TRAVEL FEATURE - SOUTH AFRICA CHRIS VENTER
THE BLACK AND THE ORANGE
Mike was bouncing with excitement as he pulled up to my driveway and explained the bike to me in detail .
" The KTM 1290 Super Adventure R is an absolute Beast !” he said . He ’ d just picked up our loan bike from down the road from my house . I was keen to get going as we had many kilometres to get us to the mouth of the Breede River .
For the next hour or so , I sat in silence , feeling very emotional . I was pleased to be out riding again , but deeply saddened to be doing so as a pillion . I would have loved to be the one twisting that throttle and pressing buttons as we sped along the road .
As a blind person who had lost his sight after a different adventure on two wheels went horribly wrong , it ’ s hard to transition from pilot to pillion . I have come to accept my fate and now realise that , although being on the back is not my first choice , I would rather be out there hanging on , than at home on the sofa . By the time we wound up the first pass , I had gotten over my tears and was enjoying the ride . Mike was so happy . I imagined that he was smiling from ear to ear .
Following the blind guy ’ s directions , we rode off over the Du Toitskloof mountains and on towards Worcester . This was of course by no means the quickest or easiest route down to the first of the two Capes we wanted to explore , but why go direct when you have a nice new KTM 1290 Super Adventure R to play with ?
The road was tarred all the way , but it was good fun , nonetheless . It flicked back and forth like a whip as it edged up the mountain and down the other side . There were waterfalls cascading out of the hillside ; new sprouting saplings that broke the burned ground with specks of green and despite the threatening storm clouds , we only faced a small drizzle .
TRAVERSE 47