Paying the guy at the petrol station, I headed into town, not quite sure where Ewan had gone. I was messing about now, speeding up and hitting the back brake, sending the bike into a slide. The hard stuff was over, the adventure of it all, and I was relaxed and dossing around with stoppies and wheelies. Spotting the tyre garage off a slip road, I locked the back wheel and put the bike into a deliberate skid.
The next thing I knew Claudio hit me and slid past, the bike on its side and him whacking his head off the tarmac. His bike slithered down the road, glass shattering and sparks flying. I pulled up and jumped off.
Thankfully I saw him get up. He looked dazed and angry. Shit, I thought. Shit, shit.
‘Claudio, are you all right?’
‘Yes, I think so.’
‘Man that was a big one.’
‘Fucking hell, Charley, you just hit the brakes! I was going to hit you and I had to swerve and that was it.’
‘I had no idea you were so close. The last time I saw you, you were miles back.’
‘You left me at the petrol station, I had to catch up.’
‘Oh, man, I’m sorry.’ I hugged him. ‘Are you all right? God, I’m so sorry. I was dossing around, having fun, locking the back end. I’m sorry, Claudio, it was all my fault.’
‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘It’s OK.’ He looked at his bike, lying on its side with the beak broken and headlight shattered.
I noticed the oil radiator was buckled.
Ewan was alongside now. His bike in the workshop, he’d heard the back wheel lock up and the unmistakeably hideous sound of a bike sliding down the road. ‘Fuck,’ he said. ‘What happened?’
‘My fault,’ I admitted. ‘I was dossing about with the back brake and Clouds was closer to me than I realised. I saw you, hit the anchors and he crashed into me.’
EWAN: Claudio seemed to be more angry than anything else, but he’d come down hard on his right hand side and the lack of any pain was probably the adrenalin working. The bike didn’t actually look too bad: the headlight was gone and the beak had broken, but we had gaffer tape and got it bandaged up. The oil radiator was bent back but it hadn’t fractured and the bike was rideable. It was the old story: the last five minutes of any trip are the most dangerous – that’s when complacency can set in and accidents happen. I knew it from bitter experience, when a car had crashed into me in Canada during Long Way Round.
Metaphorically we were five minutes from home now and this was by far the worst spill any of us had taken.
I got my tyre patched and we were back on the road. Not for long, though, Claudio’s radiator burst, spraying oil everywhere. Claudio was really pissed off; all this way and now he couldn’t ride his puppy into Cape Town.
Or maybe he could.
Between us we rearranged the gear on the back of the fixer’s truck and loaded Claudio’s bike. Getting on the phone, we arranged for the parts we needed to be brought to the lodge so we could get the bike fixed in time for Claudio to ride to Cape Town.
I checked my mirrors as we pulled away. I had no idea what I was feeling, it was so strange. When we finished Long Way Round I had a definite sense of achievement, I could recall specifically how I felt when we crossed the George Washington Bridge and there was Manhattan. This time I wasn’t sure, I felt a bit numb.
Eve was in Kenya now with my daughters and I was going to fly up to join them as soon as all the press stuff was over. My mum and dad had flown out to South Africa and they would be at the lodge to meet us, along with Charley’s family. I knew he was itching to see them all.
Forty minutes out we were wet, cold and it was pitch black. We had only one decent set of lights: Charley’s. We weren’t exactly sure where the rest of the team were so we tried calling various mobile phones, but nobody was answering except my mum. I told her we thought we were about forty miles away and we’d be there shortly.
It was all very strange, slightly surreal, but then I think that’s how it is for anyone who’s covered this amount of miles and been away from home for any length of time. I thought again about the cyclists and how they would adjust to life after having been on the road for more than nine years.
We’d left the desert behind, the dirt roads, the scrub and sand, the wildlife. For some reason I thought of Ethiopia and the market town of Bati where they sold goods on one side of the hill and livestock on the other. I could picture this young boy who’d showed me around. Older kids had tried to get rid of him, to take his place as my guide. But I wouldn’t let them. There was something about him that seemed to sum up the trip for me. I hadn’t known it then but in a way he personified the experience: yes, I’d been a guy on a motorbike and no doubt I would give him some money, which I did. But for the couple of hours we were there, there was a bond between us and for me these trips are really about the people. People make up the places, the roadside; without them the landscape is beautiful but empty.
