I figured it’ll take a week for the paper to come to Cape Town which will give me the week required for a mad dash to the roof of Africa. I called Al and told him the meet was still on, he offered to return from Jo’berg and show me the local sand areas but was pleased I’d made the decision to head out.
The weather was glorious, traffic flowing nicely through Cape Town, fuel tank full and Bully pottering along like a good thumper should. Screw the paper, I felt cool again, relaxed, throwing caution to the wind, the stress behind and a new adventure to look forward to! The scenery was lovely with interesting skylines, huge vineyards and a smooth mile munching tarmac as I headed into the centre of South Africa. Ok, so I’m not Dr Livingstone here but not bad for a hangover decision at 2pm Saturday afternoon! The N1 is the main artery for South Africa, linking Cape Town to Johannesburg (Jo’berg) and is full of HGVs thundering along at speeds in excess of 120kph and in my experience, these drivers don’t sleep, if rarely! I’m on an XT600e which rather annoyingly will not rise above 120kph no matter where the wind is blowing me. If anyone has ridden thumpers on a highway will know, the mirrors generally aren’t worth a sausage to gauge distance of approaching vehicles so the trucks did give me some worrying moments.
First nights stopover was to be a cheap motel in Beaufort West, a halfway point and frequent travellers rest stop for those hitting the N1 and 500kms from my start point. To my alarm after putting Bully to rest and heading out of the hotel for a I saw a group of locals having a fight less than 100m up the street. I’ve seen (and been in) a few scraps in my time but these locals fight with knives, so I did the best thing ever and dived into the first bar..! (see no evil… etc.!) And Oh boy..! This bar is bloody nuts also! Ha Ha ha! Smashed locals, rowdy truck drivers and some crazy woman pouring whiskey down her bra staring intently at me…! Needless to say, the camera stayed away and so did I after a couple of s!
The following morning, I fuelled up the bike and checked the oil, the level was low but as with XTs they need to be run a while before an accurate reading can be ascertained so I headed off happily away from Beaufort West and towards Bloemfontein. After 50kms I checked Bully’s oil level and found it to be alarmingly low! In fact there were no readings on the dipstick, rather puzzled I obtained oil, topped it up and decided to keep a better eye on it. I checked it again after a 100kms and again, it was low..? WTF!?! Another ½ litre went into the oil tank. Now I’m figuring there’s a problem and a big one! I decided to keep heading on and see what happens
and after hitting another 200kms the oil level has disappeared. I couldn’t figure it out as Al had assured me the engine had been rebuilt at a mechanics shop less than 2,000kms before. I topped up again and headed to where I knew a Yamaha dealer was in Bloemfontein as told by a couple on a Honda Blackbird I’d spoke to earlier in the day.