Saturday in Durban

A Morning Bike Ride
Dad likes to take the dogs running on Saturday morning.  Dad rides his mountain bike and the dogs run alongside (on leashes) or - when its wild - free. Ingrid is worried about this because the dogs sometimes run in front of the tyres and make Dad fall off.  Being almost 70, this is a bit risky but he does it anyway.

I haven't been exercising so I agreed to go on a morning ride with Dad. He said "about 5.30am" which is early but we were on Game Reserve Time so it seemed okay.

This morning, at first light Dad tapped on my bedroom door and we dresssed quickly and drove north up the coast road to a sugar cane plantation where Dad likes to ride.  There is a lovely dirt road by the river where weavers nest and monkeys bark from the huge groves of bamboo.  As we arrived at the gas station where he parks, I asked what time it was.  It was 4.45am.

"I thought it was dark because of the weather" said Dad.  There were storms last night with high winds, thunder and lightening.  The sea was calm but the sand was wet and there were twigs and fallen baby avocados on the ground in the garden.

We rode off with the dogs and the first half of the ride was easy.  We passed a man walking through the cane with his fishing rod on the way to the beach, some workers with their green overalls and work boots walked up to a farm with a blue tractor and otherwise not even the monkeys were awake.

The second half the ride was really hard! We road up a steep and endless red-earth and gravel road through the cane.  Dad's bikes gears are crap and so they kept crunching and slipping.  My thighs muscles were twitching and I felt ill with exertion. Is Dad 70 or am I?  Eventually, at the end of the endless hill Dad said "We are almost at the highest point.  Do you want to go the short way home or the other way which is 10% further".

This was a blantant lie.  We were far from the highest point and I doubt it was 10% further.  After many more ascents and steep descents, I am now mud splattered and exhausted.

A good breakfast of haloumi and vegges with wicked cheesy-hash-browns and two coffees has softened the memory but I could do with a nap.