A trip down memory lane

I have been on a major mission to spring clean my home and with this, I have decided to do a display of my medals. Started racing in 2006 and have all my medals (missing 1 but will find it). As I sorted the medals, each brought back memories.

Race 1: I was dof! I entered a 50km mtb race at the voortrekker monument. This was nuts as a 1st race. I then did a few others including Dome to Dome mtb (think this was the last time they had it but it was a great ride!) I then entered the Argus. This meamt doing my 1st road ride and I picked the 94.7 Cycle Challenge. This was a sad day for me as I heard my gran had died whilst I was in the start pen. I raced that day just to get back to my family and since then each time I do this race, I think of Granny. Then came my 1st Argus which I will never forget as I raced to finish sub 5hr and came in 2min 2seconds before 5hrs. I bought a road bike after that race and did Wilro 100 on it. Discovered a need for chamois cream after that race...... Then came many other happy races, each with its own memories.

On Saturday I got another medal which is now up on the wall and it bears its own memories. On Sunday I will be going out to get the medal I should have gotten 4yrs ago when I got my 1 and only "did not finish". This medal will not go up on the wall, it will go in the lounge and remind me of 1 that makes all those medals seem like nothing: my little dog. It was 4yrs ago that I got him and I was so tired from his restless 1st night that, my race was wrecked. Got to 60km and quit. Bit who cares: I have an amazing little dog in my life. That said: this years race is for KD.

Many people dont like medals but I dont get it because they are amazing because of the memories they bring and how much they remind me of my amazing friends and family who are constantly behind all these crazy adventures.

Post Tour Happenings

Ok, so I know I have been quiet but I have been a bit busy post tour.

After the tour I spent a wonderful week in Cape Town. First, I spent a few days with a cousin in Stellenbosch where I got to relax, ride bicycle and recover from the tour. I then went onto Cape Town to visit family and once again relax and recover. I also started a photo dvd (which I will try upload soon).

Unfortunately for me, whilst I was relaxing a cough that had started on the ride turned into bronchitis, in true form I tried to doctor it myself but was forced to go to the doc. 1 round of antibiotics later, I was still hacking and thought I had broken a rib which turned out to actually be pneumonia. The result of that was that I had to make some tough decisions with regards what adventures I was going to do. My next great adventure I was planning was Transbaviaans – a 230km non-stop ride from Uniondale to Jeffrey’s Bay through the Baviaanskloof. This was going to be spectacular but would have required intense training and unfortunately with something as serious as pneumonia, I was going to have to ease back into training and not kill myself so I pulled out of Trans.

I am now back into training and have some nice smaller goals lined up whilst I think about what the next big thing is. I have been given some nice ideas, so its just a matter of finding time to look at the options and pick one.

Since I have been back on the bike I have done 1 really nutty ride. Its called Critical Mass and happens the last Friday of every month. A friend told me about it and the 2 of us agreed to go ride this event. We started in Dunkeld at 6pm and cruised through the streets of Rosebank, right through the Rosebank Zone (cant imagine what the people must have thought at 100 cyclists randomly coming through the open area of the mall), and on into town. From a historical point, it was quite nice to ride up to the Constitutional Court and the old fort. At Juta street the group joined the main ride (it had taken us an hour of weaving around to get to Braamfontein) where we ended up being about 300 cyclists. The vibe was quite something!! From there I got lost. We meandered through Mayfair and other parts of town with us 2 roadies sticking to the front of the bunch and the mountain bikers jumping pavements and being nutty. Its quite surreal to cruise around a place I wouldn’t dare go in daylight at night!! One of the guys on this adventure even had a trailer behind his bike with a boombox – very cool except it kept blowing its fuse. After much weaving around town, we landed up at a place called the Bioscope where there was an official beer stop. For us, this was a bit long but the beer drinkers loved it! 20 to 30mins later we were off again on the return journey. The great town adventure ended at Kitcheners where most cyclists were either picked up or stopped for dinner and drinks. This is where a small group of us ducked and headed back as we had other plans for the evening which included pizzas.

It was such a fun evening! And with the next one being this Friday, I cannot wait to dress warmly and hit the streets of Jozi.

