Vespas take on the Roof of Africa

Magda - I highly recommend the highest pub in Africa, the Gluhwein are warm, the beers cold and the food hearty. The accommodation at Sani Top Chalets was fundamentally very basic. A few beds in a house and no running water as the water had frozen in the pipes. Flushing the toilets were done by dunking a bucket in a water filled drum. Not knowing where the water had come from I took a chance to brush teeth with it and tried my very best to not swallow a drop. The beautiful winter tale outside was worth giving up a few luxuries for.

Sharing the house with us were 3 x intrepid Jehova witnesses on BMW bikes. One of them had made it to the top with his bike and apparently had a spectacular fall right in front of the house by way of some sort of bad ass introduction. The other two had to abandon their steeds on the last bends due to nightfall and the minor irritation that they could not, try as they might succeed in getting them up the slippery slopes.

Tip: Don’t go to bed with socks damp from perspiration. Woke up at 4 am with frozen toes. Yikes! The next morning after a quick breakfast Marlene, Tinus, Gys and myself went down to rescue the 2 stranded BMW bikes. With a BMW rider saddled on we wrestled with the sheer weight and bulky size of the bikes up the steep slippery slopes. Tinus and the other BMW rider were steadying the bike on either side whilst pushing it and I made up the rear steadying and pushing. With the assistance of one of the 4x4’s and a towing rope as well we managed to get those two bikes up and out. Needless to say afterwards I was quite a sight. The spinning backwheels had beaten me with mud from toe to top, I had black raccoon eyes from sleeping with makeup on and my hair was standing at a rakish angle. Thank God for beanies, lipgloss and sunglasses!

As we travelled deeper into Lesotho we kept a concerned eye out for the 3 x intrepid BMW bikers, which made for witnessing some awesomely spectacular falls. Later one of them named Terence wrote me a mail and said he had in total fallen 7 times. For some people 7 is obviously NOT a lucky number. OUCH and hats off!

As soon as we dropped below the snow line Jerome said let’s roll.Gys also offloaded his BMW and we had a wonderful time riding over the roof of Africa.

After Jerome flew through a pothole as big as a bathtub he and Marlene decided to load up again. By this time I was having a ball and was dead intent on carrying on. Gys and I chose to continue and I proceeded to have the sweetest ride EVER, side stepping potholes, driving then on and then off road, passing through muddy and icy patches at times as we climbed back up in altitude and dipped down again.

Gys must have covered about twice the distance as I did, as he would shoot off and ahead only to rejoin again some odd 10 minutes later, this became a pattern as we rode on. I saw Gys coming and disappearing on the horizon.

Later Jerome informed me that I had driven the highest pass in Lesotho alone on my Vespa. As darkness approached we had to stop and load up and proceeded to drive past Afri-Ski and Oxbow Lodge in darkness, racing towards the border as we weren’t sure what time they closed it. Camelroc guest lodge was the best ever, great accommodation at a great price to the weary bunch of us. By then we all desperately needed to wash! The electric blanket on the bed made me feel like royalty and having roughed it the previous two nights we all truly appreciated such luxurious digs.

Swearworthy Cold

Magda - The 24hrs before D-day held no promises-it was icy cold and sleeting.

Golden Gate Highlands National Park

Jerome - Magda and I wanted an early start as we were only halfway to Underburg but the two Posers as they were now called, Paulo and Martin wanted to have a lazy start with a good breakfast before they head back to Johannesburg. This is where the Bar One story was born as I said to them that just a Bar One chocolate bar would suffice as breakfast.

Jerome - The cold was setting in fast and through the Golden Gate Highlands National Park we came across a horrific accident due to black ice that we decided to contact the Support Team and meet them rather at Harrismith. Read my account here on Black Ice and Death

Thinus and Martin loading Magda and my Vespas onto the support trailers in Harrismith as sleet begins to fall.

Marlene and Magda supervise the loading of our Vespas

Magda - That night we trudged from eatery to eatery in the rain in Underberg looking for a place willing to feed 18 souls. Once inside the “The Grind Cafe” with its pub “The Woolly Bugger”, things started looking up and with good food, attentive staff and a few drinks to warm the vital organs and keep the cold at bay we all enjoyed a lovely evening.

