Seweweekspoort Dag 3

 

Danie en Willie is vroeg op en ry voor 07:30. Die res van ons maak gereed vir die Bosch Luys Kloof rit en ons kom net na 08:00 weg.

By die groot pad weer links in Seweweekspoort se rigting. Verby die afdraai poort toe en bult op na Bosch Luys Kloof toe. Die pad in die kloof af is besonder mooi. Dit kronkel teen die bult af. Die eerste 2 km is heelwat styler as die laaste gedeelte. Net nadat die pad begin afplat, sien ek twee koedoe bulle en hou stil om hulle dop te hou. Hulle begin die kloof uit stap en ek sien net elke nou en dan 'n beweging tussen die bosse totdat hulle heelbo is en dan sien ek die wonderlike silhoeët wanneer hulle op die horison stop en ek kan net die horings teen die agtergrond van die lug sien. Wanneer die ander by my aansluit, is hulle weg. 

Ons ry rustig af tot by die "lodge". Hulle is nie oop vir dag besoekers nie, maar ons kan water by hulle kry op ons pad terug. Ons vat die pad af Gamkaskloof dam toe. Dit is 12 km tot by die dam. Dit is 'n mooi pad met geen ernstige bulte nie. Ons ry so 'n entjie verby die waterfiskaal se huis. Daar stop ons en eet verversings en wonder oor die watervlak en die water wat ons hoor uitloop. 

Oppad terug stop ons by Mnr Fox, die waterfiskaal, se huis. Mike herinner hom daaraan dat hy en Pieter Reinders die grond in 2004 wou koop toe dit vir R450,000 in die mark was. Hulle het R400,000 aangebied en was bereid om Mnr Fox, wat met volstruise geboer het en op die grond gewoon het, aan te laat bly. Die eienaar aanvaar toe Gerhard Rademeier se volle aanbod met die versoek dat Fox 30 dae het om van sy volstruise ontslae te raak en pad te gee. Hy maak toe so, maar aangesien die waterfiskaal kort te vore weg is en sy huis leeg gestaan het, trek hy daar in. Hy word later aangestel as die nuwe waterfiskaal en is nog steeds daar!

Na ons gesprek met hom, ry ons terug "lodge" toe. Hier word ons water bottels met ys en koue water gevul en dan pak ons die terug tog teen Bosch Luys Kloospas, aan. Dit is net minder as 8 km waarvan die laaste 2 km die stylste is. Dit neem my 1:45 om die 8 km teen 'n gemiddelde spoed van 4.5 kpu af te lê. Die temperatuur draai by 46.2 grade celsius! Bo "konsolideer" ons weer en pak dan die pad af na die Seweweekpoort aansluiting aan, maar ons moet eers deur die Bosch Luys Kloof hek gaan. Gelukkig is die kode op 'n kennisgewing by die hek. Oppad stop ek by 'n poel water om my "buff" nat te maak sodat my kop kan afkoel. 

Net verby die aansluiting is daar konstruksie werk aan die pad en ek en Johan stop om weer ons water bottels vol te maak. Die ander drie ry aan. Nou is daar nog die 2 km bult oor en dan 'n paar ops en afs tot by die huis. Ek kry dit nie reg om die afstand wat ek na die ander verloor het toe ek my waterbottel vol gemaak het, uit te wis nie en kom so 5 minute later by ons huisie aan. 

Nog 'n goeie dag se oefening en 'n besonder mooi rit agter die blad! 

Data: afstand 65.24 km; tyd 6:12; meters geklim 1,258.

Seweweekspoort Tour Day 2

 

The plan for Day 2 was to either do a 121 km loop, which included 58 km of the Freedom Challenge or a 66 km loop. Alan agreed to join me on the 121 km loop. 

We got going just after 08:00. Right at the main road, travelling west towards Anysberg. We quickly got to the top of a 3 km downhill where I clocked 63.5 kph. This was followed by some undulations until we reached the Rouxpos turn off after 17 km. 

Here we nearly had a problem as some of the guys went ahead and missed the turnoff! We were fortunate in that we managed to call them back. The next 5 km was a gradual climb and we did spread out a bit. I waited at the top so that we could "regroup". Alan, Mike and Johan joined me. Hannes lost his cellphone and turned around to look for it. Danie and Wille joined him in the search, which was unsuccessful. It fell out of his frame bag after he took some photos. There also were some brake marks from a bakkie close to where he lost it and the conclusion was that these guys picked it up and drove away with it. Hannes did quite a search, including asking some people, but had no success. Due to all this, they did no do the short loop, but home from there.

