So, what was that all about?

If I must be totally honest, Day 5 didn’t actually end at Barrydale. Of course we did get to Barrydale – for Sunday roast in fact – but the bikes were on the roof of the Landrover!

Last night there seemed to be general agreement the tour would have been perfect of it were just four days. So various plans were made to cut the last day a bit shorter. Some started at the lodge intending to shuttle from some point along the route while others shuttled a bit of the beginning as well. Rob, Colin and I planned to go ride the whole way.

It was an icy 4 degrees at 8am when we set out but warmed to a pleasant 12 degrees. Well, it would have been pleasant the wind hadn’t been blowing
, dropping the perceived temperature to around 6 degrees. In keeping with cycling tradition the wind was, of course, always from ahead somehow. No matter which direction we were heading in.

District road can be beautiful. But not so much toda.! There was a link bit of more farm-ish style road with gates and all which was superb. Nice climbing and fast descending. But there was also some tar to make sure we didn’t have too much fun.

Being up ahead we only connected with the vehicle once at 45km so we had a few logistical challenges. Mainly Rob and Colin ran low on water. Colin had 2 full bottles from where where we did meet the bus, but almost drained them within 35km making him quite worried about the next 35! Rob also had water issues. In fact Rob had a few issues today, including the lack of downhill and tailwind, once suggesting that the little climbs were like naughty children – they just wouldn’t stop.

So by the time we hit the tar of the R62 to Barrydale spirits were low! 20km to go seemed a big ask. An impromptu stop to beg water gave me a chance to call Steve who was in the bus. Turned out that everyone was aboard already and they were just 15 minutes behind us. So, now with unneeded full bottles we rode only another 10 minutes or so before pulling over at a convenient spot to await the cavalry. Which duly pitched a few minutes later.

So a rather ignominious end to what had been another vintage Daytripper tour. But all in all I met the objectives planned when signing up. Lots of riding. Mostly riding easy to get the legs turning after a longish layoff with some threshold and tempo sections thrown in. Job well done.

A welcome recovery drink on Day 4

Di on the way to Calitzdorp

Climbing the Rooiberg pass