GSS Day 7: Worcester to Wellington

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

Day 6: Robertson to Worcester

After a restless night of camping, Johan and I were rather quick to get up and get going – even starting the day without coffee. Although a really nice place with a great site, it was just icky with the number of people using the facilities over a busy long weekend. As a result of the speed with which we fled, we were out at 6:05 which meant my headlight had to be used which was kinda fun.

Unsurprisingly, we hit the headwind. It was unrelenting, smashing into us as we climbed out of the Robertson area. Johan gallantly took the lead and sheltered me from a lot of the wind but keeping in his wheel took a lot of concentration and effort which was tough considering how tired I am from 2 nights of not so great sleep. Physically I am feeling amazing, I am just tired from lack of sleep etc.Onwards we went but coffee was eventually needed so we pulled into the Rooiberg Winery where they kindly let us take shelter and make our coffee despite them being closed.

All amazing things come to an end and we were off again, into the wind. The kilometers crept by as we eeked our way ever closer to Worcester where we were going to take a break. About 10km out of Worcester we spotted a rather interesting little place that we had to stop at and where we had coffee and rusks.

After a yummy coffee which woke me up a bit, we were off into the wind. Then came the fun bit… As we hit Worcester the rain hit us. Rain + Wind is NOT fun but it was part of the adventure so I started enjoying it. Actually, as soon as the wind stopped, it became quite fun, although a tad cold.
We decided to seek shelter and decide if we should continue or not for the day. As we cruised through town we quickly realized that a nice Wimpy was just not going to happen, then Johan spotted an info sign which we followed. This led us to start seeing signs for B&Bs so the decision was made – we were stopping. The first place we tried was full but they referred us to another where we were recieved warmly despite looking like drowned rats. Our washing was done and dried for us whilst we got ourselves sorted so I am on track to finish in my home embroidered cycling shirt! Thank you Bridget for sorting our sopping wet clothing. (Oh and there are 2 cute ridgebacks here.) The Habit is an amazing place to stay with reasonable rates. Another place thats highly recommended. Their website is www.thehabit.co.za
Tomorrow we will continue on to Wellington.
Here is the route and pics from today: http://www.a-trip.com/tracks/view/100324
So far in the last 6 days we have spend 42hrs, 38mins in the saddle and covered 472km!! Tomorrow we are going to clobber the 500km mark.

Day 5: Barrydale to Robertson

After a night of mozzies and oversized insects disturbing us, 5am wakeup came and we were up and ready a mere 30 something mins later – yep, I had even repacked the motorhome (gone back to day 1’s version of packing). Problem with being ready so early was that we couldnt leave as it wasnt light so we sat and waited. By 6:15 we were tired of waiting so pretended it was light enough to see and hit the road.

The road out of town as chilled and rolling until we hit the Op De Tradouw Pass. Although not steep or particularly long, it was still a nice challenge.

The next bit flew by and before we knew it, it was time for a coffee break and we had done a good 35kms so we pulled over to a side road and enjoyed a stunning cuppa with sarmies after which we completed the last 25kms into Montagu. On arriving in Montagu we quickly found the people who we were to visit (Belinda from the dog park’s parents who really do have a stunning home). After an hour of resting and enjoying the warm hospitality, we hit the road again through Cogmanskloof to Ashton.

This is one pretty little pass!! We wound our way through this pass to the little tunnel where we found some stranded tourists who thought that the spare tire was the wrong one (it was the standard little spare). Johan quickly helped them whilst I took some pics…

 

Then came the not so fun. As we hit Ashton we were hammered by a headwind. Wind is bad enough without a full load but this was not funny! Think the worst part was that all the coffee shops were closed, however Johan popped into the grocery store and got chips and bananas and we continued. Johan is a roadie and galantly let me slipstream him which I did with a certain degree of mountainbiker lack of finesse. Those last 15 to 20kms were hard but entertaining but we eventually made it to Silverstrand Caravan Park where we were welcomed, given direction as to where to find space (and wine). Thereafter we put up tents, cleaned up,did laundry (I am seeing how many days I can wear 1 shirt so washing is critical), relaxed and then headed into town for a very early dinner.

93km done and dusted and now we are chilling to some insane wind which is apparently bringing rain.

I am starting to feel a tad tired but my body is holding up really well. Just sad that the tour is nearly over. 1.5 days left of cycling for the tour.

