Day 8 – 1 long beautiful uphill

45km 1200m Ascent 5h45m on the road

Buns, muesli, yogurt, fruit and juice in the fridge for breakfast. Its 4h09 but I decided to ride only to Kaapsehoop and not Badplaas as originally planned. So I hit the snooze button… This means 45km (But 1200m ascent) for today and 75km tomorrow.

At 06h05 I walked out the door of the bungalow at Mankele into a cold crisp morning. However just an hour on the bike and it was actually warm and I decided to have some dry muesli and packed away the warm clothes. In line with a rest day, I kept my heart beat below 110, saving my strength for the next couple of days.

It’s 08h30 and after the first climb up starvation creek I was rewarded with a beautiful waterfall. Fantastic views but it seems only cattle come up here. I am feeling good and am taking it easy today. A bit further I crossed a small stream and filled my bottles, putting some drops in to give me peace of mind. Hope tomorrow will be mostly downhill.

At Kaapse Hoop I had a pancake with chicken liver for a recovery meal, a snooze in the afternoon and stumbled upon a soup & sherry dinner with a visit from an old lady who grew up in Kaapse Hoop and treated us to a delightful reminiscence and slide show.

Feeling good and rested it was off to bed at 10.