10 April Van Rhynsdorp to Garies

I have very poor reception here, will keep message short and fill you in later...

I am tired, I went into uncharted territory today: the furthest I have ever cycled before, was 110km and today I did 146.51km, with loaded panniers! The photo on the right, was taken early this morning looking back towards Van Rhynsdorp, heading in a Northerly direction. The mountain in the background, is Gifberg, where we spent most of our time yesterday driving behind and over the mountain. Spectacular rock formations and views.

I packed up early this morning and got going at 7:30. There were many big trucks out on the road early in the morning, and as you can see from the image, there is no shoulder on this road. Well, I survived okay.

My GPS was sorely missed today, as I would love to know total ascent for the day. Apart from the stretch of road in this picture, I was climbing most of the way, with a few nice downhills thrown in.

Time on the trail today: 8h34 of which 7h40 were spent cycling. The rest of the time, was for pit stops and snacks. Weather was good, nice and sunny with light breeze, mostly from behind. The last bit was not funny anymore, as there was a lot of climbing and the wind started pushing form the front.

We are staying in a Self Catering lodge tonight in Garies. They have no water in town and all water is trucked in. This is due to bad management.

Saw 8 Steenbokkies today, some nice Korhaan's and a Martial Eagle (Saw 2 Black Eagles yesterday at Gifberg), and one dead Porcupine!

Tomorrow should be okay, only 47km, but with a long steady climb for the first 24km. Hope I recover sufficiently tonight.

Last picture, is proof of distance. I took a shot of my odo when I arrived here!