We made it to the lodge and that was the second little ending of the trip. My mum and dad were there with the rest of the crew and it was great to see them. We met Paul and Keith, the two guys who’d paid so much to ride with us into Cape Town. The money was going to Riders for Health and thinking about it, I realised that those visits had been some of the most memorable and moving moments of the whole trip. Riders for Health had been hugely inspiring: the work of the clinic and the community health workers on dirt bikes. I thought about Scotland, CHAS and the people we’d been privileged to meet at Robin House. I thought about UNICEF and the mine-affected children in Zelambassa. I could see the village in Kenya where twenty-two children had been massacred. I could hear Daniel’s voice, a child soldier in Uganda. All at once the memories began to flow. I could see Bulwer Street on the night we decided to do another trip; the Royal Geographical Society; the first time we saw the workshop at Avonmore Road. I recalled the moment when my bike arrived and I had her painted with zebra stripes. I thought about the Friday back in February when I hit that pedestrian and broke my leg.
We’d done it. It was coming to an end, but we’d done it. Only I didn’t want it to end. Right then I would happily have turned my bike around and ridden back along the west coast.
CHARLEY: Finally we got to the lodge and there they were: my wife, my daughters. I hadn’t got my helmet off and Ollie had her arms wrapped round my neck; Doone and Kinvara were hugging me. At last I did get the helmet off and kissed Ollie, kissed the girls.
‘Hello, my darlings,’ I said. ‘How are you?’
We hugged and kissed. I held Ollie for all I was worth and in that moment I realised just how much I’d missed her and just how lost a soul I’d be without her. I picked up Doone and Kinvara, kissed them, hugged them, kissed them again. I couldn’t stop holding them.
I parked the bike and there was Ewan’s mum. ‘Hello, Charley,’ she said.
‘Hello, Carol.’ I gave her a hug. ‘Told you I’d bring him back safe.’
Ewan was hugging Ollie and my daughters, Russ’s mum and dad were there, as well as Emily his daughter. It really was a welcome party. Before we went inside I took a look at my bike. I couldn’t quite believe that tomorrow would be the last time I threw my leg over the saddle.
The following morning we left the lodge for Cape Agulhas and the final stage of our journey; a great convoy of bikes, the support vehicles and our families. On perfect black tarmac, Ewan and I rode side by side, taking in the coast where the sea was green and the sand flat and white. And then finally, beautifully, wonderfully, we came to a last bit of dirt road that would take us to the point.
We’d made it. Cape Agulhas, the most southerly tip of Africa and we’d started at the most northerly tip of Scotland. Almost journey’s end, I couldn’t get my head around it. We were standing at the foot of the world with the Indian Ocean on one side and the Atlantic on the other. We needed a moment just to take it in.
‘We did it, Ewan,’ I said.
‘We did. You and me, mate. To the bottom of Africa, fifteen thousand miles.’
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‘Hell of a trip,’ I said.
‘But good, I mean really, really good. Maybe we should do it again sometime. What do you think?’
‘I’m up for riding back right now.’
‘You know what, mate? So am I.’
EWAN: Hundreds of people had turned out to ride with us. Lachlan from BMW South Africa had done a tremendous job organising bikes for our friends and the people who’d helped us put this thing together. It was brilliant, the perfect finale. The trip had been Charley and I for sure, but it was more than that – it was our families, friends, it was the fans of Long Way Round, it was Dai Jones and Jim Foster, it was Jimmy Simak and Claudio. And not just them: it was everyone back in the office, everyone who’d seen us off that first morning that felt so long ago. It was wonderful to honour all that effort now with so many motorcycles.
People crowded round us, asking all sorts of questions. And in a way it gave us a moment to reflect, to begin to step back and think about what we’d done, what we’d seen and how the whole experience had affected us. I turned to Charley.
‘What do you reckon,’ I said, ‘shall we go to Cape Town?’
‘I suppose we could. I mean, from here it seems like as good a place as any.’
‘That’s what I was thinking.’
Outside everyone was waiting: a sea of faces, and lines and lines of motorcycles. I took a moment to consider my bike: she looked about as battered and beat up as the old bike had done by the time we rolled into New York three years ago. This was different, I felt different; I still couldn’t quite take it in. Africa had been unbelievable, complicated, difficult. In some ways the place was so unjust: the poverty; AIDS; conflict; hardship. I had such an awful lot to think about, I had no real sense of a high just then, I mean personally, and I think it was perhaps because the trip needed so much reflection.
