Die Leer 15 Mei 2012

Here is story about The Ladder when I did a recci in May 2012:  

Got up at 05:45 managed to hit the road at 05:55. It took me 2 hours to do the 14 km to the top of Swartberg Pass. I once again was awed by the beauty of the rock formations of the mountains of the pass. Awesome! The sign to Gamkaskloof indicated 37km and 2 hours travelling time. I would have loved to do it in 2 hours but I knew it would take me longer. I actually managed to do it in 2:27:15 riding time with a maximum of 53.7kph. Stoppages probably added another 30 minutes. I once again was amazed at the number of "false tops" in the hills on the way. Numerous times I thought I was at the top of the final hill only to encounter a” bit" more. It took me another 1:23 to cover the 20km to foot of The Ladder. From there it was a hard grind up the 900m with 275-elevation gain of The Ladder. This took me 30 minutes of moving time, giving an average of 1.8kph. The actual journey took me about 1:30 if I include all the rests I had. I even picked up a puncture while carrying my bike! I heard something which sounded like a snake, but when stopped I noticed that it came from the rear wheel! A thorn from one of the bushed punctured it. As this was some way up and as I was pretty exhausted, I decided to first fix it before carrying on. I also had two "lunch" stops, which I also used as "recovery" time. Today The Ladder was Hell!!