So last night was cold. No, that doesn't sound right – it was insanely cold, freezing, blisteringly icey… All I had for warmth was my thin but warm grey Sani2C jersey and a wet raincoat but that was not enough so, when frozen add a layer and since I this was a dinner as part of a cycle tour, I added a nice bright orange cycling top to my ensemble. That as no where near warm enough but it kept my chest mildly warm and the stares I got at the Dros were priceless!
After a nice dinner we walked the 300m in the ice to The Habit where we were staying, and being after 8 it was definitely way past my bedtime and I was definitely in need to crash after 2 nights of bad sleep.
And crash I did!! This morning I woke up refreshed and ready to roll. Although something odd did happen to me… during the night I got hot so took my jersey off and had some juice from my bottle but I was so tired that I fell asleep whilst drinking and woke just before 5 holding my bottle. Anyway, so back to the routines of getting ready and before we knew it, we were eating our oats and setting off into the rain. We were not even a block away when Johan wanted to change his glasses and I noticed he had forgotten his helmet, so a quick turn, and we rode back where Johan quickly sorted retrieving his helmet (a jump of a fence, grabbed the keys where he left them, retrieved helmet and locked up again) and we were off again into the darkness.
There's something pretty cool about cruising into the darkness before the sun is awake with the only sound being the rain and the sound of your tires. With the blink of an eye and the rising of the sun, we were in Rawsonville. After this we needed the map as we sorted which road to take. Turns out a left instead of a right would've been better at 1 stage but the main road was not really that bad. The big contender after Rawsonville was the cold wind. At 1 stage as we were crossing the N1, we were hit by a lovely ice rain that stung the left side of our faces. My face actually went numb! For kilometres we fought the bitter cold and occasional killer headwind. Despite the pain and discomfort, it was a nice easy ride. At a little place called Botha’s Winery, we pulled over for coffee as there was an open little padstal where we could buy milk and chocolate for our little picnic coffee stop across the road.
After a nice warmer upper, we hit the road again and before we knew it we were at the R301 where we were to turn onto the Bainskloof Pass road.
Bains is not a particularly steep pass, its just long and insanely beautiful. Once again, allow the pictures to describe this pass..
It was WOW!! I cruised up taking pics, absorbing this last hill. Then came the downhill which was a fitting end to the tour. With the blink of an eye, we were in Wellington and Going Somewhere Slowly 2012 was done.
I have just spent 7 glorious days on my bicycle, seeing the most wow scenery! It was the perfect week. I have been to places I have never seen before, experienced places and roads to the perfect degree and generally had 7 great days on my bike. I have ridden from George to Wellington via Route 62 which is a total distance of 549km.
Thanks to Johan for being a great friend over these last few day and thanks for the patience. And thanks to Mom and Dad for looking after my little woof who I have missed terribly and for your support. Without it, this trip wouldn't have been possible.
This is not the end of my blogging for the tour.. I will be giving more details on the places we stayed and the cool devices I got to play with. I will also give a link as to where to find my millions of pictures and my videos but for now, here is today’s link: http://www.a-trip.com/tracks/view/100417
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