To forge a good blade, you have to put steel through some hardships: heating and hammering repeatedly. Even though the process is arduous, the result is always worth the effort. Ducati’s fifth instalment of the Mystery Ride reminded me of that process: a little hardship to forge our friendships. The story of the Mystery Ride goes back to 2020, when Jos Matthysen, head of Ducati SA, took us on an extensive journey across South Africa. The distances were long, and the destinations were superb. Since then, three more tours were held, the last one being through the spectacular roads of the Western Cape. Every iteration, however, forged a closer bond between the Ducati riders that took part in these tours. Some days were hard, but you always remember the good times.
With the date for the fifth Mystery Ride set, something really special happened. Jos always posted the song Road to Nowhere by the Talking Heads on our WhatsApp group to get us in the mood for riding. The word “nowhere”, did not sit well with Benito, one of the riders. He decided to rework the original song and called it Road to Somewhere. He got André Hartman from Infinity Recording Studio involved, got the rights to the original backing track and recorded a Ducati-themed version of it. All the vocals of the song were done by Ducati riders. Everyone who has ever been on a Mystery tour will be able to relate to the song. It is our song, our Ducati family’s song.
At the last Mystery Ride, I became the proud owner of a Ducati Supersport 950. After a year of ownership, and with the fifth Mystery Ride fast approaching, Jos convinced me that I needed a DesertX for the journey. Those were prophetic words, as the Mystery Ride turned into quite an adventure ride. One that was going to forge us and test us. Not because of bad planning, but purely because of the utter decay of our road network.
The rider briefing was held the evening before the trip and was quite a social affair. We got our traditional goodie bag which had a distinct army theme to it, and Jos had something special planned for our departure the next morning. We also got the opportunity to buy raffle tickets to win a Ducati DesertX. The winner had a choice between three custom-painted DesertXs, but first, the finalists were narrowed down to eight individuals. Each finalist was given a key, and whoever’s key started the DesertX, walked away with it. There were cheers of joy as Wimpie Jonck cranked the DesertX into life. Wimpie made his choice of bike, and the other two were quickly bought on the spot!
Day 1 started with Jos asking us to surrender our phones and our instrumentation was blacked out. We were divided into five groups and we were going to be doing a time trail to our first stop! The times were carefully noted and riddles were supplied. The riddles involved naval and aviation terms, and sticking to the speed limits was crucial. It was a time trial after all! Try sticking to a speed limit if you have no idea how fast you are going. The destination turned out to be Aviators in Hartbeespoort and our team was the first to arrive. We had a late brunch and from here we followed Jos again to lead us to our final destination for the day. This year the distances were much shorter to make it more relaxing and to give us more time to socialize. We were 37 motorcycles in total. There was also a kombi to transport parents and family and a few people who do not own a Ducati yet. 61 souls departed Aviators as we headed north. As has become a tradition on these rides, we were only supplied with distances for each day, and the rider who could guess where we would end up would win a prize.
We rode past Sun City and Pilanesberg and ended up near Thabazimbi. Here we split into groups as the lodges in the area simply could not accommodate such a large group. Our group headed to Lethabong Lodge. As it turned out, there was a 7 km gravel road to the lodge and I revelled in my newly acquired DesertX. It simply devoured the gravel road, and even a little bit of soft sand did not unsettle the bike. That evening we had our traditional first-night braai, after which we retreated to our beautiful tented accommodation.
On Day 2 we headed ever further north and at some point even crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. We passed towns with new names and we were now headed for the Botswana border. This has been the furthest north I have ever been in South Africa. We ended up close to the Botswana border in a town called Tom Burke.
Our groups split up again, as in Tom Burke you cannot expect to have an establishment big enough to accommodate all of us. We stayed in a hunting lodge called Tshukudiba Game Lodge and the smaller group meant that we got to know each other a lot better. But to me, the highlight of the day was load-shedding! Here, in the middle of the bush, the complete darkness meant that the milky way was on display in all its splendour.
Day 3 was a Sunday, Mother’s Day, and we gathered at the only petrol station that was open. At the small kiosk, I had coffee so sweet, I get a cavity just thinking about it now. These small towns still make a living somehow. Children still go to school here, grow up here and grow old here. It always fascinates me to talk to the locals about their hopes and dreams. As we chatted and laughed, we had no idea that the most challenging part of the journey was just a few kilometres away. This was forging time.
We headed to Alldays, and the first stretch of road was quite pleasant with lots of game sightings on the way. Then, all of a sudden, the road just went to pot. Potholes were the least of our troubles. What was a decent tar road only a few years ago is now simply not there. Small patches of tar stubbornly remain and they are even worse than potholes. Our group consisted mainly of Multistradas and two DesertXs, but there were four Monsters and an XDiavel in the mix too, and I pitied these riders as this road was not made for these types of bikes. After about 90 km of this, we all made it to the town of Alldays with only one bike suffering a puncture. This did put us slightly behind schedule, but from here on, the roads did improve and we headed to Louis Trichardt. Just past the Hendrik Verwoerd tunnels the road descends into town with some wide sweeping corners. Now at pace, the riders all but forgot about the horrible gravel roads. From there it got even better through the Modjadjiskloof on our way to Hoedspruit, our overnight destination. We all had dinner at Sleeper’s restaurant in Hoedspruit, and their malva pudding is highly recommended!
As the last day arrived, all of us were craving good tar roads with generous twisties. Fortunately, we were heading in the right direction. Just out of Hazyview, on the R40, we could really let the Italians loose. The DesertX was an absolute joy through here. I cannot believe that Ducati can get such a competent off-road bike to handle so well on tar. The pace was indeed veloce! We rode through Nelspruit and on to the R38 or Nelshoogte pass. What a glorious stretch of road. Yesterday’s road was a distant memory and we just revelled in the twisty road over the pass.
A good blade needs to be hammered and heated multiple times, but the final stage lies in the quenching. And this is what we got before Machadadorp. The heavens opened up and quenched us properly. The final stretch of road was the N4, and as we came closer and closer to home, I felt the pressure and angst of the rat race creeping up on me again. I missed the bush already.
This ride will probably be remembered for the road between Tom Burke and Alldays, but most of all for our togetherness. To be forged together, closer than ever. This is what the Ducati family is all about.
Then I need to mention a special rider who did this trip in honour of her father. She used to be his pillion, and they went everywhere. He sadly passed away in 2020, so she bought herself a Monster and painted it the same colour as her dad’s bike. Every day you could visibly see her riding improve. Well done, Marieta!
A trip like this does not happen one afternoon over a beer. No, it takes hours and days to plan. And to make it so that no one knows where we are going makes it even harder. For Jos and his team, this is no walk in the park, but they still do it. You will be hard-pressed to find such a deep-rooted passion for a brand and for people anywhere else. I would like to single out our two mechanics Justin and Ross who looked after all the bikes, lubricating chains and even acted as our braai-masters!
Thanks, guys. There are so many people behind the scenes to thank that I run the risk of letting someone out, so to the whole Ducati team and all the marshals a huge thanks. Thanks to every rider that took the time to join and welcomed the new Mystery riders. This was a tough one, but remember that metal is worthless until it is shaped and tempered!
