I had been warned that this would be the first tough riding day for some weeks, with very narrow one-land roads following a river valley, plus many potholes and sections of gravel where the sealed road had not been maintained for some years. That was a good description for the 250 km of the day.
As it turned out, I really enjoyed the first half of the ride, despite the gravel sections. For these gravel parts, I am getting much more confident riding them with my skills improving daily and my confidence with it. I am also getting a lot fitter, which we call "ride-fit". In addition I am losing weight rapidly now down by at least 12 kilograms and maybe more.
We stopped for coffee at one place but they only had local mint tea, which was delicious. The owner also gave us a meat and maize taster meal, wrapped in a corn leaf which was equally welcome. She was preparing meat in a hungi pit for dinner and it smelt fantastic.
We had a picnic lunch in a gas station forecourt where there was shade, and for the entire 90 minutes not another car came in! The lady who ran the station made an excellent guacamole for us, usig avocados from a huge tree overhanging the forecourt, and all her family looked out their windows at these gringos eating a funny meal. It was truly excellent with white asparagus and many other gems.
The second half of the ride had thousands of potholes and some sections where passing was a real challenge on the edge of the cliff, but we made it into town eventually, but only have Jeff crashed his bike in front of me, after crossing a water runnel on the road. I saw him slip in the river at some speed and then wander to the gravel side, where he dropped the bike at about 80km an hour and it slid for a long distance down the road. He separated safely from the machine but he rolled over three times on the way to a stand-still. All the bike alarms went off until I turned it right off, and a local farmer helped recover the motorcycle from the ditch with my help, and stand it upright on the side of the road again. Jeff seemed ok, but was a little dazed. His armoured ride-suit had been a good investment as it was grazed and torn at all the usual places, on the knees, elbows and shoulder. He had not skin grazes at all.
Rahn also dropped his bike in a busy market coming into town. All in all it was an eventful day. The hotel was superb though and I had dieta pollo (thin chicken soup) for dinner and relaxed after a demanding ride.
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