The four of us continued down past Rouxpos heading towards the Droëfontein turnoff. Mike and Johan raced ahead and once again missed the turnoff and this time we had no luck in calling them back! Fortunately the road swings to the right and goes uphill. We saw them stopping high above us, while we waited at the turnoff. After awhile they realised that we were not coming after them, so they turned around to come and join us. Johan was going to do the shorter loop, but at the spur of the moment, decided to join us. Mike indicated that he was joining me and Alan when we "regather" at the top of the hill before Rouxpos. 

Once we were all together again, we started negotiating the Freedom Challenge route past Droëfontein along the mountain to join the Anysberg road 19 km later. Intially there was a farm track leading up to the Droëfontein Guest House, about 3 km down the road. Our track goes around the righthand side of the dwelling, but we did pop in to fill up our water bottles. 

Once that was done, we joined our track again. It was obvious that this track is no longer used too often as there were no tyre marks. The track was quite clear for the first 2 km and then we hit the riverbed and it turned out to be soft sand, which was mostly unridable. We had to push our bicycles along for most of the next 2 km. In winter, when the Freedom Challenge comes through here, the sand is cold and mostly ridable, but in summer that is not possible! We also crossed some bigger, dry streams with big rocks and some sections with reeds. 

Once through all this, we again picked up a nice, ridable jeep track, meandering along the side of the mountain going up and down. The scenery was quite beautifull.

After 52 km we got to the gate that took us onto the Anysberg road. At this point our average speed was 11.3 kph. We turn right and head in the Anysberg direction. Up a steep hill and down the otherside. Here we were confronted by a stationery bakkie in the middle of the road with the driver's door opened. This was a downhill and I was doing about 50 kph. The gap looked big enough and I decided to go for it, shouting"idiot" as I passed him. Mike also made it and by the time Alan came past, the door was closed! 

At 58 km we reached the Anysberg gate. This was unlocked and we proceeded down to some empty chalets, where we managed to get water. After filling our bottles and eating what we brought for lunch, we were back on the road again. Still 63 km to go and by now have been on the road for 5:22! At this rate we are not going to get home before 18:00! The road is undulated and it is difficult to maintain a good average speed. 

A number of kilometers down the road we find a farmhouse and stop to fill up our water bottles. We get nice cold water and am on our way again. More undulations, through a beatiful "poort" and after 82 km we get to a T-junction. Left to Lainsburg and right to Calitsdorp and this is a tar road. Left is called Witnek and right is Rooinekke. This is a "pass" and once again the road is undulated. A further 8 km down this road, the tar becomes gravel. At about 96 km we find a dwelling where we can fill our water bottles again. The undulations do not stop, but at least we can average 14 kph. 

I am heading up the rear as Alan is much stronger and I cannot keep up with the e-bikes. I see the guys stopping in front of me next to a large sign on the side of the road. It reads"Porcupine Cold Beers"! Alan phones them. They are closed but will open for us. Alan state that we will not have any beers as we still have 17 km to go! We take an "imprompto" decision to stop here and call our friends to come and fetch us. It is now 16:40 and the remaining 14 km includes another 500 meters of climbing. This would take us at least another 2 hours. That would mean we will only get home at 19:00! We cycle down to Porcupine and is welcomed with ice cold beers! Danie and Hannes arrive within 15 minutes and after some more beers, the bikes are loaded and we head home. 

What a day. Distance 107 km; time 8:41; meters climbed 1,561.

Seweweekspoort Dag 1

28 November tot 2 Desember is tyd vir die Seweweekspoort toer. Ons was 8 maar een moes onttrek agv siekte. Drie van Stanford en vier van die Kaap. Die Stanford manne is Johan Schoeman, Hannes de Villiers en Alan Simpson. Ons basis is Sandrivier aan die noorde kant van Seweweekspoort. Ek en Mike Smit ry saam en ontmoet "toevallig" vir die Stanford manne by Diesel en Creme in Barrydale. Ons kom net voor 17:00 by Sandrivier aan en Danie en Willie arriveer so 'n half uur later. Die gasvrou heet ons welkom met 'n skinkbord pas gebakte vetkoekke. Daar is ook twee vas gebakte brode, wat ons vooraf bestel het. Ek en Mike is verantwoordelik vir aandete van pasta met maalvleis en slaai. Ons spreek af om môre oggend 08:00 te begin ry. 

