I’ve Grown Accustomed To His Butt
The Record Of Three Long Distance Cycle Rides In Tandem Through South Africa By Two Geriatrics In Order To Share With You The Homeland I Love Close Up And Personal
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Today was one of the more exciting of the journey. We watched the moon set and the sun rise as we pulled out of town, an experience I have not had too often.. The road was a roller coaster and the headwind buffeted us as we reached the top of each rise and allowed us a break in the hollows. There was one mountain, higher than the rest, by which we tried to gauge our progress, but we seemed not to be moving at all as it did not appear to get any closer. What felt like hours later, we did eventually pass it and wished it a heartfelt farewell. As we entered an interesting section of indigenous forest we were amused to see a pair of men's underpants lying on the verge. Someone had had a busy night! But then we passed a shirt, a pillow-case, another shirt and some socks and a sheet. Some poor traveller had apparently lost his washing off the back of a bakkie and there seemed no point in stopping to pick it all up. This explanation did spoil our original story though. It was with a sense of achievement that we crossed the Storms River Bridge and stopped at the shopping centre there for coffee and a roll while watching the traffic sail past. We had thought of staying in Storms River village with the possibility of swinging through the treetops in the nature reserve. But it was still early. We cycled on, through the carefully preserved indigenous forest that, in places, crowds the narrow road and forms a cool green canopy, to Storms River Mouth, again covering 100km. This area adjoins the Tsitsikamma Nature Reserve where the remains of the yellowwood forests that covered the area remain. The largest tree is the 650 year old 39m high Big Tree in the forests above Knysna. The camp site was magnificent, right on the sea shore with the waves breaking within a few metres of where we were parked in glorious isolation. The ablutions were five star and after putting our washing in one of the grand machines, I relaxed in a deep, hot bath until Colin thundered on the door as he wanted his dinner. Later, when all was quiet, Kevin decided it was his turn for a bath. As there were only showers in the Mens, he went into the Ladies. It was hours before he emerged with a big smile on his face. He looked distracted as we packed up in the morning and kept sneaking back into the caravan. About the third time, I followed him to find him restlessly unpacking his suitcase, scrabbling around and then repacking everything. I had to ask, `Have you lost something?' I recoiled at the look on his face. `I can't find my teeth.' Now this was not something to laugh about, so I kept a very straight face. `I must have left them in the bathroom. Please go and have a look.' There were no teeth to be found. `Ask the attendant if he has found them.' You can imagine the lunacy of me, with a mouth full of teeth, explaining that I had left my dentures in the bathroom and had he found them. Again, no luck. Kevin was frantic by this time and unpacked his case once more. And, lo and behold, they were in the pocket of the jacket he had worn the previous day. He has still not lived this down.
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About the Book
Ann had racked her brains to find some way of putting back into the larger community the kindly support and generosity of her small Tzaneen, South Africa, community. They had made it possible for her to participate in the 5,000m and 10,000m running events at the World Association of Veteran Athletes' Championships in Durban in 1997, placing third in the former. After many frustrations and resistance from Colin, she organized a tandem cycle ride from Beit Bridge to Cape Town in 1999 for the SOS Children's Villages. This proved such a success and so much fun that she immediately started organizing another ride, this time on a grander scale to draw the attention of the country to the struggles of the elderly. It proved even more of a hassle and a heart-ache but on Women's Day, August 9
The final ride from Johannesburg to Cape Town was a breeze as it was organized by Charity Beyond 2000 for Meals on Wheels and all they had to do was pedal.
During their adventures they visited small, little-known, out of the way villages. And in doing so they met, ate and lodged with members of all the groups of this rainbow nation learning more of the country's history, culture and traditions than they had ever been taught in school.
Read and experience their South African adventure through her eyes than come here and see it for yourself.
About the Author
She was born in Durban in 1931 of gentle Scottish parents. . She spent her school years in Johannesburg and married Colin in 1950. When her fifth child entered kindergarten, while living in Windhoek, she studied through UNISA obtaining her BA and then H.Dipl.Lib in 1975, and became Children's Librarian in Pinetown, Natal. (confusing but all part of the travels necessitated by Colin's career). Over the years she has worked as a shorthand\typist, bookkeeper, Personnel Officer, Store Manager, speech teacher, and even English adviser to a Rabbi. In fact, anything that would bring in a bit extra to cope with the demands of growing children. She is now retired and living on a mountain top outside Tzaneen in Limpopo, with her husband, youngest son, Dion, three dogs and a cat. They have lived fairly adventurous lives but the whim that got her jogging at age 58 soon developed into grander plans. After winning her Veteran's Colours for running the 5,000m in 1997 she bought a tandem bicycle for Colin in order to include him in her training expeditions. One thing led to another and she was soon throwing herself into the organization of their first charity tandem ride. She is probably the oldest woman to do this. These cycle rides were journeys of discovery, not only to find out more about this wonderful country, and hopefully do some good for the less privileged, but also to create herself anew and avoid stagnation after retirement. She insists that despite the sweat and tears during the whole process, the warmth, friendliness and co-operation of strangers made it all worth while. And the Guinness World Record at the end of it was the cherry on the cake. Her motto: “You are never too old to try something new.”