Yesterday we rode further than planned and ended up doing about 80 km of dirt in order to eat away at today’s required distance. The plan was to turn today into a chilled stage and get some extra rest in… it didn’t happen! It was super hot and dusty yesterday and the sun threatened comfort. Today, in direct contrast, wind, cold and altitude had their way with us. Today we ascended 750 meters in about 15 km up Verlaterkloof pass and although our riding time and Km’s covered is nothing to write home about I exerted more effort on that ride than I have on any other in my life. A gusty and cold North Easter relentlessly smashed us in the face all the way up the pass. The road grew steeper and steeper until it felt like a tar wall – it never let up, it just kept on going and going and near the top steepened just a bit more in final defiance. I was seriously pushed close to my limit and almost got off but with extremely heavy pedal strokes (just enough to keep moving forward) I did summit and scream in triumph (more accurately I swore repeatedly at the pass).
The bottom (as is ass) of Verlaterkloof pass
I was told on numerous occasions before we left that this initiative would test my abilities and limits and that I would learn about my physical and mental boundaries like never before. Today was my first real test. Being only day 05 out of 23 I am now certain that this is only the first of more tests to come – there is no way that we can get ahead of ourselves yet!
The pass takes you up to the small town of Sutherland known for the South African Large Telescope (SALT) that is up here. It is a cool little town and Kambro-Kind BnB where we are staying is absolutely incredible. It is genuinely one of the best and most interesting places I have stayed in. The quality linen and puffy pillows are doing there best right now to distract me from finishing this post.
Kambro-Kind BnB
Check out the GPS track for the dirt road we did yesterday. The lack of signal has prevented me from recording all the rides and in fact will continue to limit us for the next couple of days. We may fall off the map again for a while as we head in the direction of Fraserburg (we hit the dirt again tomorrow and will be on it for at least another 200 km). Keep checking the blog and FB page though – we will post as soon as we can.
stay classy my peeps