Day 341 - 342 / 106 - 107

Date: 19 - 20 March 2023
Sleeping location: Sani Lodge Backpackers 29.6622S 29.4560E, South Africa
Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 79 / 21171 / 6334
Estimated climb (m today/total/total Part 2): 1300 / 192700 / 74700
Link: magic

Day in three words: Curry and cheese

I set out into more of the incredibly beautiful landscape of grassy hills, huge cliffs and escarpments and clear, fast flowing rivers. There was not a soul about and it felt very pure and peaceful. The dirt road was in quite good condition but uncomfortably bumpy with random sand traps, and was the terrain was rolling with some quite spicy little hills. The last climb out of the area was a lot bigger and spicier - a large vindaloo, with similar sweat levels but much better views. On this climb I accidentally did quite a clunky gear change under load, the chain made a funny noise and then went completely limp. I looked down, saw that it was no longer a circle and feared that I’d somehow snapped it. Actually what had happened was much weirder and much easier to fix - the quick release link had somehow released itself. This requires you to push the link in two different directions at the same time, and it’s often hard work to do this deliberately with a pair of pliers. 

Off the top was a long gradual descent, but the road was messed up enough to require a lot of braking and control and it was often a bit too bumpy to be fun. After a while in the wilderness I came back into an area with a couple of villages, and here the road surface improved but there were two medium climbs to negotiate, both like a hot portion of jalfrezi, although the second had a raita on the side as there were a couple of short flat/down sections to reduce the spice levels for a bit*. The sun was blazing again and it was hot work, although I could see thunderstorms forming all around me. I was surprisingly worn out by the end of the last climb but thankfully here the landscape levelled out and I had a short gravel section before I hit tarmac again. Like the last time it had been almost 100km of dirt road; this had been a lot spicier but also a lot more beautiful. 

I wanted to head into the town of Underberg to pick up supplies, but this was a 15km out and back detour so I stopped in at “Colleen’s Cafe” for a late lunch and to ask if I could stash most of bags here to make the ride into town easier. The eponymous Colleen was very accommodating and it turned out she was going to the supermarket anyway after the cafe closed, so would I like a lift? Yes I would. In the car I kept the window open to try and spare Colleen the smell of my socks and shoes whilst we talked. It turned out that her nephew was Keegan Longueira, the guy who had held the Cairo to Cape unsupported cycling speed record before Mark Beaumont took it off him just a few weeks later - small world. 

Colleen dropped me back to Maggie and I cycled the last 15km to the Sani Backpackers, which felt a lot longer and harder than it should have done. It was definitely time for a rest day, especially given the mountains that lay ahead. The backpackers was in a beautiful location under the mountains and I scored a dorm room to myself for both nights, but I didn’t do much socialising as I was feeling quite tense. I had found the last two days surprisingly tough and there was a lot worse to come.

The next day I ate a lot, rested my weary legs, blogged and tried to figure out my route and schedule. Lesotho looks incredibly challenging and for the first time in a while I was scared of what lay ahead. The next 300km involves well over 7000m of climb**, 4000m of it on dirt roads, high altitudes, afternoon thunderstorms, massive temperature variations, remote areas and rumours of hundreds of begging children (the worst fear of all). I considered resting a second day if I didn't feel 100%, but whilst this made sense from a physical perspective it didn't from a mental perspective. It was just putting it off and I am better at doing than thinking. To make the sections less scary I gave them stupid names: so for the next few days I will be riding In-Sani-ty and the Reckless Kicker, Shouty Kenneth, Pecan Sally and Trevor Triumph. 

My meals at the hostel mainly consisted of cheese and potatoes after I hugely over-purchased both - the hostel had an attached dairy and I was lured in by its many delights. In the end there was so much left over that I carried an entire wheel of Gouda away with me when I left. A huge series of storms around and after sunset on the second day seemed to knock the power off entirely. I ate a huge meal (containing lots of cheese and potatoes, naturally) in the dark, went to bed and set the alarm for 5.45. 

*I'm really flogging this metaphor aren't I 

**For non cyclists, generally I would consider 300km with 3000m of climb to be "fairly hilly", 4500m to be "rather punchy" and 6000m to be "send help". I am a heavy man, I am not a good climbing cyclist at the best of times, and I am riding a 45kg bike.