All things happen for a reason…

My problems with the non-performing upholsterer continued…

He promised that my bags would be ready on Saturday morning and before I rode the 70 odd kilometres to his premises in Limassol, I called to make sure that I was not heading out on a wasted ride… When I finally managed to get hold of him, he told me call back at lunchtime…!! Later that afternoon, he admitted that he would not complete them by the close of business, but would come in on Sunday to do the job and have them ready by noon…

That made my plan to ride around the eastern tip of Cyprus on Sunday, impossible… I would now have to make an early morning dash to the harbour via Nicosia, on Monday morning…

Sunday brought more excuses and a burst of the most colourful language from me that had my little Cypriot friend gabbling apologies…

“You can collect your bags tomorrow morning at 8.00am…!!” he told me, “I have removed the old zip and the flap for maps already, and now I must put them together, but it will take at least three hours…!!”

By then it was late afternoon, and I realised that there was no way that I would be taking the ferry to Turkey the following day…!!

“Which part of “The ferry sails on Monday morning” did you not understand, you idiot…!!” I bellowed down the line…

It is said that everything happens for a reason, and this is probably another example of that old saying…

Dragon Fruit, Red and White Pomegranate, Kiwi Fruit, and Persimmon... A heady mix for a fruit cocktail...!!

On Sunday afternoon I took a ride into Larnaca to take a walk down the beachfront and think about the change of plan that had been forced upon me… I stopped at Maria’s juice bar (she who had given Willi the gears…) and over a cup of coffee, told her about my bag saga…

“That’s typical Cypriot service for you…!!”, she said, “They will lie through their teeth without thinking anything of it…!!”

She noticed me massaging my aching elbow, and after making a few calls, found the name of a doctor whom she thought could help me… I arranged to meet the doctor on Monday morning before my trip out to Limassol and after some treatment that had me wincing in agony he suggested I take it easy for a while, as riding the bike would not do my elbow any good…

But I had to get my bags, as without them, I would not be going anywhere anytime soon… Replacing the bags was not an option, because not only are they not available in Cyprus and have to be ordered from Germany, but the cost of new bags is in the region of R4500.00…!!

The bags were still not ready when I got to Limassol… The little Cypriot was working on the backrest of a car when I walked through the door… I walked up to him, put my face as close to his as I could, and said,

“Stop what you are doing and get busy on my bags, otherwise I will take them away now and not pay you a cent for the work you have already done on them…!!”

He opened his mouth to say something, but by the look on my face, he knew better than to start another cock and bull story… I had noticed that the zips and the map window had been removed… The stitching had also been unraveled, and the bags were in no condition to be used…

“I will be back in an hour… They better be ready, otherwise you and I are going to take a twirl around the dance-floor…!! You understand…??”

He did… And got busy right away…

Panni and Romos, with his F800GS... I was chastised for missing the club's outride the day before...!!

I went to see Panni, who was deep in conversation with Romos Vrakas, secretary of the BMW Club of Cyprus…

“What happened yesterday…?? Where were you…?? We had a great ride through the countryside…!!”

Earlier in the week he had invited me to accompany a large group of riders from Nicosia, who he was guiding on a day-long ride to the eastern part of the island…

“Well, I had a wasted day waiting for your bloody friend to finish my bags…!!” I said, raising my eyebrows at Panni to indicate my displeasure…!!

After chatting with Romos about the ride they had been on the day before, which included wine-tasting, and stops for lunch and coffee, I went over to Panni, and began a discussion that resulted in a little windfall for me…

Willi's throttle control is now installed on the Big Fella... I discovered that it was manufactured in South Africa...!!

“Panni, there is a way that you can make up for advising me to take my bags to that wanker of a tailor…!!” I told him… “You can take the throttle control off Willi’s bike and put it on mine…!! I have a huge problem with my right elbow, and gripping the throttle for long periods of time is not helping my cause…!!”

Panni very kindly agreed to this, and within a few minutes had installed the part on my bike, which now allows me to ride with my right hand off the throttle when on long stretches of road… This will hopefully reduce the strain on my aching joint…

So despite being highly annoyed with the ‘Lying Tailor of Limassol”, at least I have managed to begin treatment on my elbow, which I might not have been able to have in the Middle East, and got a throttle control for my bike which will come in handy on those long rides ahead of me…

I have also decided to have the cortisone shot after all, and I will need to rest the elbow for at least 48 hours…

The delay has given me an opportunity to do some “admin”, and plan the weeks ahead in more detail…

After leaving Panni’s I headed west of the city to visit the Greco-Roman site of Apollo Hylatis… I decided to take advantage of being in the vicinity of Limassol while the tailor worked on my bags… I figured that seeing as he had made me wait five days; I would make him wait for me for a couple of hours…!!

©GBWT 2010