6 May 2010 Loxton to Karoo National Park (B West)

Another short blog tonight, I am tired! The wind was pumping today and I was doing some low flying (that means the wind was from behind, yippee!) until I got to the N1 just before Beaufort West.

I left Loxton later than planned. Don't quite know why this happened, but I think it was because I was so relaxed! Just out of town I got onto the gravel road, which was really not as bad as the locals claimed! (again). It was very chilly and I was wearing arm- and leg warmers. The wind was probably blowing at around 40km/h from the NW, which meant that for the most part it was from behind.

The landscape again changes all the time. Autumn is here and there were many copses of yellow poplar trees. Too beautiful for words.

I passed a family riding to Loxton by donkey cart. They were very friendly and were also freezing. Nerina had passed them earlier and stopped for some photos. I wanted to stay on the move though, as I had asked T and N to stop at the 65km mark for some coffee and so I did not take any photos myself. Poor T and N battled to keep the gas stove going in the wind, which had picked up to 50 - 60km/h by then.

The total ascent for the day was just over a thousand metres, but my descent was around 1500m. Beaufort West is reached via the Molteno Pass, a spectacular gravel pass which drops very fast (my top speed was 76.6km/h on the gravel, with a wind that could not decide from which side it should blow! Exciting stuff!)

Once I got to the bottom of the pass and reached the N1, my average speed dropped to 10km/h (I had been doing 24km/h until then). Cycling through Beaufort West was challenging with a lot of big trucks fighting for space on the road. Add the wind to the equation, and it was quite scary coming through town and on towards the Park. I was pushed off the road by the wind following some of the trucks, but fortunately the Park entrance is not far out of Beaufort West. Once I got to the park, the real hard work started, as the wind was now directly from the front and there was still some climbing to be done.

But, I made it, and we are now camping under the trees, in a sheltered spot. We have had our supper and will go for a drive in the park tomorrow.

The total distance done so far, is just over 2,500km. There were 7 days in which I could not record data, due to the loss of my gps, but for the rest of the trip, my total ascent is just over 13,000m and I have burnt more than 48,800 calories! Now you know why I eat so much!

We will be in the Park for 3 nights (2 days) so don't expect too much blog news. If we see some lovely things, I will try to post a new page. So cheers for now.