ASK any motorbike enthusiast and they would agree that riding long distances on a café racer bike, Royal Enfield GT Continental, to be more specific, is extremely hard work. However, that’s exactly what the duo of Tim Mingay, of Durban North, and Jason Mets, of Glenwood, did.
They rode the classic bikes from Durban to the Mother City for the House of Love and Hope (HOLAH), and in the process raised more than R10 000 for the local baby home.
The non-profit organisation offers a secure and loving environment to babies in need until such time that a permanent home can be found. The charity ride was given the appropriate moniker ‘031 to 021’.
The trip, however, was not without its challenges, as Tim explained in an interview with Northglen News last week.
“Just before we left one of our sponsors pulled out, which left us on the backfoot. We were greeted with rain for the opening part of the trip, and water adversely affects the GT Continentals. We originally planned to get to Cape Town in five days, but we actually took six. The persistent rain on day two cut our travelling distance to just 20km, from where we had planned a trip of more than 300km, so that was hugely frustrating.
“Having said that we made the most of it: we ended up in Clarens at a four star hotel with just one room available. We booked in and the hotel kindly let us park our bikes in their reception area because of the heavy rain,” Tim said.
Tim said reaching the Mother City was a huge relief for both himself and Jason.
“The roads were great to ride on but we were both fatigued at the end. So our trip in Cape Town was one of relief. But the beauty of the trip was riding the bikes and experiencing the scenery.
“When you’re in a car it’s all about getting to the destination, but on a bike, you are involved with the environment and you are part of the trip,” Jason said.
Another aspect of the charity ride was trying to organise the 100 crew, which meant getting 100 people to give R100 a month to HOLAH.
“We didn’t manage that. We had 37 people sign up and it was a little disappointing. But we’re not going to give up and I think we would definitely do another trip for them,” he said enthusiastically.
You can read more about Tim and Jason’s adventure on their blog ‘An Epic Café Racer Adventure.’
