Day 4 - Bucklands to Marlu

 We opted for a early start to try and "beat" some of the midday heat, so the wheels got rolling at just after 06:00. We were in two groups: Mark, Alan and myself were going to take the Freedom Challenge route out of Bucklands via Trentyre to the Cockscomb/Grootrivierpoort junction, while the rest of the guys opted for a road straight to this junction. The tree of us who "tackled" the Trentyre track had a really awesome ride, with some rough patches  but as we went along the road improved. From Trentyre to the Hottentotspoort junction was a good farm road and from there to the Steytlerville/Cockscomb junction, where we were to meet up with the other guys, was a good district road. We reached the junction after 1:55 and waited 15 minutes for the other guys to turn up. They took a bit of a "detour" and therefore took longer than anticipated. 

The road to Steytlerville was fairly flat and we turned on the "heat" and motored at a good pace. About 15 km from Steytlerville we caught up with Hennie, who left Bucklands just after 05:00 to start from Marlu at 07:11. In town we stopped at the Rooi Malva for some refreshments. This took us nearly and hour and the temperature was rising. The "drag" out of Steytlerville is a 7 km steady climb followed by a gentle downhill leading to a 1-2% incline over the next 10-20 km. Danie decided to take it "easy" in the heat and Hasie kept him company. The rest of us formed an echelon with Marc and Alan setting the pace at 15-20 kph depending on the gradient. The last 10 km to the road we cycled along on Sunday, was very up and down with short little hills which did not take to much effort to overcome. At the junction we turned left and had 9 km left to Marlu. Once again this was fairly undulating and after another 28 minutes we reached the Marlu turn-off with another 3 minutes to the farmstead. 

After 6:43:37 and 89.02 km we completed the day. The temperature hovered between 38-42.5 since we left Steytlerville and remained around 42 for the last 20 km. 

What a wonderful experience with an amazing group of guys.

Over the four days of cycling we covered 394.44 km and spent 28:22 in the saddle. 

Groot Karoo Toer Dag 3 Vrygebruik-Bucklands

Ons gasheer by Vrygebruik het 'n heel interessante "onder onsie" met bye, wat ons blyplek oorgeneem het, gehad. Dit was omtrent 'n probleem. Verder is sy vrou, wat eintlik na ons moes omsien, verlede week in die hospitaal opgeneem. Gelukkig nie erenstig nie, maar sy sal sal eers oor 'n week weer op die plaas wees. Aandete is dus 'n braai by die gasheer se huis. Ons kom vroeg in die bed en beplan om 07:00 te begin ry.

Die manne begin 05:00 al roer met die gevolg dat ons 06:31 begin ry. Die eerste 20 km is redelike gelyk, tot ons links draai op die redelike groot pad wat van Jantsenville na Perdepoort loop. Eers 'n lekker afdraend en wanneer ons verby Koffylaagte ry, begin die pad klim. Ons klim vir bykans 6 km en dan begin daal ons om deur Perdepoort te ry. Die pad toon duidelik tekens van ernstige verspoelings, maar is heel begaanbaar met 'n fiets. Perdepoort dwing ons om gereeld stil te hou om die natuurskoon te bewonder. 

So 5 km anderkant die poort draai ons regs om 'n ondergeskikte pad en na 'n verdere 7 km draai ons op 'n vedere ondergeskikte pad. Die paaie kom nie op Tracks4Africa voor nie maar wel op vele ander roete Apps. Die rofheid van die roete maar dit moeilik vir die e-fietse so ons vorder stadig. Hoe verder ons met die pad aan ry, hoe raak hy! Die laaste 7 km Kleinpoort toe sluit 'n refelike klim in, pad oppervlakte is baie goed. Ons stop by die Kleinpoort Padstal vir koeldrank en koue water. Na 25 min is ins weer aan die gang.

Nog 45 km oor na Bucklands en meesal afdraend. Ride with GPS neem ons op 'n ander roete as wat ek beplan het wat 'n klein bietjie langer is met 'n lekker klim. Na die klim is dit weer meesal bult af tot by die Cockscomb/Steytlerville pad waar ons regs draai. Na 'n ruk vorm Marc, Alan en ek 'n "eshelon" en handhaaf so tussen 25-30 kpu. Met 10 km oor draai ons links Bucklands toe. Nou raak pad ook rowwer. Oor 'n paar stroompies en dan deur die Grootrivier, wat nou net 15 cm diep is. Met die Freedom Challenge in Junie was die meer as 'n meter. 

Hannes Horn verwys ons na Freek en Faans se huisies waar ons oorbly. 

