First bike rally of year feels the heat

This past weekend I attended my first motorcycle rally of the year. I had been talking about it to my brother for the past two weeks and I think in my never ending ramblings about the event, I unwittingly convinced him to come along.

So, come Friday morning, as I was packing up the tent and other essentials for the rally weekend, I heard a knock on my door, and standing there was my brother ready to embark on this fantastic weekend with me.

We were headed for the Impala Rally.

The Impala Rally, established by the Bike SA Magazine in 1980, is the second biggest rally in the country.

Bike SA Magazine also coordinates the Rhino Rally, which was established in 1975 and has also has been a great success.

The Paradise Rally and the famous annual Easter Namib Desert Run are also arranged by the magazine.

All these events aim to bring decent, mostly mature motorcycling enthusiasts together for a weekend of fun and happiness.

So with a number of biker activities set to take place, I also decided to invite two of my fellow biker friends.

The more the merrier, right? So on Friday - and some bikers are also welcome to arrive on Thursday - we started off our journey to Hartebeespoort resort which is 3km away the dam town.

As we were driving - yes driving (my bike is in for repairs) - I kept thinking about what I was going to do first because there is entertainment like stunt riding, freestyle motocross and daytime as well as evening bands.

Upon arrival the fun began in earnest. What we should have done is set up the tent but instead we went straight to the bonfire, where we met bikers from various clubs, some coming from as far afield as Lesotho.

The stories we shared made us feel as though we were one, despite coming from different parts of the country.

We were at the fire until about 2am, when we headed back to our camp site to sleep.

Alas there was no tent to crawl into because it was still neatly packed in our boot.

So we slept in the car. Needless to say it was quite an uncomfortable experience!

Morning came slowly and we went to the stalls offering t-shirts, badges (which we stitch onto our waist coats) and body piercings and tattoos.

More surprisingly they even offered pre-approved financing for those looking to buy new motorcycles.

I then went to see the instructors who teach bikers how to do tricks on their bikes, like popping a wheelie-safely of course.

With all these events taking place simultaneously my head started spinning. I felt like a kid in a candy store.

The rally was a great success and exceeded my expectations. It was amazing.

We never got around to setting up that tent but maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

When we ran out of fire wood we thought, what the hell, let's set a bike on fire - just kidding!

A bike had burst into flames when the owner over revved the engine. Kept us warm but killed his bike. I wonder what unexpected event will take place next year, because this year was magnificent.