BB2BB Day 26

We had a wonderful stay with Lucia and Martin Dorfling at Marlu. As the stage to Willowmore was only about 70 km, we decided to have breakfast with our hosts at 08:00 and leave there after.

We got going at 08:32. The road surface was quite good and we covered the 20 km go Fullerton in 1:12. We turned left zbc about 2 km down the road right to follow the flow of the Grootriver and then onto Willowmore. The road surface continued to be good and we it was easy to maintain a pace of 16-22 kph. The rock formations of the mountains was quite phenomenal. It looked as though the rocks were pressed together in a giant press. We stopped for a break and something to eat and rest after 2:30, having maintained an average speed of 17.7 kph.

The road had some interesting twists, making the ride quite enjoyable. The last 20 km was fairly straight and level leading us onto the single lane cement road. When reached Willowmore, we decided to first have a relaxing light lunch at Sophie's Choice before we book in at The Willows. Hoffie had a milkshake and a chicken salad and I had an Americano and a Greek salad. We spent an hour just relaxing and having our meal. We finally arrived at The Willows just after 14:00. I asked Lucia to make the booking for us and she indicated that we would pay R500. On enquiry and checking back on her WhatsApp, it was R500 for the room including breakfast. What a bargain! We had our showers, rinsed our cycling gear and spent the afternoon relaxing for tomorrow's big ride. We plan to hit the road at 05:00.

Data for the day: start 08:32; time 05:29:38; distance 72.56 km; average speed, including stoppages 13.58 kph; total ascent 603 meters and total descent 289 meters.