Volgende Sondag neem ‘n besondere mens aan die Comradesmarathon deel. Sy naam is Andy Laing.
Op ‘n lang reis ontmoet mens baie mense. Sommige ry aan, ander vertoef vir ‘n rukkie in jou kop. Net so kry mens overlanders en overlanders. Jy kry sagte overlanders, en jy kry fietsryers.
Andy is so ‘n mens.
In die Noord-Keniaanse woestyn het ek na sononder in Marsabit aangekom en by die enigste erkenbare akkomodasie vir my ‘n kamertjie gehuur. Dit was daar waar mens eers die water uit die put moes trek vir stort, toilet of drink.
Ek het buite in die donker en modder gestaan toe die bruingebrande mens uit die gebou gestap gekom het, reguit na my toe. Hy was Andy Laing uit Skotland en het 1 November verlede jaar uit Edinburgh, Skotland, met sy fiets vertrek. Sy eindpunt was Durban waar hy aan die Comrades wou gaan deelneem.
Sy fiets was ‘n trapfiets met ‘n sleepwaentjie vir sy karige besittings wat hy op die reis nodig gehad het.
‘n Mens moes net dadelik van Andy hou. Hy was gevul met ‘n positiewe krag, ‘n mens wat sy toer dag vir dag geleef en geniet het.
Dit was Andy se tweede nag in Marsabit en hy sou die volgende oggend, na sy oggenddraf, weer verder suid ry.
Ek was moeg, vuil, ontwater en honger. Andy het my ‘n heerlike eetsaaltjie gewys waar ons sommer dadelik gaan eet het. Heerlike soet tee (Chai), pannekoekies (Chapati’s), rys en ‘n boontjiebredie het ons honger mae gou vol- en stilgemaak.
Nadat ek water warm gemaak en vinnig gestort het, het ek en Andy ‘n koue bier gaan soek. Andy het my deur die donker, liglose, modderstraatjie na ‘n gebou, vervalle, rommel op die trap, na ‘n swakverligte vertrek op die tweede verdieping geneem waar die locals gesit en bier drink en takke gekou het. Daar het ons elkeen twee koue biere gedrink en baie gesels.
Andy was ‘n kantoorwerker wat uit sy werk bedank het om die toer te doen. Direk na die Comrades vlieg hy terug Skotland toe om aan die Hebridean Challenge deel te neem. Dit is ‘n weeklange wedloop at uit hardloop, fietsry, swem en roei bestaan.
My mond het oopgehang oor die man se onuitputlike energie. Wat ‘n mens!
Wat my nog meer beïndruk het, was sy totale oorgawe aan die wonder van dit waarmee hy besig was. Hy het die fietsry geniet. Omdat hy alleen gereis het, het ook hy by die plaaslike mense die warmte en aanvaarding gekry wat elke reisiger so nodig het.
Hy het uit sy notaboek vir my ‘n magdom feite en wenke en vertellings gegee. Oor die Nubiese woestyn in Soedan het hy ‘n paar keer die aand gesê dat ek die natuur baie sou geniet, dat dit baie besonders was.
Die volgende oggend het ek vroeg opgestaan om na ‘n sweiser vir my een tas se slot te gaan soek. Ek het die vorige dag tog so lekker hard op die lawarotse geval. Ook Andy was vroeg op en het gaan hardloop. Ek was verstom oor sy gemotiveerdheid.
Na sy hardloop en ontbyt het hy sy fiets begin pak, sy water met die geel-bruin water uit die put volgemaak, en op sy fiets geklim. 250km van slegte pad het op hom gewag, sekerlik so drie dae se ry.
Toe hy met sy fiets deur die modder om die hoek verdwyn, het ek vir ‘n oomblik baie alleen daar op Marsabit se uitgestrekte vlaktes gevoel.
Baie later op my toer, duisende kilometers verder noord, in die Nubiese woestyn, het ek baie aan Andy se woorde gedink. "Jy gaan die Nubiese woestyn en die natuurskoon baie geniet." Met elke stuk diep sand het ek vir myself gesê dat Andy Laing ook daardeur is en as hy dit op ‘n fiets kon doen, dan kan ek dit met ‘n motorfiets net nog makliker doen.
