A large group of old motorbikes with sidecars passed me on the road to Kommetjie this morning. They made for an incongruous sight, sandwiched between huge trucks and oversized 4x4s, and I can't say I would have enjoyed being in their position. They looked very fragile and vulnerable on their thin wheels, with the sidecar providing little protection in the event of an accident. This mode of transport was made for a gentler way of life and the travellers were brave indeed to venture out in the traffic. Perhaps there was safety in numbers.
In spite of the traffic hazards, there is no doubt that the weather came to the party, and one couldn't have wished for a more ideal day for adventuring in a sidecar. Once they turned off the main road towards Scarborough and Cape Point, the open road and the wind in their faces would have blown away the exhaust fumes and they would have been able to appreciate their proximity to nature.
It is on days like this that we fling the cover off the Cobra, give it a bit of a shine and head for Olifantsbos down in Cape Point Reserve. The honeyed scent of the fynbos, the twittering of the sugarbirds in the protea bushes and the rejuvenating, ozone-laden sea air along the coastal road can only be fully appreciated from the seat of an open-top car (I prefer to call it 'without a lid') and more than enough to compensate for the tangle of knots I get in my hair (no fancy aerodynamics in a Cobra, I'm afraid). The sensory pleasures are lost to us when we travel in our air-conditioned, tinted-windowed bubbles. They are fine for a wet and windy day, but an open car will always be my first choice for a drive away from the madding crowd.
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