The ride onto tar toward Uniondale felt very strange after spending so much time on dirt roads. The traffic feels quite and you have to be alert to the trucks. I chose a route to Herold that went through the Potjiepot Pass and very pleased I did. It is tough but a magnificent pass and the downhill on the other side was great fun. I flew down there at a pace that the Baron von Richthoven would have been happy with. A great surprise was when my folks arrived! We stayed at Over The Mountain just next to the Montagu Pass, which happens to be the oldest, unchanged and still in use pass. It was built by Thomas Baines and I am truly looking forward to it. It was surreal seeing my folks- you get so used to being on your own and you tend to blank any of these home feelings out for obvious reasons- so at times Í questioned whether or not I was imagining it. It was really fantastic to see them and I appreciated the effort they made to see me.
Along the way I again met some great people. One farmer, in particular, told me how he had been bashed on the head when he pulled a Wattle tree clear out of the ground with his tractor while clearing his lands. He then proceeded to tell me how his brand new generator from China had packed in 2 days after he had bought it and his wife was now very angry with him. With great pride he showed me the stitches in his head and sent me on my way saying that going to Cape Town on a bike was nothing in comparison to his woes. How right he is!
Ostriches at last!
The Cape Times interviewed me along the way and I must have sounded like a bumbling idiot. How much money have you raised? I dunno What kind of person are you? Ahhh I dunno. What do you, besides helping Dumela wish to get out of this? Ek weet nie (I dunno). After the interview I got onto my bike, put it into the hardest gears and punished myself for the next half hour- flipping twit!
Baton down the hatches everyone - it looks like cold weather on the way!
Lots of love
Me
Hey Gunts
ReplyDeleteWe are ok it's you we need to be worried about. It is flipping cold here today and I understand the weekend is going to be worse. So keep warm and carry on cycling. Cape Town is within reach
R