Ons kom 07:50 aan die gang. Na 'n aanvanklike klimmetjie links met die grootpad af is dit basies afdraend tot by Amalienstein. 'n Afstand van ongeveer 28 km. Dit is 'n besonder mooi pad deur die poort. Die padoppervlakte is baie goed en die rots formasies is asemrowend. Ons stop vir fotos en om ietsie om te eet en dan die laaste stukkie tot by die R62. Reguit oor en deur Amalienstein en uit aan die ooste kant met 'n lekker grond paadjie. By 'n kruising draai ons regs en terug so 'n entjie met die R62 na Frikkie se Gat. Hier kry ons gemmerbier en koffie. Na so 'n kwartier val ons weer in die pad.

Terug soos ons gekom het, maar reguit oor die kruising terug Amalienstein toe. Ons stop by 'n winkel sodat Mike vir hom 'n tandeborsel kan koop. Dan terug soos ons gekom het, oor die R62 en dan weer met Seweweekspoort terug Sandrivier toe. Waar dit netnou alles af was, is dit nou alles op! Die volgende 25 km klim ons voortdurend tussen 4 en 9%. Dit het natuurlik ook 'n invloed op ons gemiddelde spoed. So halfpad deur die kloof stop ons weer vir verfrissings en dan is dit weer skouer aan die wiel vir die laaste 19 km. 

Ons bereik die einde van die kloof met nog 9 km oor huistoe, maar dit is weereens net bult op en nou styg die gradiënt ook. Ek handhaaf 'n goeie pas oor hierdie laaste paar bulte, wat net nie wil ophou nie! Na 5:10 en 71 km met 1,033 meters se klim, kom ons by ons bestemming aan.  'n Goeie dag se oefening!

 

Allemanskraal na Marlu via Kamferpoort

 

Last night I decided to shorten the ride to Marlu by about 54 km. I will travel with Llise to Klipplaat with her bakkie. Form there she will head home and I will tackle the road to Marlu. 

We left Allemanskraal just before 08:00 and got to Klipplaat at 08:20. We said our goodbyes and I started cycling at 08:26. The first 15 km to the entrance of Kamferpoort is mostly downhill and I got there in just over an hour. At the entrance there is a road going left to Mount Stewart. I made a mental note that I can look at that road as an option for a future ride. 

Just after this junction I encountered the first gate. There are a number on this road. The road first swings to the right, then through a "spruit" and then left along the side of the mountain. Around the corner I encountered a locked gate. 

I knew about this gate and arranged with my brother-in-law to ensure I can get a key to open it. The instructions was quite clear: the key will be in the lock and I had to leave it under a stone on the south side of the gate after I locked it. No problem and I was on my way. 

Lower down the valley there is another gate and this always have open, but not today! I looked around for the possibility of a stone with a key under it, but there was none! I looked at the gate, which was 2 meters high and not only 1 meter like the previous one, and realised that the only option was to climb over and also hual my bike over it. So I first climbed over with my backpack and left that on the otherside. Now for getting my bike over! I hooked the bike as high as I could onto the fence next to the gate. I then climbed onto the fence and managed to get my bike across, with a fair amount of effort. Once over I let it down the otherside and then dropped it to the ground. I was quite pleased with my abbility to overcome this little problem! 

After that adventure, I started cycling again. Just before the main gate, which was not locked, I managed to fill my waterbottle. Out the main gate and right for the last 21 km to Marlu. This area is not flat, so I stll had some cycling to do. It is amasing how "long" 21 km can become after 4 monster days! So it was a bit of a grind, but slowly and surely the kilometers passed. Up and down over the undulations untill I saw the Marlu board. What a relieve. I really was looking forward to opening the gate and tackle the last kilometer to Marlu. 

So that was the Groot Karoo Toer. A well werth while excersice and good preperation for the FC in June 2026.

Data for the day: time 4:29; distance 51.52; meters climbed 493.

Data vir die toer: totale ry tyd 39:07:36; totale afstand 502.02; totale meters geklim 4,610

Pienaarsbaken na Allemanskraal via Erasmuskloof

Na gister se "monster dag" kan ons vandag uitsien na 'n meer "redelike" dag. Omtrent 145 km maar met minder as 900 meter se klim. 

Ons kom 06:19 aan die gang. Ek wou 'n pad reg suid van Pienaarsbaken deur 'n paar plase af na die Erasmuskloof pad neem, maar Jaco Loots raai my af on dit te doen want die laaste gedeelte is kwaai verspoel. Ons ry dus met die plaaspad af N9 toe, draai links en dan so 5 km met die N9 tot by die afdraaipad wat ons deur Erasmuskloof sal neem.