I glanced at Charley, at Russ and David as they prepared to get back on the bikes they’d ridden from the lodge this morning. My dad was there and I caught his eye. He smiled at me.
Russ was already on his bike, engine running, he was itching to get going. David had ridden Eve’s bike in Botswana and he was riding again now. This whole thing was about motorcycles and it was fitting that the team that put Long Way Down on the map would ride the last leg together.
I called across to David. ‘What do you reckon, mate? Shall we rock up to Cape Town?’ I turned to Russ. ‘Cape Town, Russ; are you up for it?’
We fired up the engines and pulled away from Cape Agulhas. We were on the blacktop: Charley alongside me, I reached across and grabbed his hand. The noise of the engines was drowned suddenly by another, larger, meatier engine altogether: a helicopter. It dipped above us like a bird of prey, a cameraman hanging out the door. I thought of Colin, my bother and former Tornado pilot; he’d arranged a fly-by to launch the trip at Castle Mey. Perfect, I thought, a tornado to begin and a chopper to finish. Kicking down a gear, I tucked in and cracked the throttle.
And finally there was Cape Town cradled in a valley – the sprawl of skyscrapers, suburbs and shanties dwarfed by the might of Table Mountain. I realised this was a dream, a childhood dream: motorbikes and meeting people in the most extraordinary places, people who basically have nothing and yet share what little they have.
I felt like I wanted to turn round and ride back up. We’d met so many fantastic people and seen so many fantastic places, and yet I felt that we had only scratched the surface. There’s so much more to learn about Africa. I know I’ll be back, and I can hardly wait. It feels more like the beginning of a journey than the end of one.
CHARLEY: On the outskirts we pulled over and draped the Scottish flag Ewan’s nephew had given us across the back of Ewan’s bike. I could hear him singing ‘O Flower of Scotland’ and then we were on the last leg, cruising through the streets to the Arabella Sheraton. I thought about a final wheelie but strangely perhaps I was more reflective. The enormity of what we’d been able to achieve began to sweep over me, brought home I think by the little bit of gravel we’d ridden to get to the very tip of the continent at Cape Agulhas. I was suddenly humbled, a little bit of dirt where we stood on the pegs and stuck our elbows out. I thought of the Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, I thought of Zambia, Tanzania: all those gnarly, muddy, sandy, potholed roads. It occurred to me that ten years from now, five even, those roads would be gone, buried for all time under tarmac. The Africa Ewan and I had ridden through would be changed forever.
Finally we pulled up outside the hotel and there were the support vehicles and the bikes that had ridden on ahead. I slowed down, winding back the gas and stepping down through the gears for the very last time. I considered the height of the hotel as I heard the roar of motorbikes on the expressway.
Ewan took his helmet off and worked a hand through his hair. ‘Charley,’ he said. ‘Thanks, mate; it was a pleasure riding with you.’
We shook hands, southern Africa style, then embraced Ewan-and-Charley style. ‘You too, mate,’ I said, ‘you too.’
Appendix A
ROUTE
Appendix B
EQUIPMENT
Navigation and Communications
Mobile communication and navigation all in one device: Nokia 6110 Navigator (8).