Anyway, I am gonna go hydrate and relax so here is the route and pics from today… http://www.a-trip.com/tracks/view/100299

Day 4: Ladismith to Barrydale

First some admin stuff… due to various reasons, Tessa has decided to pullout of the tour so from today it was just Johan and myself. This resulted in a bit of a rethink with regards route but I will go into that at the end.

Dinner last night was a rather posh meal of cheese and rolls served with a fine local wine. We had a small problem tho: the wine was corked. Ok, it wasnt a major issue cause I had an emergency corkscrew I had bought as a gimick but didnt think I would use. Just as well I had it! The surprising thing is that it works exceptionally well. It was so cool a toy that Johan suggested I find a leather strap and wear it around my neck – havent found a strap yet but Johan had a piece of bungee cord which I used.

After a fine dining experience we went in search of a pub for a glass or port. The 1st 2 pubs looked scary! The 3rd one was ok but they only had good traditional Old Brown Sherry. After a quick drink, the 3 of us headed back to camp and crashed.

This morning started quite somber with Johan and myself packing tents away, having coffee and breakfast and just going through the motions of getting ready for a +70km day. What I dont understand about touring is how for 4 days I have packed my bike and for 4 days it was packed differently. Ok, the sides have been the same but the top has been different: Day 1 I used crosswise lashing (ie putting tent etc perpendicular to my bike); Day 2 Johan packed it with my camelbak and sleeping back as well as tent lengthwise; Day 3 I started carrying the netbook so that messed a bit with the load; Day 4 was everything on top. Day 4 was the worst though – I really felt the load today.

My little campsite

Anyway.. This morning started with about 20km of downhill which was amazing!! Ok, 10kms were pure smile downhills and the rest slow downhill but it still made for a very fast 1st quarter!! Then came a biting hill. But just before that hill, Johan rings his bell and asks if I am awake – I was. Kinda. A km down the road though I doubted my answer because I reached down to get my bottle (am using the back bottle holder as Rex has commandeered the front one for his drinking habits) and as I moved to put it back, I looked down and found myself on the side of the road. With a quick turn of my pedal, I was back on the tar and looking for Johan - he was a bit back looking at a sign and as yet doesnt know of my funny moment. hehe. Ok so the hill…. It wasnt long or steep. It was just a pain. But we climbed the little Warmwaterberg and we were rewarded with a sweeping downhill that was interupted by food time.Just over the top, Johan declared it mid-morning snack time so we pulled over at a picnic spot and enjoyed the sight of 3 crows chasing and eagle whilst eating cheese rolls.

With the blink of an eye, I saw the mirage for the day – some form of sign about some place I had read about. Yep: Ronnie’s Sex Shop. Dont bother going there! Its a dive of note. The coke was pricey and there wasnt much else other than a menu with food and a pub filled with bras hanging from the ceiling. This should be in a guidebook as a: “you know you are exactly 25kms from Barrydale when you see some ramshackle place on the left”. Harsh I know but seriously, what is the hype and how does a place like that get legend status?

A few drags later (some of them were more irritants than drags) and we were a mere 3km from Barrydale. I knew we were close and the hills were over cause of this sign: (towns in this area advertise what the local speciality is on a board by the town – its the local cellar’s billboard)

 

The downhill into town was WOW!!!! We were in town earlier than expected: 11:45am so we found a coffee shop to enquire about accomodation and get a drink and food but here we found a problem. Town is fully booked out. But, its okay because the coffeeshop lady sent me across the road to her friend Sheila who was home and who she thought may be able to give us the cottage she has out back. Fortunately Sheila was home and said we could stay so tonight we are staying in a lovely cottage behind someone’s house. This is TRUE local hospitality at its best.

So what does one think about on the road as you pedal on and on? Hmm… well, very little I think. I thought about how Rex the stuffed animal is enjoying the trip and how the downhills must be scary (Rex is being boring this trip), how my bike is holding up well despite the load, a tiny bit about work, a lot about friends and family (miss you all!!). I also look at the scenery and admire the views, try work out where the road goes depending on how the mountains are, I try guess the rock types in the mountains as well which is a fun game. And then I play a guess what time we are going to be in town game whilst looking at the kms go bye and whilst I guess where we are according to the map. Ok, so I think I think a lot but if you space this all out into +4hrs, its pretty little.