Andy was reg. Die Nubiese woestyn het vir my een van dié hoogtepunte van my toer geword.
Ek sal Andy altyd vir sy positiewe instelling onthou. Hy het in alle opsigte die glas eerder as half vol gesien en nie half leeg nie.
As jy, liewe Leser, by die Comrades sou wees of televisie sou kyk en as jy Andy Laing sou sien, lig jou beker op daardie ou. Dis ‘n groot mens daardie.
Go Andy go!
Next Sunday a remarkable person, Andy Laing, takes part in the annual Comrades Marathon.
On a long tour like Naboom2Germany one meets many people. Different people. Some stay passer-by’s, others become part of your permanent memory. And then there are overlanders, and overlanders. Soft overlanders, and hard overlanders. The hard ones are the cyclists crossing Africa.
Andy is such a person.
I arrived in Marsabit in the Northern Kenyan desert long after sunset. I rented a room for the night at the only visible accommodation. That is there where one had to get water for the shower or toilet from a well in the inner court.
I stood outside with mud everywhere. A sun-tanned man came out of the building and walked towards me. He introduced himself as Andy Laing from Scotland. He had left Edinburgh on the 1st November. His final destination would be Durban in South Africa to take part in the Comrades!
His bike was ‘n bicycle, not a motorbike. Behind his bike was a small bike trailor, on which he carried his equipment.
One couldn’t other than to like Andy. He had such a positive spirit and attitude. He lived by the hour and experience and was enjoying his great ride.
That was Andy’s second day in Marsabit. He planned to leave Marsabit the next morning after his morning run. His route was going south to Isiolo and towards the equator.
I was so tired, dirty and dehydrated. Andy took me to a small "restaurant" where we both had a great supper consisting of sweet tea (chai), pancakes (chapati’s), rice and a bean stew. We stuffed our empty stomachs until we couldn’t eat any more.
After a warm shower next to a stinking toilet hole we went outside to find a cold beer. Andy already knew the little town and led me down a dark, unlit, muddy street to a neglected building with rubble on the staircase, up to the first floor where in a dimly lit room many locals sat with their beer, chewing the green leaves with the intoxicating effect.
We each had two beers and shared many experiences of the road to come.
Andy was an office worker who had resigned from his job in Scotland to do this trip. Directly after the Comrades he flies home to Scotland to take part in a week long race, the Hebridean Challenge, that consisted of running, cycling, swimming and rowing.
The man stunned me with his inexhaustible energy. What a human being!
What impressed me even more was the passion, with which he was doing his trip. He enjoyed every second of it. As he was traveling alone also he experienced the warm hospitality, with which the local people embraced single travelers.
He took out his notebook and shared a wealth of hints with me. When I mentioned the Nubian desert in Sudan he became quiet and said after a while that I would enjoy it as it was a very special region with extraordinary people and scenery.
The next morning I got up quite early. I had to find a welder to repair the lock of my one pannier which was broken during my crash on the lava rock the previous day. Andy was already up and on his early morning run. That guy was so motivated!
After breakfast he started packing his bike, filled his water bottles with the yellow-brown water of the well and left. The next three days a grueling 250 km awaited him.
As he disappeared through the mud around the corner I felt quite alone there on the wide spread-out plains of Marsabit for a quick second.
Much later during the tour, thousands of kilometers north of Marsabit, I had to think back of his positive words and attitude while I was battling the deep sand of the Nubian desert. I would enjoy the desert, he had said. That was such a motivation, realizing that if a cyclist could have done that then me on a motorcycle should get through that much easier.
Andy was so right. Those days in the Nubian became the highlight of my trip through Africa.
I will remember Andy for his positive attitude. He is the kind of guy rather seeing the glass as half full than half empty.
If you, dear Reader, are going to be at the Comrades or if you are going to watch it on TV, should you see or meet Andy Laing lift your cup of coffee and drink a toast on him. He is a great spirit.
Go Andy go!
No comments:
Post a Comment