Riding the Road Hog

This year we got to take part in the Motorcycle Toy Run in Joburg, hooray! We’d often seen the bikers zooming off into the sunset (well okay at 9am that might be a slight exaggeration), with a proud and noble looking teddy bear strapped besides them, it’s legs and arms flapping in the breeze like a balletic, full on epileptic attack. Magnificent!
Having no bike though we could only watch from afar, wondering...

But this year Ursh’s sister, who has risen a greatly in my esteem, told us that if we wanted to do the Run, we could borrow her scooter to do it on! Now some folks might turn up their nose at a tiny tinker-toy scooter but to us, the bike-less peons, it was like a saving grace in our hour of need! VIVA!!!

We took it on a test drive up the driveway Friday night, which admittedly was the best thing we could do. If a person can stay attached to the bike over those lumps, bumps, potholes and roving bricks, then a road wouldn’t be a problem at all. I managed to not only stay on but to perfect my “Clinging-terrified-bush-baby” pose just perfectly!

It was lovely fun riding to carnival city on Sunday and watching bikers gather for the start. Big bikes, small bikes (Ours being one of the smallest), ugly bikes, chunky bikes, bikes that cost more then the gross national product of a small but affluent country, bikes that were older then god, bikes shaped like skeletons, bikes in bright colours, bikes bikes bikes! I think it took all of Ursh’s will power not to go mad, running about the parking lot, singing and skipping – and me without a Trank gun...

The ride to Nasrec show-grounds was about an hour. It was very thrilling! We were passed by pretty much every rider, but this gave us a chance to properly ogle their machinery (and cute toys – I must have them all!!) so it was just a bonus. Though by the time we hit the show grounds we were mighty glad to “meet up with our chums and take the weight off our bums!”

It was the going home that really got us in the end...er...so to speak. We had to go the long way home so as not to jump onto the highway and into the arms of certain death. But oh, did my rear feel every bump and knob in the road! We actually had to stop off at a pet shop and wonder through it to give our aching muscles time to recover. Oh look a hamster [Aaargh my legs!!] and what a sweet kitty [The pain! The pain!)
The last stretch was mildly brutal and when I finally got home and was able to sit down in a couch that didn’t bounce, with some ice cold fruit and mushrooms – heaven made itself once again present on earth for a few blessed moments!

And so begins our plots and plans to save, to starve and to strive for our own perfect 2 wheeled machine! (To get me more receptive to the idea Ursh let me drive the bike for a bit round the front yard – I fell off, but I like to think it was in a skilful way...)

Here’s to dreams and making them come true!!!