It was 37 degrees on the Elandrivier road. Marc and I were constantly having to push our bikes due to the gradient of the hills.
At noon we retreated to the shelter of a thorn tree, crawling deeper away to get away from the blistering sun. We were taunting ourselves by thinking of cold beer and what we would do for a cold one!
Ten minutes later while dosing away in the refuge of our shade, the phone rings. Its Angus, my dad, asking how far up the road we are. I explain that we about 12 kilometres from Patensie, he laughs and asks if we need anything because he is working in Patensie.
A simultaneous answer of cold beer rings out over the phone. Day two and already being spoilt with a hamburger and beer for lunch on a mountain with a magnificent view of the entire Gamtoos Valley.
Angus the first angel from the bottom of a mountain.
We headed off after lunch and found an abandoned cottage on the top of the mountain. We camped on the front porch overlooking the valleys folding over each other towards Uitenhage.
That night the weather turned, and the heat gave way to rain and wind. We slept snug and woke up and donned our waterproofs ready for some action.
Riding in the wind with 30kgs of load on your bicycle is no joke. You try keep your line on a dirt road, but when the wind wants to give you a shove the momentum of the push can swing you straight into the middle of the road. We persevered onto the Steytlerville road towards the infamous Grootrivier poort.
Our reward was the breathtaking, wind-blasted view of the entire Kouga region at the foot of the Cockscombe. It was followed by a long downhill towards De Doorns.
As we desended into Grootrivierpoort we realised that we had possibly made the wrong decision about our route. Never in our lives did we ever think we would have to push our bikes downhill!! It took us three hours of back-breaking bike-pushing to get out the poort.
The most beautiful kloof, the Grootrivier snaking through the mountains cutting out steep red cliffs. We stopped at the top for a water break only to be barked at by a troop of baboons, somewhere below us, out of sight.
Ten kilometers later we had to retire for the day. We flagged down a passing bakkie hoping it was the farmer to get permission to sleep on his land. It was his neighbour.
Shawn Robertson from Mount Mac arranged that we could sleep on Bennie’s land as long as we popped in the next day to visit and freshen up at his place, fifteen kays further down the road. Our tour has been blessed with good hospitality. At Mount Mac, we had the all important hot shower, washed our clothes and just relaxed under a huge pear tree through the midday hours. At three o’clock we were all set to push further into the Little Karoo.
Along came Shawn’s fiance with sandwiches for the road, an ice cold beer each and a packet of Provita biscuits. It carried us all the way till the roads became as flat as a board.
Shawn and his kind fiance, our second showing of angels from the bottom of mountains.
Still in the saddle.
Jono and Marc
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