Day 2: Leaving the greenery behind

All I can say is that Linebreak compression pants are fantastic! We woke up at 4:15am with fresh legs that weren’t stiff or sore after Day 1. We left at 5am as the horizon started showing glimpses of light and welcomed the cool wind as we headed back onto the N7 towards Vanrhynsdorp. Today’s journey was a short one: only 135 kms to cover although the route had many undulating hills.

And as the law of cycling goes; where there is a downhill, there is always a longer and steeper uphill on the other side. So it was by no means flat but it gave us a chance to rest our bums while coasting down the hills. Once again there was no hard shoulder to cycle on and we were passed by only 38 freight trucks and 8 caravans.


While Jaco concentrates on the steering in front, this is how I keep myself busy. The other game we played was seeing how many freight trucks on the other side of the road (coming towards us) we could get to blow their horns at us and they all seemed very friendly indeed! We stopped at the Clanwilliam Dam which was huge and admired the view while at the same time wishing we could jump in a cool ourselves down.


We passed citrus groves, olive trees, and vineyards and the passed the Cedarberg Mountains but suddenly at Klawer the terrain changed dramatically: dry, barren, brown, sandy and not a tree or spot of shade in sight! This was going to be the scenery for the next 4 days!! Something which I was not looking forward to at all. There was a slight hot headwind which made the last 20kms really hard but we hit Vanrhynsdorp unexpectedly over a steep rise and welcomed the tall church steeple and cute little coffee shop (but that was about all in the town).


We are staying in sponsored accommodation tonight: Thank you Danie Nel from Afriplex for kindly letting us stay at Die Lapa.

Tomorrow is another big day – climbing the Vanrhyns Pass through the Bokkeveldberge up to the escarpment. From our little stoep, I can see the ominous road in the distance as it climbs the mountain and I’m a little scared!!!

Today’s Stats:

Total time including stops: 5hrs14mins
Total Distance: 135kms
Average Speed: 27.6kms/h
Maximum Speed: 73kms/h
Average Heart Rate: 122 (Jaco), 140 (Christie)
Average Temperature: 26 degrees
Maximum Temperature: 40 degrees
Climbing: 1305 meters
KCalories Burned: 2132 (Jaco), 3034 (Christie)
Number of Bottles of Energy Drink Consumed: 8

Christie’s highlight:
Reaching Vanrhynsdorp 10kms before we thought we would
Christie’s lowlight:
The iPod running out of power on a long climb while listening to Britney Spears

Jaco’s highlight:
The iPod running out of power on a long climb while listening to Britney Spears
Jaco’s lowlight:
Having 2 flies buzzing around us while going up a long climb, sweating in 36C at 9:30am.