Today my mind was on the tour a lot. With Tessa pulling out, this leaves me (and Johan) in a pickle. The plan was that we were going to ride to Riebeek Kasteel as 3, then Johan was going to meet up with his wife and then on Tuesday, Tessa and I would ride on to Darling. Neither Johan nor I were happy with the idea of my riding to Darling solo so Johan suggested asking Tessa to join us in Riebeek and then getting her to ride with me the last day. I had also been thinking of the solo dilemma and had come up with an idea for me to head south to Stellenbosch and Johan could if need be continue to Riebeek. At lunch we chatted and although I feel bad about deviating from the plan, I was not comfortable with the Riebeek to Darling idea. So… the plan is that we are both riding to Stellenbosch on Sunday. Actually works out cool because now I get to see more family whilst on holiday.

Enough blabbering from me! I am going out to take pics – here is the route and pics from today: http://www.a-trip.com/tracks/view/100241

PS: so far we have ridden 262km

Day 3: Calitzdorp to Ladismith

Whilst on the road this morning I had such wonderful thoughts as to what to say as the start today’s blog but my forgettery and an amazing day of scenery erased those thoughts.

Firstly: Spekboom Cottages are amazing!! James, Marie and Francois (ok, and Tiger and the rest of the doggies) your hospitality was out of this world!! The taste tour of port last night will be remembered long after our bikes are washed and we are back at work.

This morning once again we were spoilt to a very early breakfast of fruit, muesli, yoghurt and coffee (thanks Spekboom for sorting us out so early, we know that our time was highly unusual for you). At 6:30 we set off into the early morning light on our mission to Ladismith – today we were going to get there!! As we climbed out of town, I started to comprehend the longness of the morning – it was an uphill climb for a LONG time. As we pedalled, it was almost as if the sun was telling us we were too early and that it was supposed to beat us to the mountains because as we climbed, so did it, almost in a race to see who could get over Huisrivier Pass first. (Think we won this one.)

Huisrivier Pass is not a particularly steep or tough pass, its just insanely long!! It went on and on and on, ever upward draining your legs. Then came a sweeping downhill. WOOSH!! And then we climbed for an eternity. Ok, an hour and a bit but it felt long. I wish I were a poet because then I could perhaps describe this pass better, however, I did have my camera handy so bear with me as I paint a picture for you….

The WHOOSH downhill

Nearing the bottom

The above pic describes how I felt about this hill: over it!

After the pass, we meandered along rolling hills and cut through road works (we road in the road works section) ever closer to Ladismith.

After the mother of climbs, we were a bit peckish so decided to find a coffee stop and well, the guidebook had mentioned something about a place in Amalienstein so we headed into the teeny tiny… I cant even call it a town! …..township where we did find the little place called Tant Carolina. Um, ja, we shouldve guessed but it was closed. Next best thing: find milk and picnic so off we pedalled to Zoar which fortunately had a little shop where we got milk, crisps and biscuits which we enjoyed 2 or 3km out of town on the side of the road.

The bit into town was pretty with the rolling hills and was refreshing after the long start.

We arrived in Ladismith at 12 o’clock as planned which was really cool so the going was good and we all rode well. I decided to ride way out back today and occassionaly ride close to someone so that I could take pics and absorb the scenery. Really enjoyed the slow, short day.

Ladismith is quite a bit bigger than Calitzdorp and its sad we cant see Seweweekspoort but we had the slowest service on the planet (do not go to the coffeeshop by the Route 62 bottlestore (the bottlestore however is wow, they have local vino and a wealth of knowledge and is definitely worth the stop). After a bit of decision making we decided to camp and found Le Roux B&B which has camping facilities. Once again, our choice was good. After sorting our stuff, Johan and I took our unloaded bikes to find cheese, wine and a thing called “Stanley’s Light”. The light was dof and not worth the visit but the cat at the tourism office is so cute so go visit him.

All in all a good day. Tomorrow we are off to Barrydale.

The route and pics from today: http://www.a-trip.com/tracks/view/100174

Oh, just loaded it all onto google earth. Pretty cool seeing the total route. Ok, serious matters time. Its wine o’clock….