Evaluating a book about adventure motorcycling from the comfort of the couch just feels… wrong.
So with Dirt Busters stuffed into my tailbag next to a few oily rags and cans of beer, a friend and I set off the other weekend for Gamkaskloof, better known to many as Die Hel.
As Deon Meyer says in his description of the journey to this remote corner of the Swartberg, the first of 33 rides featured in the book, Die Hel is almost the Holy Grail of adventure motorcycling. If you haven’t been there, you’re nowhere.
In truth, the ride isn’t that difficult – on the book’s five-stage grading system it gets a 2 or a 3 (where 1 is easy and 5 is for the expert or suicidal). But it is spectacular, and was made all the more enjoyable with Meyer’s gently humorous description of the journey and the destination rattling round my brain.
Meyer, of course, is best known as a crime writer, and although his books have allowed him to give up his day job working for BMW motorcycles, he hasn’t lost his passion for them… hence Dirt Busters.
As well as the route descriptions with maps, and the photographs by Adriaan Oosthuizen, more than a third of the book is given over to the theory of adventure motorcycling. Meyer gets quite scientific and even philosophical in this section, but it’s all good stuff and a valuable resource, especially for beginners. It includes advice on what bike to buy and what clothing to wear.
Many readers might reject the idea of motorcycling, full stop, based on their view that it is dangerous. The truth is, riding on gravel roads is as dangerous as you wish to make it, and a whole lot less hazardous than riding in town.
I get the impression from the book that Meyer is one of those adventure motorcyclists who like to ride “on the limit”. In my experience, that is too fast, too furious, so I avoid riding with such people. But I thank my lucky stars, yet again, that on my doorstep here in the Western Cape is some of the best terrain imaginable for this fantastic pastime, and that I can do it at my own pace.
And when it’s too hot, wet, cold or windy for real adventure motorcycling to be enjoyable, Meyer’s book makes it possible to enjoy the idea of it almost as much, even if you are stranded on the couch.
* Dirt Busters is published by Tafelberg