The "Trip of a Lifetime"
Posted by James Dodmead
In around August of 1999 there was a ride called the “South African Friendship Ride.” About 25 IFMR members flew into Capetown, South Africa from all over; Holland, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, US, and many members from South Africa participated as well. We rented motorcycles primarily from BMW South Africa. I rode an R-1100GS. Gary Cullen, my riding companion from Australia would not be caught dead on anything but a Harley Davidson, and you can see his picture. He is a great guy, but no longer rides motorcycles. As a group we rode from Capetown up the coast, then inland through the mountains, to Johannesburg. Most nights we would arrive in a town and go to stay with a local Rotarian, after the evening’s reception where we had cocktails, dinner and speeches. We stayed in some mountain cabins and in the morning the local Rotary club came and cooked us breakfast on charcoal grills. They fed us the best beef sausage that I have ever had. I have been on a quest ever since to match it. To make this trip even more spectacular, we took a bus trip into Kruger National Park and spent a couple of nights there. No bikes allowed. Seems the wild animals have a penchant for attacking smaller “beasts.” We ended up in Johannesburg where we turned in our motorcycles and flew home. It really was a great trip and I have always wanted to invite the organizer, DG David Griggs, to my home so that I could reciprocate his hospitality. Another friend from the ride, Jorgen Otzen, is a practicing Santa Claus. Jorgen is from Sweden and now lives in Denmark & France. He came to visit us in South Carolina after a Santa Claus conference in Tennessee a couple of years ago. This ride was a wonderful experience, which I will never forget. I remember there was this time on a foggy night in the mountains when visibility was about 15 feet and cows were all over the gravel road; and then there was the time we went backroading at 6 AM to Die Hel… but I could go on for hours.
Unfortunately, I billed this as a “trip of a lifetime” to my wife (and it was), so now every time I want to take an epic trip I hear: “You already had your trip of a lifetime!”