List of Tools – all supplied by MacTools
12'' Adjustable wrench, 3/8''–1/4'' adapter, Brass drift punch, 16oz ball peen hammer, 3/8'' Super steel centre punch, 5/16'' Combination wrench 12pt, 11/32'' Combination wrench 12pt, KS2 Combo wrench standard (3/8'', 7/16'', 1/2'', 9/16'', 5/8'', 11/16'', 3/4'', 13/16'', 7/8'', 15/16'' and 1''), 3/4'' Super steel chisel, 6/12/24v Circuit tester, 3/8'' × 7/16'' Flare nut wrench, 1/2'' × 9/16'' Flare nut wrench, 5/8'' × 11/16'' Flare nut wrench, 25bld Univ Mstr feeler gage st, Bend-a-light Pro-new, 3/8'' × 7/16'' Halfmoon wrench, 1/2'' × 9/16'' Halfmoon wrench, Punch & chisel holder, 5/8'' × 16'' Lady foot pry bar, 8'' Mill bastard file/CG, 1pt, 1''–1/4'' Telescoping mirror, 1/4'' Ratchet 5'', Macinists pocket rule 6'', Telescopic pocket power magnet, KS2 Combo wrench metric 10mm, 5/16'' Standard socket 12pt, KS2 Combo wrench metric 11mm, 11/32'' Standard socket 12pt, KS2 Combo wrench metric 12mm, 3/8'' Standard socket 12pt, KS2 Combo wrench metric 13mm, KS2 Combo wrench metric 14mm, KS2 Combo wrench metric, KS2 Combo wrench metric 16mm, 16'' Speed HDL 1/4'' DR, KS2 Combo wrench metric 17mm, KS2 Combo wrench metric 18mm, KS2 Combo wrench metric 19mm, 1/4'' DR, 2'' Knurled extension, Metric Long Combo Wrench 21mm/12pt, Metric Long Combo Wrench 22mm/12pt, 1/4'' DR Universal joint, 10'' Big champ pliers, 7 3/4'' Curved diagonal pliers, 6'' Slip joint pliers, 1/4'' DR, 6'' Knurled extension, 1/4'' DR Spin handle/comfort grip, 3/16'', Standard socket 12pt, 7mm Comb wrench 12 pt, 7/32'' Standard socket 12pt, 8mm Comb wrench 12 pt, 1/4'' Standard socket 12pt, 9mm Comb wrench 12 pt, 9/32'' Standard socket 12pt, #1'' × 3'' Phillips Bolster/CG/Red, #3'' × 6'' Phillips Bolster/CG/Red, 5/16'' × 6'' Std tip Bolster/CG/Red, 5/16'' × 8'' Std tip/CG/RED, 1–1/2'' Flexible putty knife, 1/4'' ×1.5'' Std stubby, 3/16'' Long S/S pin punch, Foam profile, 8'' Needle nose pliers w/cutter, #2 × 1.5'' Phillips stubby, 8'' Round bastard file/CG, 5/16'' S/S roll pin punch, 1/8'' S/S roll pin punch, 1/4'' S/S roll pin punch, Ratcheting screwdriver (2), 8'' Square bastard file/CG, 9pc Metric hex key set with case, 13pc Speed hex key w/cset, 1/8'' S/S starter punch, Black frame clear safety spec, 3/4''–2'' ADJ hook spanner wrench, Pitch gauge bolt & thread, 3/8'' × 7/16'' Wrench, Open-ended wrench 9/16'' × 1/2'', Open-ended wrench 5/8'' × 3/4'', Digital mulitmeter, 10'' C-JAW Vise-Grip+R w/cutter, 7'' Straight jaw Vise-Grip+R, 10'' Ratchet 1/2'' drive, 10'' Extension, 1/2'' Socket 12pt, 18'' Flex handle w/comfort grip, 9/16'' Socket 12pt, 2'' Extension, 5/8'' Socket 12pt, 11/16'' Socket 12pt, 3/4'' Socket 12pt, 13/16'' Socket 12pt, 7/8'' Socket 12pt, 1/2'' Universal joint, 15/16'' Socket 12pt, 1'' Socket 12pt, 5'' Extension, 12mm Socket 6pt, 13mm Socket 6pt, 14mm Socket 6pt, 15mm Socket 6pt, 16mm Socket 6pt, 17mm Socket 6pt, 18mm Socket 6pt, 19mm Socket 6pt, 21mm Socket 6pt, 22mm Socket 6pt, 24mm Socket 6pt, 3/8'' Ratchet, 8'' Flex handle, 3/8'' Socket 12pt, 7/16'' Socket 12pt, 10mm Socke
t 12pt, 11mm Socket 12pt, 3'' Knurled extension, Universal joint, 6'' Knurled extension, slotted bit (2), #1 Phillips ACR bit, #2 Phillips ACR bit, Metric pitch gauge, MacTools battery charger – 12v up to 100AH.
BMW spares
Emergency cylinder head kit (3), Rocker cover (2), Gasket (8), Bolt (4), O ring (1), Plugs (4), Coils (4), Clutch Field (1), Lever (2), F Pads (6), R Pads (3), Brake fluid (1), Headlight bulb (1), Tail bulb (1), Bracket hand (9), Bracket (9), Extra tank bags (3), Front and Rear discs (spare discs for bike) (2), Tyres (16), Extra keys (4), BMW front shock absorbers (2), Rear BMW shock absorbers (2).