Dit is weereens 'n grondpad met 'n lekker gladde oppervlak en ons handhaaf 'n goeie pas. Die eerste gedeelte is oor 'n gelykte en dit is hoekom dit so lekker gaan. Na 23 km begin ons die klowe binne gaan en die pad word onmiddelik moeiliker. Daar is heelwat kort bultjies, maar die oppervlak bly goed. Die klimme laat ons gemiddelde spoed gou val. Die ongewing raak nou al mooier terwyl ons deur die klowe en langs rivierlope ry. Ons ry ook verby Letskraal, die huis van waar Andries Pretorius sy Groot Trek begin het. 

Die pad klonkel al met die vallei op. Elke nou en dan is daar so 'n "toetser" om ons hartklop op te stoot en dan weer 'n lekker afdraend. So gaan dit tot op ongeveer 30 km, dan kom nog een van daardie "never enders"! Hierdie bult krul vir 15 km teen die rant op. Die gradiënt wissel so tussen 4 en 11 grade, so die meeste van die tyd trap ons maar. So elke nou en dan voel ons lus om ander spiere te oefen en dan stap ons. Dit neem ons net kort van 2 uur om die 15 km af te lê.

Nou is dit basies bult af tot by Graaff-Reinet. Die pad plat so elke nou en dan af en dan is dit weer bult af! Ons kom na 5:50 se ry en 89 km, in Graaff-Reinet aan en stop weer by Coldstream. Hier rus ons vir 35 minute en val dan weer in die pad. Dit is nou 12:45 en die temperatuur staan op 40 en sal bo 40 bly tot 16:30! Die maksimum het by 45.7 gedraai en dit was toe 14:30! Die pad Allemanskraal toe is nie moeilik nie, maar redelik eentonig met heelwat sinkplaat. 

Ons stop met voor Kendrew om weer ons water aan te vul. Verby Kendrew, oor die Sondagsrivier en nou is ons op die laaste been Allemanskraal toe. Die hitte keil ons op en hier is geen teken van skaduwee nie. Ons kry wel 'n paar bloekom bome en stop net om 'n bietjie uit die son te kom. Dan val ons weer in die pad. 

Net na Kendrew kruis ons die Sondagsrivier en ek stop om my "buffs" in 'n waterpoel nat te maak sodat ek kan afkoel. Daarna oor die treinspoor en ons ry aan die linkerkant van die spoor. Die pad is redelik gelyk en ons buur meedoënloos voort in die hitte. Met nog so 15 km oor kom ek agter Llise is nie meer agter my nie en ek kan haar ook nie sien aankom nie. Ek het nou twee opsies: ry aan en kry vir Elsa om Llise met die bakkie te kom haal of draai om. Sy mag dalk omgeval het as gevolg van die hitte dus moet ek so gou moontlik by haar uitkom, dus draai ek om. Na net meer as 'n kilometer sien ek haar aan gery kom! Wanneer ek by haar kom sê sy dat sy naar gevoel het toe maar afgeklim en 'n bietjie gestap het. Ek vra hoekom sy my nie geroep het nie! Sy het, maar ek het haar nie gehoor nie! Sy sê ek moet aan ry, sy sal op haar pas aankom! Dit is nie vir my 'n opsie nie en ons lê die laaste 15 km rustig saam af. Na 10:10 kom ons by Allemanskraal aan. Die temperatuur is nog steeds bo 40! 

So eindig nog 'n gebeurtenisvolle dag in die Groot Karoo! Na die tyd sê Llise dat dit nou net sowel is dat sy eers 'n dag later by my aangesluit het want sy is nog nie reg vir 4 sulke lang dae agter melaar nie, veral nie in die hitte nie!

Data vir die dag: tyd 10:10; afstand 143.22; meters geklim 901.

Llise Dodds se "kommentaar

Once upon a time there was an #artist. She believed that real-life experiences enrich your work and that cycling is good for the body and mind... and "sommer" for everything else that needs fixing.

Then, one day, a gentleman asks the artist to embark on a #Karoo cycling tour with him.

"Of course!" The artist said and immediately pushed the facts known about the gentleman to the farthest, darkest room in her head, locked the door, and threw the key away. 

(The gentleman is @philipler. He is preparing to become the oldest person in the world to complete the @freedomchallenge. He is 77 (or 78, age is just a number) years old, a machine, and the saying "never underestimate an old man on a mountain bike" applies. And there goes the key.)

Points to remember next time😜: 

*44°celsius day temperature is hot.

*Hot water is not lekker to drink.

*Never underestimate an old man on a mountain bike.

This was one of the most wonderful adventures of my life🥹. Riding #unsupported with just a backpack was a first for me and it was a privilege to cycle 300km with such an experienced rider.

We live in the most beautiful country. 

Now: paintbrushes out! #paintings to create!