Zulu!

Time to bounce. Another cool day – about 8 degrees below the usual 32 degree high. The rain lasted most of the night, and I was somewhat worried about the trail leading out of Bayete, as the red mud of which it was comprised looked exceptionally slippery. I feel that I'm somewhat of an expert when it comes to the friction coefficient of mud, and Tumi confirmed my suspicions – this was really slick stuff. He did offer to escort me out in the 4x4 in case I encountered difficulties.

In retrospect, this was probably some kind of setup, as I'd been regaling Tumi with tales of how fast I could ride down some of these trails, and just how competent the GS1200 Adventure really is.

He took off like there was a prize at the end. I looked down several times at the speedo, and we were going over 70km/h. The heavily laden GS clanked down hard a few times, but it didn't swap ends, which would have been ugly, what with my full load of luggage and 35l of gas in the tank. At the end of the trail, Tumi gave me a sly smile and bid me farewell.

Today's ride was only 250km or so to Rorkes Drift Lodge and the Zulu battlegrounds. The GS and I clocked in about 80km of dirt roads, and the bike worked just mint. The plush suspension soaked up almost all of the impacts, although some washboard ruts vibrated so hard I had to take my watch off as it was banging into my wrist.

These big, dreadnought-class dirt bikes are absolutely fantastic on dirt roads, although you do need to stay up on the pegs. The minute you sit down things get all squirmy, and the bike begins to feel like a Goldwing with bald tires. Stand up though, and you're Stephane Peterhansel, blasting through, well, Africa, goddammit! Given the distance to Toronto General Hospital, my emergency ward of choice, I didn't take the GS up past 100km/h, although it would have been quite easy given the overall competence of the bike.

I pulled off the dirt road when I spotted the sign for Rorkes Drift Lodge, but as the path degenerated into a rough trail, I began to have my doubts about the directions. After about a half-kilometer of this madness, I turned around and headed back to the road. Upon closer examination, the sign explained that the lodge was at the end of 5km of rough track. Thus reassured, I gave it another go. This was GS country. Despite the signs warning of a 5km/h limit, I bounced along at 30-35km/h, laughing all the while. Rorkes Drift Lodge is a rustic but very comfortable hideaway that has the most astonishing view of rolling hills and mountains (what's the difference between the two anyway?). This spot is a must-see for anyone who's planning a South Africa trip on any form of adventure bike.