Charlie

Colette showing us how to make 12 cups of coffee out of 1 liter kettle water

Dudley

Gys

Magda

Marlene

Matthew

Petro and Angie

Thinus

Tiffany

Magda - Climbing into bed that night at the backpackers lodge the admonishing warnings of family and friends ---don’t do it---crazy---dangerous---ran in ever faster circles inside my head, biting each others’ tails like serpents rolling down a hill. I pulled my buff up against them and the smoke filled room, popped a sleeping tablet and bunked down uncertain as to what the day would bring.

The Sani Pass Dream

Jerome - It is just about 3 years to the day since The Great Sani Pass Adventure happened over the 5 day long weekend of 5 to 9 of August 2011. Yes this was not a dream, we did ride up Sani Pass in the middle of winter and over the Roof of Africa on Vespas. Our original post written by Magda, The awesome Sani pass Vespa scooter adventure 2011, is having issues so I am re-working the post in six smaller posts along with extracts from my blog One Day in the Life of Jerome’s and from Marlene’s Woema magazine articles, Bike in jou Taal.

Magda looking good as usual

Magda - I first met Marlene at the 2nd Scooter rally in Hartbeespoort. She looked an interesting unassuming girl and I was immediately drawn to her as a friend. It was there that Marlene unfolded her plans to conquer Sani Pass on her 1979 Vespa. With the ruckus of scooters playing soccer and racing in the background everything seemed right and possible. Without really appreciating what I was getting myself into I signed up for what would be the adventure of a lifetime.

Magda on her GTS250 and Marlene on her PX150

Jerome - Although the Dream was already floating around in our heads as Sani Pass was on my bucket list and as for Marlene, she had just done Die Hel pass on her 1979 Vespa PX150 and Sani Pass was her next target. So on 20 February 2011 at a Scooter Rally in Hartes the Sani Dream became a reality.

Sophia Reloaded

On the 21 June 2012, Sophia my trusty Vespa ET8 broke down leaving me stranded on the side of the highway. I was travelling at speed when suddenly she lost power with a large bang. At first I thought a wheel had burst but Sophia was stable as we coasted to a stop. I then suspected that she broke her drive belt. So I called for help.

On the 10 July 2012, the sad news came in that I had broken a valve which then had fallen into the piston and made a hole in the piston itself. I was devastated. Sophia was officially dead at just over 47,000km. Looking that the piston itself and the head, I notice a lot of potmarks and it seems that this damage has been occurring for some time and it finally snapped. Poor Sophia must have been suffering for a long time.

Soon afterwards news came in of a Vespa LX150 with only 2,487km on the clock that ran into the back of a vehicle. I went and looked at the bike which steering column was badly bent but the rest had only superficial damage. The owner wanted R10,000 for her but by the time I had made contact with him he had already informed his insurance company to write the bike off. So I then contacted the insurance who then offered the LX150 to me for only R5,800. So the LX150 became mine, now was the discussion of what to do with two broken Vespas.

In the end I decided to take the spanking new LX150 engine and gearbox and put it into ET8 body as it was a close match. I also took across the instrument panel, the larger front wheel mechanism and the seat to Sophia. But it wasn't Sophia so I called the new bike a Vespa LX8 with the name Anastasiya which means resurrection.

My first ride on Anastasiya was into a snow storm, as if hell had just frozen over with the hybrid LX8, Sophia reloaded. So as the phoenix arose from the ashes, the spirit of Sophia brought the snow to cool the fires as Anastasiya took flight from Hades into a new life.

Why I love my Vespa ET4?

For those who wonder why I love my Vespa ET4, this video just shows why I have such a soft spot for Sophia. My Vespa's named Sophia after Sofia Scicolone or as she is well known as Sophia Loren. Looking at the old black and white photos of Sophia, you can understand why I named my black curvy ET4 after her. Amo la mia bella Vespa.

Toy Run 2011

For those Posers who made the Toy Run this year, well done. Reports from Poser Charlie is that it was great ride and that we missed a lot. I see from our Vespa friend Neil Meyerowitz's photographs on Facebook that the Joburg chapter of the Vesparados were out in force or were they the Black Aces? Another set of photos is from my graffiti enthusiast Derek Smith Vesparados Ride Again. I did see one Vesparado skull and cross bones jacket in both albums. Here is a photo of Sophia amongst the older Vespas and Lambrettas at an earlier Toy Run. Try see if you can find Sophia.