Popeye Ronnie

In January 2006, I was joined by Ron Mason for a long weekend of Harleys, drinking and casual chatting, or rather in my case, casual listening. Ronnie hired a Heritage Softail from the Harley davidson dealer in Cape Town, actually got a 10% discount for being a HOG member. We set off on Friday morning from the dealer and headed north, (only way from Cape Town) along the N2 towards George.

After we had passed through the townships of Cape Town and out past Somerset West we climbed Sir Lowry's pass and suddenly we were in wild Africa. We stopped at a cafe for a cold drink and spent sometime looking at all the strange stuff they had for sale, like comple cast iron cooking ranges. Not sure how many people pop in for a coffee and end up buying something twice the size of an aga.

Anyway outside the cafe Ron insisted on his photo (left) being taken. Please note the care Ron has taken to ensure he wears only Harley approved safety clothing when riding his bike. Not sure if those things are long shorts or short long trousers but the flip flops were definately flip flops. Just after this stop we hit Caledon, stopped to fill up the bikes then head off across country to Bredesdorp, leaving the N2 behind. Just outside Napier we stopped for lunch and then rode through Bredesdorp and towards Swellendam.

At Swellendam we refuelled again and set off along the R60 to Ashton and Montagu, our first nights location. The R60 is a spectacular road to ride along. Good surface, wide with some great bends as the road steadily climbs into the mountains and Ashton. The scenery is nothing short of spectacular and we timed the ride for the late afternoon so as the sun started to set behind us casting long shaddows in ther vallies of the high mountains either side of us.

We spent the night at the Mimosa Lodge in Montagu and the next morning set of to ride through the Robertson Wine Valley to Worcester then over some mountain passess to Franschhoek the loaction of our second nights stay.

On leaving Montagu we had to pass through a step gorge with a british fort built in 1899 during the Boer War. The valley is home to many baboons all of which need feeding, but not by us. The scenery changed dramtically today, from step gorges to open vine yards with brillant coloured flowers at the side of the road marking the end of each line of vines, to open straight roads heading across barren plains towards high mountains, and eventually mountain passes. All in all a very interesting and pleasing days biking. The afternoon in Franschhoek was spent at the bar in Rubens restaurant, watching the R7B Met horse race, which is South Africa's biggest race. We had been given a sure fire tip from one of the horses owners, we were told he was second favourite and should walk it. The owner was right about the second bit, the horse African Affair came second from last and was mentioned twice by the commentator. We cannot name the horses owner who gave us the tip because of rumours of inside dealings, but Reggie you know who you are. Rubens restaurant had nothing in common with the horse, it came first in the best restaurant in South Africa for 2005 / 6 and the chef was also the best chef in South Africa.
After our night on the town in Franschhoek we had a harty breakfast and headed off over the mountain, first passing the prison that Nelson Mandela was released from and from where he walked on that memorable day in February 1992. Then it was a quick trip through Paarl and Wellington before heading over the spectacular Bains Kloof. We could have stopped to take what I am sure would have been some very impressive photos, but we were too scared to stop as there was nothing at the side of our side of the road except a sheer drop. After Bains Kloof we headed for Tulbagh, a village at the end of a road, completly surrounded by mountains, asthough the village was in a large bowl. We had coffee here and then back tracked for a few miles before heading over another mountain pass and down into Malmsbury, the area known as South Africa's bread bin due to the amount of wheat they grow there. After Malmsbury was a windy route over big open plains to Darling before picking up the R27 and heading south back into Cape Town. On the way into Cape Town we stopped off for the classic Cape Town photo opportunity.

Then it was a quick trip through Cape Town, to Tokai and past another prison, Pollsmoor with 18,000 inhabitants, none more famous than Nelson Mandela who was moved here after being taken off Robben Island. From Tokai it was over yet another mountain pass and then over the famous Chapmans Peak and back to Hout Bay.On arrival in Hout Bay we headed straight to Dunes, the local bar on the beach, where we treated ourselves to a few beers and

I was treated to Ronnies summary of the last three days, which took almost as long as the ride itself. Then it was back home and Carol had prepared a full Sunday roast diner for us.We took Ronnies bike back the next day and mid morning Ronnie headed back to the Strand.

As you may have noticed in some of the photos, Ronnie appears to be carrying a spare tyre, and so he asked me to see if there was anything I could do to make things a little more presentable. Hey presto 'Popeye Ronnie' was born.