The road less travelled

I leave Montegu with 4 days of food in my panniers and within minutes the road turns to gravel. It’s a beautiful sunny day already 30 degrees, summer has finally arrived in South Africa.

I release some pressure from my tires to make the ride softer, this ritual also summons the beast. Mr Hyde once again springs to life after months of being dorment, my heavily loaded bike is no longer a burden instead Mr Hyde and I are a team again, we are in our element freed from the stress of busy roads and tourists.

After a few kilometers of gentle climbs we’re confronted with a choice, continue on the well maintained gravel or follow a 4×4 route. Eager for an adventure and challenge, we go for the 4×4 route. An hour later we have our doubts about this choice…..

The road slowly goes from track to path, gradually getting steeper and steeper, gravel became stones then rocks then boulders, ooh and what a pain in my shoulders. Three hours later and 8km further we once again find the gravel road. This was a real 4×4 road and not a sunday afternoon Landrover club 4×4 road but at this pace it will take 4 years to get through Africa.

We continue on until we find a quiet spot near the road just before the top of a 1000m pass (Ouberbergpass). We watch the sunset over the mountains and I have a cold night sleep as Mr Hyde watches over me.

5 a.m means sunrise here, which when stealth camping means getting my lazy arse out of bed. Not running at maximum efficency at this time of day we dont hit the road until almost 7am. It’s only 5 degrees but within minutes of climbing towards the top of the pass I’m sweating like a crazy fool. After the pass the road becomes fairly flat with beautiful views of the desert landscape and surrounding mountains, it looks and feels like I’m in Wyoming all over again.

By breakfast at 9am we’ve already had the first 10km detour of the day. I say the “no entry” sign is put there by an angry farmer with a big gun, he says its just there to stop tourists using the back road into Anysberg national park. So I look for another road but eventually accept it isn’t there, the road just goes the wrong way, swallowing my pride I accept I’m wrong and turn back towards the gate.

The gate to the park seemed like something from Jurassic park and within minutes I’d seen my first not so Jurassic springboks and later Gemboks. This road too was a challenge but great fun, I suspect most of the river crossings would be impossible in the rainy season, but now they’re all just dried out. I camp in the park at the very expensive campsite (R200), and get invited to dinner with a cold beer with the neighbours, once again I’m saved a night of pasta and warm water:).

The next 2 days we continue along gravel roads with beautiful views of the “Kleine Zwarteberg” chain. The road twists through the mountains with awesome views of the ruggid mountains ending with a downhill run through the “Seseweekspoort” pass, possibly one of the most beautiful roads I’ve cycled to date.

About water:

I’ve regularly had to fill my water bottles at local farms, this has two advantages, 1. I dont die of dehydration. 2. I have great entertainment guessing what is floating in the water (sand/sediment, mold or just limescale).

I’m filled with joy at the beauty of South Africa off the well worn path, its such a shame that most tourists and cyclists stick to the main roads missing so much, the down side is I have no chance of completing my route through SA in 3 months, so at some point will need to catch up with a bus(maybe through a flat boring bit of the country) or get a visa extention. I’m inspired by the local people(read coloured) who almost without fail all wave, smile or cheer at me as I pass, I smile, they smile, we smile and the world becomes a happier place for just a few moments……..

I had a wonderful conversation yesterday at the bottle shop, the 2 guys there had seen me ride into town earlier. They showed a great interest in my trip, and went on to the layer of questions which most people never bother to, fascinated in my vision to follow a dream to live an adventure and curious to know if I was on a mission from god.

I’m slowly finding my feet in South Africa and getting stronger with the day. Most people may claim that this isn’t really Africa but thats not important, its beautiful all the same, and for the last 4 days I’ve enjoying every moment of every day, something few people can say about their life. I hope that this feeling will stay with me for the coming months and years as this story unfolds.