I left South Africa in June this year with the intent to ride my motorbike to Spider Rock. Spider Rock is located in Canyon de Chelly National Park (AZ). According to Dine legend Spider Rock is the home of Spider Woman. I took the pictures here in July 2005. Since then I have been yearning to return with a cleaner heart and pay my respects to the ancestors.
The cleaner heart part has to do with being whole again after a long review and expelling the demons of a bad and destructive relationship from my soul.
I walked down into the canyon to find Indian villages built into its rock walls. It is said that these villages originated between 350 and 1300 AD. It was an amazing sight to behold. I felt priviledged to be there.
Spider Rock is at least 230 million years old. I felt the ancestors roam there.
The earth was alive even as tourists trampled over the holy ground and poor colonized Dine (Navajo) begged inside the canyon and alongside the road.
I felt vibrant the day I visited Spider Rock. Vibrant despite the deceit in tow.I want to go back. No, I need to go back. But this time alone. And on two powerful wheels. Sorry DSM.
These two wheels in particular. A 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa. A 1340cc 16 valve missile.
Fastest ever!
Now if Tony Herman will just step up, dig into his tickie pocket for change, and buy me this f*cking bike.
Same colour broer and don't worry about the aftermarket pipes and jetting stuff. I'll take care of that after the break-in period. ;0)
Visualize Herman.
4 comments:
HA! Two wheels are still better than four even if they have far more horsepower than mine %)
I doubt that motorcycles would have done to Detroit what the cars have...
dsm
DSM that is for sure. I see that in China there is a move to ban motorcyles.
And in places the ban has taken place. I saw pictures of small cubic motorbikes piled up at junkyards.
Chines authorities are becoming friendlier to cars!
Motorbikes are seen to be a developmental problem ... ??
Be well my friend.
Peace,
Ridwan
Nay time you REALLY want to start up the bike coop, you contact me-
I have spent a lot of time thinking about it and even doing some rounds in my hometown the beginning of last year.
There is only one bike shop in a town of least 250k people (spread around).
The owner is a friend of the family. He mostly sells bikes for sports stuff. Cycling in SA is big. See the Argus Tour in Cape Town for example.
The other end of the spectrum though, biking for transport and biking for environmental concern is not really highlighted.
And it has not always been so. During the apartheid years mine workers cycled everywhere. Those big black baloon tyre bikes like you still see in India was the mainstay of transport.
Particularly in Black communities.
I have a suspicion that there is not one company building bike frames in SA, or Africa, for that matter.
I think the government may have changed the import duty structure on bicycles. I need to read up on this.
Anyway, bicycles for transport have all but disappeared. Those three wheeler box bikes that were used to sell icecream of cart stuff are also all but gone.
Bicycles, unless over-tarted race ones, are mostly not chic.
Advocacy is needed. A campaign to put bicycles back on the roads.
Provincial governments need to step up. With road calming devicies like you highlight at times on your blog.
Bicycles must be made part of the transport mix.
A coop may be the place to bring these pieces together. It will need outside money and outside support from folks abroad.
But there are endless possibilities to making strides in health and environment too.
SAs have among the highest rates for diabetes, stroke, etc, in the world.
A multi-prong effort is needed.
Will be really interested to hear what you think.
If nothing else, could I interest you in a Cape to Cairo bike ride .... ;0)
Ridwan
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