Dag se data: afstand 92.92 km; tyd 6:34:10; klim 1,107 meter

Groot Karoo Tour Day 2

The owner of Turksvygrivier agreed that we can take a short cut over his property to the Pearston/Waterford road. He even went as far as getting one of his workers to open all the gates for us. It was an interesting ride on the "farm roads". This was not the road I planned, but a good alternative. Once on the main road, we made good time. 

I originally planned to use part of the Freedom Challenge route and Arie Stopforth, the owner of Turksvygrivier, confirmed that her knows the owner of Karoopoort and agreed to get us permission to cycle through his property. While discussion this with Arie, he phoned a friend and this friend convinced me to rather take the road straight to Waterford through Rossouwpoort. This was a worthwhile alternative and we enjoyed the scenery. As most of the route was downhill, we were really made good time. Our accent was 422 meters and our decent was 877 meters. We covered the 64.47 km in 3:50:47! A really enjoyable day. 

Groot Karoo Toer/Tour Nov 2026

Beplanning het al in Julie begin te same met die Doddse. Llise het teen Augustus besluit sy het ander verligtinge. In September kom Johan Schoeman, Hennie de Clercq, Hasie Lourens, Danie Kotze en Alan Simpson by. Reg teen die einde kom Iaan van Heerden by. So ons is 'n span van 8. Verblyf word uitgesorteer en datums word vas gemaak vir 7-11 November. Die roete begin met 'n motorreis na Marlu waar ons begin en eindig. Vandaar is dit 150 km Turksvygrivier, 70 na Vrygebruik, 90 na Bucklands en 97 terug Marlu toe.

Dag 1

Marlu na Turksvygrivier

Daar word gereël dat die manne wat nie kans sien vir 150 km nie, per bakkie tot by Mount Stewart geneem sal word sodat hulle daar aan kom saam die manne wat die 150 km doen. Die logestieke werk werk baie goed uit en die bakkie kom 5 km voor Mount Stewart by my, Marc en Alan verby. Dit het ons net onder 4 uur geneem om die 48 km af te lê. Lucia en Martin, wat die bakkie met die fietse gery het, het ook vir ons geroosterde broodjies en gekookte eiers gebring. Hennie het tegniese probleme met sy fiets opgetel en wou nie die kans waag om te heelpad te ry nie en besluit toe om met sy motor na die dag se eindpunt te ry en dan terug ry met sy fiets totdat hy ons ontmoet. 

Nadat almal hulle broodjies ge-eet het, val ons in die pad. Net anderkant Mount Stewart draai ons regs om met 'n onderskikte pad na Jantsenville te ry. Die is 'n redelike pad wat deur meesal privaat of staats grond gaan. Die wind begin nou 'n faktor word. Ons draai by 'n verlate en verwaarlooste "herehuis" met tennisbane, regs en volg die pad tot net voor Jantsenville waar ons links draai op 'n grondpad wat parallel met die R75 na Jantsenville, loop. Op hierdie stuk is die wind reg van agter en die speke sing. In Jantsenville stop ons vir verversings. Dan kom die laaste skof Turkvygsrivier toe. 

Ons klim, op die R75, vir die 9 km voor ons regs draai. Hierdie is een van daardie klimme wat nie einde het nie! Dit hou aan en aan en aan! Wanneer ons regs draai is dit die nog dit niet! Na nog 'n paar kilometer kom ons vir Hennie tee. Daar is nou nog 43 km oor. Intussen het die wind opgetel en kom reg van voor. Die pad neig ook heeltyd op en daar is baie sinkplaat. Dit raak regtig 'n "grind" en om vordering te maak is baie vermoeiend. Toe ons na 11:19:19 en 148.55 km by Turksvygrivier indraai, was ons baie verlig. Dit was voorwaar 'n veel eissende dag! 

Ons word baie gasvry ontvang en is baie te vrede met die vasliteite. Lekker ge-eet en gebly.

Rasa 2027 Oct training ride Day 4 - Citrusdal to Bloubergstrand

 This is going to be a long day! I was planning to go via Beaverlac, but that would add 30 km and a lot of climbing! So I got going at 05:22 and set off to cross the Piekenierskloof via the old Greys Pass. This little exercise of 9 km took me 1:15 resulting in an average speed of 7 kph! With a total distance of 186 km, that ment that I would have to do some serious pedalling if I did not want to get to Bloubergstrand too late. I was hoping to move this up to 14 by Eendekuil, but at that point I was only standing at 12 kph! 

