Africa
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Biking Africa – Bloubergstraand to Velddrif
After another bout of decision making on whether to use the N7 straight away or continue up the coast on the R27 and then take my chances on reconnecting with the N7 further North. I finally set of to get some breakfast in nearby Melkbossstrand after which I headed North on the dead straight R27…
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Three weeks of biking stats in South Africa
According to my little Google spreadsheet I’ve been away from home 20 days & cycled for 14 of them covering 630 miles (1,008km) and 39,793 feet (12,128m) of vertical ascent 🙁 . Thus averaging 45 miles ((72km) per cycling day and 2842 (866m) feet per biking day.Not bad coming up for 69 years old and…
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Day 15 Biking Africa – Cape Town to Bloubergstrand
After much humming and harring this morning I finally decided the best way of making a decision on where to go next was just to get on the bike! The owner of The Altona said Blouberg was very pleasant with a cycle path for most of the way! I quickly found a place to stay…
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Day Days 13/14 Biking Africa – Cape Town & The Argus Cape Event
Well I finally biked to the Cape from Port Elizabeth! Even arriving in time to do 101 km of The Argus Cape Event, dropping in as a laggard and racing to prevent the broom wagon from catching me. I had a very pleasurable rest day in Stellenbosch with Keith, whilst Irma went to a spa…
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Day 12 Biking Africa Villiersdorp to Stellenbosch
Another 7am start to the day as I wanting to reach the Franschhoekpas and it’s 1535 feet (468m) of climbing to its summit of 2424ft (739m) before the heat of the day. The road as already busy with the wine tankers and fruit trucks. I made excellent progress even though the yellow lines side lane…
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Day 11 Biking Africa Robertson to Villiersdorp
I managed a 7am breakfast and was on the road at 7.40 lovely and cool with a slight wind behind me the road traffic was so heavy for the first 20 miles on the R60 that I was getting pulled along in the draught 🙂 The road is quite wide with the yellow lines so…
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Day 10 Biking Africa Montagu to Robertson
I left the luxury of 7 Church street after a hearty breakfast and with a cheery wave from Mike and May, it’s owners, with Mike mourning the fact that he wasn’t going on a long bike ride too. He was very inspired when I told him about Derek’s blog http://nohangingaround.com/ Derek cycled from Cape Town to…
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Day 9 Biking Africa Barrydale to Montagu
The Karoo Moon Motel with the adjacent Diesel and Creme restaurant didn’t open up till 8am so it made for a late start especially with their service times. The “healthy breakfast” was a trendy jug filled with fruit, granola and yogurt. Not enough for me so had the two eggs as well. I filled up with…
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Day 8 Biking Africa Ladismith to Barrydale
Alex the wonderful host of Ladismith Manor cooked me an excellent breakfast at 6.30 so I could put in some miles before the midday heat. It was deliciously cool as I bombed down the many downhills 🙂 After an hour I discovered The Hubb farm market and had a coffee and apple pie 🙂 The…
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Day 7 Biking Africa Oudtshoorn to Ladismith
I now know my biking limit is 65.8mi Distance & 5,396ft of ascent with the temperature in the mid 30’s with my heavyweight bike and kit 🙁 I arrived wrecked and dehydrated 🙁 The day started with a very mediocre breakfast at The Queens Hotel principally I suspect because they had 30+ folks from the Titan party there.…