Freedom Challenge RASA day 12

FCRASA day 12

The idea was to do the 142 km to Toekomst on day 12. Some of the people in our group had their doubts about the feasability of that, but decided to all leave at 04:00. Once we get to Gegun, those who wanted stay and those who wanted to continue, would continue. Harko, Johan L and Sandy all expressed their preference for only going as far as Gegun. Willem, Jogan R and myself were aimimg for Toekomst. We managed to get going at 04:15.

Willem Kamstra was like a scalded cat and we did not see him again. That was thd first crack in our group of six. The first 30 odd kilometers was a mad dash through the darkness. Intially the road surface was excellent and it was mostly down hill, causing some dramatic riding, especially for me who only had Harko's head light, which was pointing at my front tyre! We made good progress and was negotiating the first portage section just after six. This was followed by some good riding over reasonable farm tracks with lots of humps to stop erotion. This led us to the famous Struishoek portage. A walk down a rutted gorge marked by white painted rocks. The approximately 2 km took us 1:15. We had a quick bite when we got to the bottom. Johan Lombaard was lagging due to knee problems and he, Sandy and Harko were looking at only going as far as Gegun. I suggested to Johsn that we push on as our plan was to go through to Toekomst. 

The ride grom here was down a reasonable farm road to the Pearson tar road. After a few kilometers on tar we were back on good district roads all the wat to Gegun, where we arrived at 12:50 snd left at 13:10. The roads were good and the weather perfect for riding. We made good progress and found the rough jeep track up the mountain at Karoopoort. It was very steep and rocky with the result that we had to push our bikes most of thd way. Down the other side Johan showed his metal and all the way to the bottom. I decided to be causeuos and only rode the less rough sections. This led us into a valley which treated us to some spectacular rock formations and through a game farm. The journey down the valley took quite a while due to the rough nature of the track. This improved once we hit the district road. It was mow getting dark. I forgot to charge my light the previous night with the result that we only had Johan's to show us the way. Fortunately everything went fine and booked into Toekomst at 18:10