After 3:38 I have covered 49 km and reached Piketberg. As the next town was Malmesbury, which was 90 km down the road, I decided to stop for "brunch" even though it was only 09:22. Average speed has "creeped" up to just below 13 kph. The 90 km to Malmesbury also has a fair number of undulations, so the chances of me getting that average up was slim. Generally the roads were in a good condition and I was enjoying the ride. I stopped at Misverstand dam to fill my water bottle and again at a farm after 102 km. Progress was better as I got closer to Malmesbury, where I arrived after 124 km and 10 hours in the saddle. I met an old friend at Seattle for coffee and got going again after 40 minutes.

The last 60 km to Bloubergstrand is mostly tar and not too hilly. I did have a bit of a headwind but did managed to move along at 15 kph. Once I reached the N7 at the Melkbosstrand turnoff, I turned on the "after burners' and cruised into Bloubergstrand at an average speed of 19.6 kph for the last 20 km, bring my overall average up to 12.8. The day's journey was 186 km and it took me 14:34 with 2,171 meters of climbing

So, that was "mission accomplished"! I did 527 km in four days with 6,884 meters of climbing. Total riding time was 39 hours 40 minutes. I will have to do a couple more of these before I tackle RASA in April 2027.

Rasa 2027 Okt oefenrit Dag 3 - Mount Ceder na Citrusdal

 Die kombuis maak eers 08:00 oop en ek moet ontbyt eet voor ek die dag aanpak met die gevolg dat ek eers 08:44 aan die gang kom. Die begin is intimmiderend! 6.05 km; 510 meter se klim; gem 8.4; maks 18.7 grade! Dit neem my 1:15 om tot bo te kom. Die uitsig vorentoe lyk ook moeilik, maar daar is darem 'n lekker afdreand voor die tyd. Die volgende klim is net so lank maar nie so styl nie. In die eerste 3 uur lê ek net 22 km af. 5 km daarvan was die afdreand teen 31 kpu wat net 10 minute neem! Daarna stop ek by Kromrivier vir 'n Coke, koffie en "chicken mayo" toebroodjie. Na 40 minite is ek weer aan die gang.

Die klim uit Kromrivier is ook nie net 'n fulletjie nie maar darem nie so lank en styl soos daardie eerste twee nie. Ek stop by Dwarsrivier om my waterbottel vol ys te maak. Die pad van hier tot aan die begin van Uitkykpas en veeleisend. Redelik gelyk maar wind van voor en moeilik om goeie momentum te handhaaf. 19 km in 1:30. Uitkykpas is van net voor die bokant tot anderkant die Jamaka afdraai geteer! Dit word gevolg deur Nieuwoudtpas. Albei passe in baie lekker van oos na wes want ek kom van 'n platoo af. Die klim van wes na oos sal beslis 'n ander storie wees. 

Met al die afdreades klim my gemiddelde spoed en wanneer ek op 76 km links draai Citrusdal toe staan dit op 11 kpu. Die volgende 12 km is grond wat dan teer raak. Die teerpad is redelik sieldodend met 'n paar lastige heuweltjies oppad Citrusdal toe. Daar is ook 'n ligte bries van voor. 

Na 103 km en 8:55 met 1,755 meter se klim, arriveer ek by my blyplek vir die aand. Goeie dag se oefening!

RASA 2027 Training ride Day 2 - Ceres to Mount Ceder

 Breakfast was served in my room at 07:45 and I got going just after 08:00. For the first 12 km to just past Prince Alfred Hamlet there is a tar cycle/footpath that keep me away from traffic. Then after another kilometer the old Waboom track starts. This was the original way up to Op Die Berg before Gydo Pass was built. It is about 2 km shorter than Gydo and quite a bit steeper, so a fair amount of "hike-a-bike" was at the order of the day. The first 12 km took me less than an hour. The next 7 km took me 1:40!

Once on top the road was fairly flat up to the turn off to the Cederberge. The first 63 km was all tar except for the pass, so I managed a good pace partly also due to very few hills. At this point there was a turn off to the right going to the Tankwa Padstal via Katbakkies Pass. This also was the end of the tar. The tar makes for easier ridding, but I really want to do some distances on gravel. The start of the gravel also ment the start of some hills. Not to steep, but whereas the tar was fairly flat, the undulations now took over with a couple of short sharp inclines. 

With 19 km to go I saw a sign Aankoms Padstal! I thought this was joke. Who in his right mind would operate a farmstall on this remote road. As I crested the next hill, I was pleasantly surpised. In the dip was a farmstall. Very rustic with no power and only gas for cooking, but there it was. They also had a variety local products. Trading hours is a sensible Friday 09:00 to Sunday 16:00. It is well worth planning a trip to the Cederberge with this in mind. It is well worth the visit. The lady told me that there were two more hills before Mount Ceder where I arrived at 14:50 after 97 km. Tomorrow I start with 6 km hill climbing 500 meters. Nice way to warm up the leggs!