Departure date was set for 25th March. This would give me plenty of time to reach Durban for the set day. There were still 100s of things to do, on the bike, on packing and on my house, which had to be “sorted” prior to leaving.
Then on Sat 23rd, I twisted my ankle and, much to the amusement of my friends, I attended my leaving soirée on crutches! A word of thanks here to Sue and Ciaran McSharry for hosting this. On Sunday, it was a bit better – I could partially bear weight – but I decided to delay 24 hours to ensure a fuller recovery.
A chattering camchain and difficulty getting my carbs tuned delayed things a bit more. Fortunately I met up with Ian Grey and his chief mechanic Brett at SKM Motorcycles in Harare and they quickly sorted this out for me – including retrieving the valve adjuster locknut that had come loose and fallen off. Thanks guys!
So finally on Thurs 28th March, with considerable trepidation – I was seriously worried that my minimalist load was huge – I set off.
All went well and I filled up for the first time in Kwekwe – 230 kms into my (roughly) 20,000 km trip. Gweru was the scheduled stop for the night and I pulled into The Village Lodge about 4pm. Unfortunately they wouldn’t allow me to camp, so it was on to Antelope Park on the other side of town. I had chosen Village Lodge for a reason and that proved to have been a wise choice.
I had travelled the road to Antelope Park many times … in my L/R Defender; it is gravel, a bit rutted and bumpy at first, with some short sandy patches – nothing too serious as gravel roads go. Rutted and bumpy with some sand, however, is a different prospect on a heavily laden motorbike, built for smooth tarmac.
The road is flat and sandy on top, sloping down quite steeply at the sides, to a deep “gutter” on either side. Gravity is universal, and I finally arrived in the gutter. It was while trying to move back up onto the road proper that disaster struck. I picked a suitable spot to move up, the front wheel reached the flat top, hit the sand and twisted sharply right and down I went!
The site of my downfall
Fortunately speed was slow and I wasn’t hurt. The bike was now on its side and fuel was leaking from the tank. Tank bag and seat bag were quickly removed – you’ve no idea how quickly – and I managed to get it upright. A quick inspection revealed only minor cosmetic damage to the bike itself, but a wider scan revealed a major detachment of the sole of my boot and a split in the stitching of the tank bag.
A lad, delivering to the camp, offered to take my bags there, and so with a much lightened machine I set off on the remaining 2kms. This was covered with no further mishap and 2 hours later I had set up my tent and was sitting down to a welcome beer and some dinner in the AP Boma.
So ended Day 1 on the road; not the best ending, but I am on the way, and in the words of Lao Tzu, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!”
Belfast-2-Belfast-By-Bike 