We left on our penultimate stage today at 5am with dark rain clouds on the horizon. They did not worry us too much as we were heading in the opposite direction. It was a lovely flat road but alot of concentration was needed as we had to negotiate between huge potholes, roadkill and the traffic!
It was great to have my dad protect us from behind as we just heard today about the 2 cyclists on a tandem that were hit and killed by a truck in Mossel Bay. Awful news! Our journey today took us passed Viljoenskroon and Vredefort where upon these huge great rolling hills appeared which tested the legs somewhat! I was excited to reach the town of Parys some 114kms into the ride as I've never been there before but heard it has some lovely coffee shops & cute places. Well I wasn't disappointed! Wish I had more time to explore the place! And of course we found a minature version of the Eiffel Tower!
The road out of Parys was a dream with a hard shoulder and smooth tar and we motored all the way to Sasolburg in no time at all. Passing all the pink and white Kosmos on the side of the road reminded us that we were back in Gauteng along with sign saying that there was a high incidence of hijacking in the area! 8kms later we were in Vanderbijl Park and Gavin Devereux was there to meet us. We had met him through the hub website and he kindly offered us accomodation for the night. So we are staying in his sister's house while they are away and have the whole house to ourselves. Thanks so much Gavin for your hospitality! I love it how cyclists stick together! (we'll forgive him that he is more of a mountain biker :-)
Overall I didn't have a good day as my legs were really sore and even Jaco turned round a few times to ask if i was pedalling! Which is tandem rule number 1 of no-no's!
I am really sad that tomorrow is our last day-we've become so used to our little routine and being on the road. It really has been the most amazing experience! We look forward to seeing you all at Sandton Square tomorrow at 12pm.
Today's Stats:
Total distance: 155kms
Average speed: 33kms/hr
Average temperature: 26 degrees
Max temperature: 40 degrees
Climbing: 800m
Average heart rate: 125 (Jaco), no info for Christie (my heart rate monitor has not been resuscitated yet!)
KCalories: 2050 (Jaco), Christie:dunno but I'm still hungry!
Jaco's highlight:
Taking my wife on a romantic trip to Paris (Parys actually!)
Jaco's lowlight:
The ominous rain clouds on the horizon hiding the sunrise (we hav only 1 rain jacket with us so we'd have to ching chong cha for it)
Christie's highlight:
Standing in a field of sunflowers taller than me!
Christie's lowlight:
Legs showing the evidence of 1600kms-sore, stiff and heavy.
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