Life from the back seat AKA The Pillion by Gillie

Pillion - a seat or place, behind the person riding a motorcycle, bicycle, or horse!

In my case, it's been a motorcycle for over 100 000 kilometres! It all started about 20 years ago, when I was younger and fitter and had absolutely no trouble swinging my leg over the back seat! I was invited to join a delightful couple on a trip to a "gathering". Only having ridden sporadically in my youth, having learned to ride a motorcycle in the Australian Outback, I didn't have any gear. So I purchased the essential items, helmet, boots, jacket and pants. It was winter and not being entirely sure this pillion thing would in fact be something I would want to do for any length of time, I didn't invest in warm layers. But thankfully a pair of freezer pants were on offer to go over my bike pants! What they lacked in style they made up for in efficacy against the wind chill.

Being new, I was of course subjected to the banter and teasing that is aimed at anyone who is green to how things are done. One of the things that worried me the most was being told that I would have to stand on the pegs when we rode off road. My childhood dream of running away to the circus probably would have been useful at this point as I'm sure I once saw an act that required this skill. Due to a foolish accident I was actually left with no option other than to stand over the 4 day gathering. (I had fractured my coccyx sliding down a bannister on the first day and was too embarrassed to tell anyone, so yay for gravel roads!)

That was my introduction to what would become a delightful part time occupation.

I had the added bonus of being a part-time photographer which turned out to be the part-time job I was officially offered by the delightful couple with whom I'd first ridden when fracturing my coccyx! I have been lucky enough to photograph so many lovely people and beautiful places from that little seat on the back of the bike with GS Adventures Motorcycle Tours.

I have also learned so much about myself and what I am capable of, not only in terms of endurance and physicality, (make no mistake 8 hours off road on the back of a bike requires some level of fitness.) But also in terms of understanding the nuance of being a "good pillion". Some of the important things I have learned over the years, no wriggling about, no leaning the wrong way, no scraping muddy boots over the seat, always keeping my pockets full of sweets, putting my leg under the bike when it falls so it doesn't get scratched (another of the green days teasing) and God forbid absolutely no bashing of the rider's head with my own.

I have been on the back, across virtually every terrain known to man and motorcycle. Only ever alighting from my precious seat when things got really tough. In the image above on the right, that mud was like thick, sticky, chocolate mousse. I had to walk it, having grown by almost 4 inches by the time I reached the end of the track with all the clotted mud stuck to my boots. Yes, they had to be cleaned before I even thought of swinging my leg up into the saddle again!

I've been through Baviaanskloof as a pillion about 4 times now I think and into De Hel about as many. Anyone who knows these rides can testify to the often technical nature they present. Hands down though, the hardest "pillioning" I have ever experienced was in Lesotho. We encountered every terrain and weather force that the mountains could throw at us. Some of the most challenging roads have since been tarred, which is a bit of a shame.

Having a pillion adds another dimension to a rider's skill set too. Flat tar roads are perhaps easier to navigate with the added mass on the back but when it comes to negotiating mountain tracks, raging fjords, salt roads and corrugated gravel, that, I think requires some extra skill. Thankfully I have been able to pillion with the best of them.

Over the years I have learned to shoot from the back of the bike, even learning to face backwards enabling me to photograph clients experience a trip of a lifetime. Riding backwards down tight twisties isn't exactly a useful item to have one's CV, unless of course you're applying for a motorcycle tour photographers position. Lucky me, I already had the job!

A long standing (yes pun intended) joke was that I would have survived an accident had it not been for the Nikon imbedded in my chest.

I have taken thousands of photographs over the years, throughout, South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho. I have also been privileged enough to have created custom coffee table books of people's "once in a lifetime adventure" providing them with tangible memories of their experience with GS Adventures.

I can honestly say that I have loved every bruise, scrape, swallowed bug, roadside laugh, new friendships, sunrises and sets over some of Africa's truly spectacular landscapes.

From camping under the Milky Way in Sossusvlei to the luxuriant colonial splendour of the Vic Falls hotel, every experience has been a genuine adventure, the memories of which are etched in my mind and heart.

I did eventually graduate from the back seat to the front seat of my own motorcycle but unlike a lot of graduates I still love the Pillion seat. It provides all the thrills but with a little less responsibility but a lot more trust.

I miss those days and I'll always be grateful to that delightful couple, Darrell and Michelle van der Merwe for giving a moto rookie an opportunity of a lifetime.

P.S. my pockets are full and I'm ready to go...