We stayed in a lovely Heritage hotel in the Tulbagh valley although we just about had enough time there to wash, blog, eat and sleep! Our last day is cycling 65 miles to Stellenbosch where Richard, Keith and I will meet up with our wives. No matter what we seem to try and do, it […]
Porterville Hills and Tulbagh Valley – Day 7
Continuing South, through the rolling hills of Porterville to the beautiful Tulbagh valley. Why do we rarely seem to have a straight forward day in these tours?! It would be nice to get up, cycle 65 miles, finish, eat sleep. But oh no, not us…! I slept quite well apart from waking at 3.30 am, […]
Return to the Cape – Day 6
Starting our return to the Cape, heading due South following the rich Oliphants River valley to end just outside Citrusdal. Right, here we are again. Today was meant to be an easier 35-mile ride with a big climb at the end. It wasn’t easy! I didn’t get to sleep early enough – about midnight again […]
Majestic Cederberg mountains – Day 5
Well this is novel. Sitting in my hotel room in the pitch black, typing on my laptop in the boiling hot with no air con (it was 38 degrees today!). We have a power cut between 8.00pm and 10.30pm this evening due to “power redistribution”. Sounds political to me!! Due to the power cut, we […]
Langebaan to Elands Baai – Day 4
Heading further North up the coast to finish on the dunes with a private 15km beach! I woke at 6.00am to a very noisy pigeon sounding like it was sitting on the roof directly above my head! Out of the windows it was cloudy and very windy. Some flags were really dancing around and I’m […]
West Coast National Park – Day 3
West Coast National Park, riding around the spectacular Lagoon at Langebaan Normally when we are 3 days into a ride, bits of our bodies start to go wrong. Days 4 and 5 are traditionally a low point for me, so this year I have been focusing on avoiding that. Better stretching is helping, as is […]
Welcome Darling! Day 2
Ride through the lush wine and olive valleys to the jewel of the West Coast, Darling I woke up before the alarm and was happy to see it was 6.58am and the alarm was set for 7.00am! After the normal routine of stretches, checking stuff for the day and packing, it was time for breakfast. […]
Simon’s Town – Day 1
Simon’s Town to Diemersfontein Wine Estate (Wellington) I slept quite well until 6.15am and then snoozed until 7.15am. We had a 9.00am start so this was a lie in! We had a nice breakfast, overlooking the bay and South Africa navy headquarters. A bit of fiddling with the bike set up was needed and my […]
London to Cape Town – Introduction
London to Durban to Cape Town to Simon’s Town It was a long journey. Actually, we almost did not make it at all – top tip to travellers – do not leave your boarding passes and passports in the tray when you leave security! Fortunately, they are handed to the airport managers for the owner […]