Nissan spares
Air filter (2), Pollen filter (2), Sets of wiper blades (2), Dampers with bushes (4), Fuel filters (4), Alternator (1), Set of engine bells (1), Engine injectors (2), Car set light bulbs (2), Tin plastic Metal (2), Tin rad weld (2), Engine oil (1), Engine coolant (1), hi-lift jack (1).
Camping Equipment supplied by Touratech
Touratech – Ortlieb roll closing q packsack (8), Touratech – Ortlieb TRACK day pack (8), Touratech – Ortlieb premium travel mat (8), Powerstretch Gloves (8), Haglofs Barrier Jacket (L) (6), Haglofs Barrier Jacket (XL) (2), Anadir Sweater (XL) (2), Anadir Sweater (L) (6), Fram Pants L (6), Fram Pants (XL) (2), Roll Closing Q Packsack (XL) (8), Haglofs Bum Bag (8), Eagle Creek Undercover Security Wallet (8), Pack-It Sport (black) (2), Pack-It Sport (cherry red) (2), Pack-It Sport (neptune) (2), Cascade Pack Shower (3), Ortlieb T Pack (5), PackTowl (XL) blue (8), Pocket Soap (8), Hammock (2), Clothesline (2), Mutha Hubba Tent (8), Touratech Tent Bag (8), Marmot Sawtooth sleeping bag (2), Yeti Energizer 750 (6), eVent compressing packsack (L) (8), Travel pillow (8), Ortlieb Premium mat (8), Walkstool (8), Outdoor Mosquito net (8), MSR Dragonfly cooking stove (2), MSR fuel bottle (4), Ortlieb Collapsible dishes (2), Titanium Multi Compact (2), Snow peak titanium thermal tumbler (10), Stainless steel plate large (10), Stainless steel plate (10), Salt-n-pepper shaker (4), Curry-n-herbs shaker (4), Titanium cutlery (10), Nalgene loop top bottles (8), Nalgene wide mouth bottles (8), Drink powder ‘Rouge’ (20), Letherman charge Ti (8), Active thermos flask (8), Micropur water purifier (8), Ortlieb waterbags (8), MasterLED torch (8), Princeton Tec Aurora (8), Strap It Motorbike Adjustable (10), ROK All purpose Adjustable (10), ROK All purpose Flat 30cm (4), ROK All purpose Flat 60cm (4), ROK All purpose Flat 90cm (4), ROK All purpose Flat 150cm (4), Strap It Motorbike Flat 300mm (4), Strap It Motorbike Flat 450mm (4), Strap It Motorbike Flat 600mm (4), Strap It Motorbike Flat 750mm (4), Neck Brace (3), Mountain equipment pneumo stuffsack 5 ltr (1), Mountain equipment pneumo stuffsack 15 ltr (1), Mountain equipment pneumo stuffsack 25 ltr (1), Mountain equipment pneumo stuffsack 50 ltr (1), Haglofs Bum Bag Watatait (1), Pack-It Quick Trip toiletries bag (1), Packet Soap (8), Pack-It Quick Trip toiletries bag (1), Packet Soap (1), Yeti Sunrizer 800 (1), Touratech Aluminium Camping seat (3), Snow Peak GIGA Power WG (1), Trangia Spirit Stove Ultralight HA (1), Nova Multi Fuel Burner for Trangia cooker (1), Snow Peak Titanium Multi Compact cooking set (1), Snow Peak titanium thermal tumbler (1), Lexan Plate flat 25cm (1), Nalgene loop-top bottles, Lexan (1), Katadyn COMBI water filter (4), Airchamp tubeless tyre puncture repair kit (4), Tyre pressure gauge (2), eVent compression bag Medium (1), ProLite 3 Regular Therm-a-rest (1), Touratech Mess Kit (1), Zega Case (black) (1), Auxiliary Bag (1), Snow Peak GIGA Power WG (1), Twin burner stove – petrol (1), Honda generator-EU10i (1), Wayfarer Boil in the bag foods: spicy vegetable rigatoni, meatballs pasta in tomato sauce, chocolate pudding, chicken pasta and mushroom, sausage casserole, beef stew, beans & bacon in tomato sauce (various), Space Cases: various sizes (4), Mosquito repellent (30), Deet (30), Howling Moon 2-man roof tent (3).
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