Itchy Boots

Ha, I said the exact same thing to my wife!
 
That was no road at the top section, it was a mountain goat path! I was all tensed up just watching, viscera clenched, AND talking out loud just like Noraly was... “clutch!”... “keep going”...! Whew, what a ride! [take that! you ADVrider “poo-poo”ers!]

John [Ms Schoenmaker’s biggeST fanboy... (in a grandfatherly way)]
 
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kiltman said:
This will keep you off your seat!
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Not only did that NOT keep me off my seat but the Pucker Factor was strong in this one. I was not comfortable at all on that bit and had a bit of a white-knuckle grip on the arms of the chair. There's just no way...

But yeah that's for the shock and awe of the first few second of that video. I wonder of Noraly had a big of a giggle editing that.
 
Daboo said:
That's actually common over there. When I first went to Tanzania, there were advertisements for Coke everywhere. The reason is that unless it is bottled water, you'll get sick by drinking the tap water.

That's actually why in the Bible you see references to where they drink wine. It isn't that they are a bunch of drunkards...but that was pre-Coke safe drinking fluid. And the wine would be pretty sad stuff by our standards. Just enough fermentation I suppose to kill the germs, but not enough to do much else.

Each Christmas, my wife and I buy each other something from the World Vision catalog. I always ask for some kind of donation to provide clean water to a village somewhere.

Chris
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Sorry - just catching up.
On the issue of water - as stated above, in Africa, drinking water - unless you boiled it - is pretty darned risky.
In the early 1980s when I lived and worked in Nigeria, we drank either beer or Coke (and I do mean the real Coca-Cola brand) and always in bottle or cans that WE opened. I was trained to NEVER accept a beverage in a glass or anything with ice cubes in it. We drank from the bottle and we had to open it - or else no-go. Waiters in bars and restaurants were totally accustomed to “Europeans” wanting to be served beverages in sealed containers.

The reason for that came from one of my classmates who worked as a manufacturing engineer for the Coke company - and he told me two things about beverages in the developing world:
- beer is a good choice because it has been brewed and it is either OK or it is bad and if it’s bad, you can smell it.
- anything made by Coca-Cola should also be fine because the company is extremely careful about hygiene in all of their plants everywhere. As long it comes out of a sealed factory container - you should be safe.

The only time I ever got sick was when I drank a glass of what I was told was Orange Crush - with ice. It tasted OK - but whoooooo-baby, was I sick later that day and for about a week afterward.
 
After watching this last video YouTube suggested another video of the Sani Pass that "onherbike" posted a few months back. I've been following her but not as often as Itchy Boots. Same road but different style. I am impressed (and humbled) with how many good female riders are out there doing the things I might have wished I had done 30 years ago. I will stick to pavement these days.
 
27:35 The border guard asks, "Why?"
Noraly, "Because I LIKE it!"
Champion effort, and what an attitude. "I did it! I did it!"
Yes you did, and quite well indeed.
(I would love to watch Chris Birch ride this.)
 
Jim C-G said:
After watching this last video YouTube suggested another video of the Sani Pass that "onherbike" posted a few months back. I've been following her but not as often as Itchy Boots. Same road but different style. I am impressed (and humbled) with how many good female riders are out there doing the things I might have wished I had done 30 years ago. I will stick to pavement these days.
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I watched 'On her bike' too of riding up the same pass....but on a BMW GS850 I think. Not as lucky as Noraly though....she dropped it. Then danced around, posed with the down bike.....until guy comes along and helps her pick it up. Too much 'look at me' attitude for my liking.

I've never been to South Africa, doubt I ever will. Interesting to see how the videos have completely destroyed the images my mind had of the country. Wonder if we just saw the videos....how many would guess correctly where it was?
I think that's one of the great thing about traveling.....it destroys pre-conceived ideas.
Thankfully.
 
I watched both Itchy Boots and On Her Bike for a while (the comparisons are simply inevitable - two bright youngish attractive blonde gals riding motorcycles across the world, solo) - and I also concluded that Noraly had my vote. She is endlessly happy and positive and has guts to burn plus she doesn't do the goofy (and tiresome) "look at meeeeee" dance - EVER.

The closest she ever got to showing off was when she went swimming in the salt pools of Chile <I think> in South America - and she was wearing a full sun-resistant tee-shirt and a pair of mid-thigh shorts. plus the camera was pointed the surrounding scenery not at her. I'm no prude but I don't watch these videos for girly views - I want to feel as though I am there, on MY bike, doing MY ride.

Yup, she is 100% class - 100% of the time. Just the sort of lady you'd be pleased to have your son bring home to dinner.
 
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MaxPete said:
Yup, she is 100% class - 100% of the time. Just the sort of lady you'd be pleased to have your son bring home for dinner.
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Have to totally agree with you. There is lots of click bait out there but Noraly's channel is not one of them. I wonder if you meant "to dinner" instead of "for dinner".
Watching her videos really challenges the stereotypes that I have that I have not recognized before. This world is much more the same than it is different. I love seeing the pavement and highway signs... in places where my knowledge of which is stuck in the 1960s. You see the same cars, there are petrol stations (love the attendants in South Africa - reminds me of the old Texaco ads). Differences yes, but a reassuring sameness. Although what she is doing is not "everyday", the world she is traveling in is an everyday world. People being people... I started noticing this when she was in south America and even more so in South Africa. I have to go back and rewatch her earlier videos.
I almost hope she does not come to North America... she would be inundated with fans and wannabees.
 
Jim C-G said:
I almost hope she does not come to North America... she would be inundated with fans and wannabees.
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Yea, my wife is guilty.

When Noraly was on her "to Alaska" ride, the wife commented, "when Noraly comes into Texas (obviously from Mexico), we should offer her to stay in our barn apartment" ...

I thought, "yea, that would be cool, but not Noraly's blueprint"
 
MaxPete said:
I'm no prude but I don't watch these videos for girly views - I want to feel as though I am there, on MY bike, doing MY ride.
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Agreed. I'm not sure how to describe her videos ... maybe something like "wholesomeness".

When I've watched other bike-video-bloggers, I'm immediately "put off" by their antics.

Here's my benchmark:
(My wife): "Does Noraly have a new video posted?"
(even though she's subscribed to her channel)
 
scootac said:
Wonder if we just saw the videos....how many would guess correctly where it was?
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I'd have no clue and would have never considered Africa.

In a previous video a woman at a border crossing asks Noraly if she's alone and she says "Yes". The woman replies "Nice" or some thing similar.

In the latest video (?) a man asks Noraly the same thing and she replies "Yes" again. He says "WHY?" Then Noraly responds "Because I like it". Boom.
 
caldercay said:
Agreed. I'm not sure how to describe her videos ... maybe something like "wholesomeness".
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I'm of the same feeling. She's a very WYSIWYG person. Open and honest without pretense... Something that makes us feel along for the ride and not watching a "presentation". I dunno. Maybe something more up close and personal... And the fact that she seems very comfortable in her own skin even when she says she's not.

She says "What beautiful country!" and I say "What a bad place to break down with no sign of anybody for KIL-O-METERS!" I admit to no small about of vicarious envy.
 
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