My Riding memoirs.

My Riding memoirs.

By The BushBaby On Two Wheels

4 July, 2019

It was such a heavy downpour; it was like someone was  spraying water at me using a hosepipe at 12 RPM with the wind blowing at an average speed of 50km/per hr. 

Taking cover under the many trees along the road was too risky cause the maddening thunderstorms would unleash a Zeus strike unexpectedly. I had to soldier on lest I became a target of the signature Zeus bolt strike. 

Moving at a slower pace was much better than standing there. At some point, the bike would freeze and all I had to do was just wait for the damn hot engine to cool down and then hit the road again. This happened several times along the way, I was too worried cause I didn't carry my spanner kit. My fears were getting worrisome; a DT125 is renown for burning spark plugs at low RPM arrgh!!! I thought deeply. 

One more time, the engine just went off and I knew it was all over. I even forgot I was carrying important documents in my bag and I would miss the Moroto - Kampala bus and that would mean missing the validation process. 

 

The thought of missing the validation process struck hard across my cranium. I took adeep  breathe and said "Spartans know no defeat, they fight to the last minute". I started the machine on choke and it responded positively and shot like a hayabusa. 

The heavy shower by now has turned into a drizzle and I had to throttle really hard to compensate for the lost time. Thunder clouds were forming around Lopei and my worry was Lokichar river filling up. 

The first huddle is done I reckoned and just like I thought I had made it, the bike started losing engine power, It was deceleratiing so fast, while cutting power. 

This sent a cold cascade of shivers across my spine, it felt like an electrocusion. 

The bike went into silence and I knew very well the plug had burnt out. I was damn helpless and there was nothing I could do now! 

I decided to sit on by the road side in frustration looking over the beautiful Mt Moroto landscape in despair. It is 69km deep into the Kotido - Moroto road. Understanding this situation was like reading Sumerian. Nothing was adding up, it only created a sense of akrwardness. 

Something deep inside the abyss of my soul kept telling me you will reach your destination however the other opposing forces kept pulling me back. It felt like the laws of momentum were in full application inhibiting my thinking and contingency plans. 

A moment later I let the frustration cool down and started working for a way out of this hiccup. Any rescue would take time and time was not on my side besides rain clouds were forming between Lopei and Moroto. 

I checked for 2T oil levels and it was normal even the plug on smelling it's tip didn't show any signs of burning. That was a ray of hope. So this time, I tried it one more time to choke start the 2 stroke engine and damn she responded. 

That was enough to make me bury the annoyance down. I couldn't imagine how exciting the Braaaapp sound made me feel. It felt like hitting the moon. 

Like they say "keep trying it many times,  you never know on the 20th attempt you will succeed ." 

There was no more time to waste and Phewwww, we hit the road again this time making her feel like a real YAMAHA DT125. 

By the time I arrived to the marble city, it was as dry as Kalahari.