Day Five Wednesday 19th
Ladismith to Oudtshoorn
100km
Ladismith to Oudtshoorn
100km
Before
the sun was above the horizon, there are sounds of action in some of
the chalets at Le Roux B&B where most of the handcyclists are
staying. Some are having a quick breakfast in their chalets, while
others go into the dining room for quite the best breakfast spread on
the tour so far.
Pieter and Illse get on the road just after sunrise, followed by Thomas and Zolani. Brunhild has a forced rest day and spends the day getting to know Jonathan who welcomes some company after driving alone in the Avis support truck. Stirling job Jonathan!
No-one was brave enought to try the prickly pears growing free on the sides of the roads - they probably noticed the hawkers just outside MosselBay selling them on sticks on the side of the road - being very sure not to touch them as they are full of long thorn-like spines that you dont want in your fingers or in your tongue.
The scenery was out of this world - here is one of the guys riding towards Oudtshoorn - just look at those mountains and the green fields - under irrigation to be certain, as rainfall in this area is quite scarce.
The road out of Ladismith is a drag uphill for about 32km to the top of the Huisrivier Pass, then there's 10km of sheer downhill bliss, until you cross the Gamka River and the climbing start again for a further 8km into Calitzdorp, the port wine capital of South Africa.
Here's a tired Pieter taking a breather in the shade of the support vehicle after climbing up to the top of Huisrivier Pass for the sheer exhilaration of the downhill section.
The day we rode through this area, it was so hot that even the ostriches were scarce on the sides of the road. There are a number of signs warning the motorists to watch out for slow moving tortoises. Needless to say we didn't see any tortioses either!
Pieter and Illse get on the road just after sunrise, followed by Thomas and Zolani. Brunhild has a forced rest day and spends the day getting to know Jonathan who welcomes some company after driving alone in the Avis support truck. Stirling job Jonathan!
No-one was brave enought to try the prickly pears growing free on the sides of the roads - they probably noticed the hawkers just outside MosselBay selling them on sticks on the side of the road - being very sure not to touch them as they are full of long thorn-like spines that you dont want in your fingers or in your tongue.
The scenery was out of this world - here is one of the guys riding towards Oudtshoorn - just look at those mountains and the green fields - under irrigation to be certain, as rainfall in this area is quite scarce.
The road out of Ladismith is a drag uphill for about 32km to the top of the Huisrivier Pass, then there's 10km of sheer downhill bliss, until you cross the Gamka River and the climbing start again for a further 8km into Calitzdorp, the port wine capital of South Africa.
Here's a tired Pieter taking a breather in the shade of the support vehicle after climbing up to the top of Huisrivier Pass for the sheer exhilaration of the downhill section.
The day we rode through this area, it was so hot that even the ostriches were scarce on the sides of the road. There are a number of signs warning the motorists to watch out for slow moving tortoises. Needless to say we didn't see any tortioses either!
Zolani
and Stuart; Stuart and Vicente and Thomas all battling it out with the
extreme heat. In the car it was 38 deg C - I can assure you it was a
lot hotter with your butt just 10cm from the tarmac. Federico was fed up this day - too many hills for his enjoyment.
Report for Day Six, Thursday 21st February
