A KLR weekend, and a surprise from Germany

We have a group of KLR riders in South Africa, organised as the KLR Clan (www.klrclan.co.za). The past weekend they spent the weekend at Golden Gate in the beautiful Eastern Free State.

It was the first time ever that I attended such a “rally”. Boy o boy, what a surprise! All the bikers were down-to-earth people, people who cared about each other, united in what they are riding, and fun-loving. I experienced a little sadness on leaving on Sunday. Within two days we became blood brothers and sisters.

Eeton, all the way from Kenhardt, was there. He rode his KLR a murderous route to get there. It was good seeing him again after our ride down to Cape Town in August. Another rider from the Free State who rode with during August, Benn, pitched his tent next to mine and we had many mugs of coffee together.

On Monday a huge grey envelope arrived from Germany. I put it aside as it was no priority. Last night I opened it. It was the newest Motorrad Abenteuer, a glossy magazin from Germany about adventure motorcycling. It was strange as I haven’t subscribed to it. Then I saw a little sticker on the front page.  “See page 48”. I turned to page 48, and there was an introduction to the Naboom2Germany website and to the ride from Germany to South Africa. I was so surprised!

For the first time in a year I had a haircut yesterday. And directly after that I blew a gasket over the ridiculous bureaucracy of a certain European embassy. I decided my patience lies in my hair, so I will not cut my hair again until … we don’t need visa for Europe anymore (thant won’t happen) or before I leave on my next venture.

A group of men and women, united in what they are riding, met for one weekend at Golden Gate. We camped, it rained, and we had fun.

As we left in many different directions on Sunday the guys and ladies going the same way sticked together for as long as possible.

The title page of the magazine Motorrad Abenteuer

I was so surprised!