Time to pull up those big-girl panties!

This Bloganuary prompt could not have come at a better time! I’ve been wanting to write about this for a couple of days. We’ve been traveling since Tuesday, 3 January 2022 and have just arrived home. Knowing that I’ve missed out on the prompts for the past 3 days, and with so many stories to tell after our trip, I couldn’t wait to see what the prompts are. This one: BIG YES as it fits perfectly for day 3 of our trip!!!

As background, I have to add that I started riding my own motorbike around 4 months ago. Jan and I decided to do this trip as a final break before we get back to work. Just the two of us, on our bikes, on the open road.

Thursday started at Warmwaterberg Spa, a tranquil and rustic hot mineral spring situated between Barrydale and Ladismith on the scenic Route 62. 

We got up early to watch the sunrise, which would have been majestic, had it not been for the clouds overhead. All our weather apps indicated that we might have some rain in the early hours of our ride, but nothing major. 0.2 – 0.4mm per hour. Yeah, right…. 

We left at 8am, and what was supposed to be a 5- hour trip (including brunch and sightseeing) turned into a life-changing day for me that only came to an end at around 6pm. When we finally arrived at our overnight stay in Riversdale, we could easily have been mistaken for two newly baptized cats. We were soaked from head to toe, and even our clothes in the luggage were wet. We did not count on rain on this trip, which meant no rain gear, plus I had never been riding in the rain – as a pillion yes, but not as the one twisting the wrist. 

The soft drizzle, which started shortly after we left, would have been nothing in a car. On a bike, however, it is a different story altogether, and then it started coming down in buckets. By the time we reached Ladismith, only 56 km away, we were soaked. We decided to wait out the rain at a lovely little coffee shop, where we met a family from Walvis Bay. They turned out to be bikers too, albeit not on this trip, as well as MOTH supporters, which was great. The conversation flowed for about an hour or so when another biker pulled in from Oudtshoorn’s side. He said it was drizzling, but not too, and the clouds appeared to be disappearing, so we hit the road again. Next was Calitzdorp, about 48 km away, and then Die Smitswinkel in Oudtshoorn, about 56km on. 

This was the last place my dad told me to go to before he passed away and I could totally get why he was so taken by it. 

It truly is a gem! As we waited for our lunch, the skies opened again. 

Again, we had to wait it out. 

After another hour or so, it cleared enough for us to hit the road again. The blues skies lasted for about 5 km….

As we started ascending Robinson Pass, the rain really started coming down. We had no idea that the pass existed or how long it was, it was just turn upon turn. 

We learned afterward that it is considered a very dangerous pass having claimed many lives over the years, which is often closed in wet weather due to the danger it holds.  

We continued to climb and by the time we reached the top of the pass, I think (there is no way to tell because the fog had become so dense that we only had about 2 meters of visibility), I was literally swallowing back the tears. It was by far the scariest thing I had ever done. I pulled over at the first lookout point I could find, ready to quit, and walked over to a tree to find some form of shelter.  

Watershed moment

It is amazing how quickly things can happen in your mind. Jan pulled in behind me, and this is what happened in the time it took him to park his bike, take off his gloves, and helmet, take out a packet of cigarettes, and walk over to me:

In that small space of time, I had the hardest conversation I’ve ever had with myself.

In that moment I found courage that I didn’t know existed. I have been through stuff in my life, but this moment will always stand out as the one where I learned what I\’m truly made of. It is a moment that has changed me forever. I can’t quite explain what I’m feeling, but I just know that something has changed on a fundamental level. It’s like there’s a switch inside of me, right there in the solar plexus, which has been switched off my entire life, and now all of a sudden it was turned on. 

Before Jan could light a cigarette, I told him “Come, we’re getting off this mountain”. 

I always pray before, on and after a trip, but at this point, I had no prayer left in me and I just said:

\”Lord, You take over now\”

We got down without any issue and the rain continued all the way to Mossel Bay, where it REALLY came down, delaying us for another hour or so. We made a quick stop at Albertinia Hotel, hoping to find a fire, which there wasn’t, and headed to our final stop for the day, still raining.

The rest of our journey, I’ll put in a different post, but this day deserved to be singled out. I think it’s quite apt that our longest day, right smack in the middle of our trip, was also the most harrowing and also the one that has indelibly changed my life and biking journey!