BB2BB Day 27

I had a lovely supper of lamb ribs, baked potatoes and green beans with bacon in the excellent company of Will and Stephanie Terblanhce. After some "chit-chat" we all retired to our rooms. I woke up at 05:50 and started my daily routine of quite time, brushing teeth, put contact lenses in and get dressed. Then pack all clothes in plastic bags and stuff it into my backpack. Breakfast of oats and a bacon omeltte was served just after 07:00.

Outside it was overcast but not raining. The wheels started roll at 07:38. A long steady climb out of gate onto the gravel road raced my heartbeat to 122 as I tried to get to the top of the hill before the heavy cloud to my right dumped its contents on me. I sort of made it, but did catch some drops. The road was in a good condition and I was making good progress. Cycling through some lovely trees that formed a "tunnel". 

At about 16 km the road became more of a jeep track than a road and then at 18 km I hit one of a mountain bikers nightmares in wet conditions. The mud got "sticky". It was so bad that my wheels stopped turning! I looked for a stick to scrape it off, but found none. I did get a piece iron and did the best I could. The weight of the mud on my bike must have been 2-3 kgs! Once I got the wheels turning again, I reverted to pushing my bike along in the grass. This carried on for about one km before I could get back to pedalling again. The mud was everywhere and I used the piece of iron to clean the wheels as best possible. When I found a pool of water, I used it to get some of the mud off the wheels. At about 20 km road conditions improved to such an extend that I  could get going properly again. 

At 23 km I reached the end of the plato and started decending into a beautiful valley. The road down the escapement was very ruff, but once I reached the bottom it was smooth going again.

At 28 km I reached a T-junction and turned left on the R391 towards Hofmyer with 36 km to go. This road was in a very good condition and mostly flat, so that I managed to maintain an average speed of 15 kph all the way to Hofmyer, where I arrived after 5:15 in the saddle. Nice relaxing day before tomorrow when I have 127 km to Kareelaagte. No serious climbs along the way until I hit the R61 from Cradock at the bottom of Wapadsberg Pass, which is not too steep or long. 

A little "titbit" to keep my readers "amused"! Wynand, my son-in-law always has something to say about the "hartness" of my "seat" and my brother-in-law, Chris says it is like "leather"! Well that is mit entirely true because I have picked some "niggling" problems. The first was after about three days when I started feeling a tenderness on the leftside. I phoned Mike Smit, my regular riding partner and docter. Suggested some ointment and plasters, which we arranged through Piet Nieuwenhuizen, whith ehom zi was due to stay on day 10. I did as Mike suggested and the problem disappeared after two days. Then about a week ago a similar problem ocurred, again on the left but this time further out. I have been treating this now for a week and altough it seems the help, the problem do not want to "disappear". Fortunately it is not too painful and the Brookes saddle seem to "handle" it. Hopefully it will "heal" properly within the next week.

With that anecdote, I will sign off for today.