Day 2️⃣

It was a good start. Up and going early. Into Villiersdorp to try and find a bank to sort out my issue. No Capitec there. Oh crap. So it will have to be Worcester. I buy the few items I need at the spar (good for you) and head off. Just out of town I check for the last time... for some or another reason my bank is back up and working. I am happy. I get moving and moving well. It is fun.

Into Worcester. I decide to go to the bike shop and get a fill up of sealant in the back tyre. I am passing by the shop and it would be silly not to. I chat with the owner while the mechanic does his thing. It is only a few minutes and I am rolling out of there. 

Happy with all and motivated for the day I get up to speed quickly and out of town. It is fun riding. 

Up to Goudini spar. Hello, please can I have one night camping. The dude tjoons me 380 rands! I look at him and ask if he is being funny. He says he is not. I promptly leave and shall never see that place again. 

Now I find myself here. Next to the Breede river. I am the only one at this campsite. Having washed my clothes and had a shower I feel much better. The last 2 days have been quite rough. Lots going on in my head. So many thoughts. So busy. So much to think about. I find the quietness here very sobering and very peaceful. I need more of this. A lot more. 

I wish you all well. It will take me a day or two to get back into good fun writing and happy times. It will come. Don't give up on me just yet 😀

Have a good evening. Be safe. Be happy. 

Chat soon.

G

Day 1️⃣ again

A quick thanks again to everyone who put me up, who put up with me and all those I saw and chatted to. Again it is all very much welcomed and appreciated. I will not forget.

I woke up feeling uneasy. The first day always seems to do this to me. I get nervous and slightly afraid of what is to come. I got going pretty quick. The weather played it's part and so did the bike. It seems the forgetful ones were the legs. It took a few kms to get warmed up and going. By the time I was out of town on the Stellenbosch road things had improved significantly. I was moving well now and I was satisfied with the pace.

Into the "Bosch" for a few supplies. I had left CT with no food as it was my plan to buy them here. Well the Spar (good for you) was not at all. In fact it was (bad for me). After waiting 5 minutes to get a sausage roll i went to complain to the manager. Well I wasted my time there too. Amazing how some managers stick up for their incompetent useless staff. Anyway I got the other items and fucked off. Needless to say the mood was not good here. Attached to the fact that I now had a 5km climb. I ditched the bad mood on the side of the road and got going. It was good. Up and down the other side. The compulsory stop at the cafe for a coke zero. Yes I still drink that crap. Will endeavour on this trip to cut it out.

Into Franschoek. I stop off at the bike shop and greet the head hauncher. We chat for a bit. He admires my trusty steed. I acknowledge his praise with a "yes, it is beautiful". I talk about tyre pressure and he offers me an electronic gauge. I decline as my bank is on the blink since I woke up. He offers it to me for mahala. I still decline. It is 400 notes and I don't really need it or the extra 50 grams it will add to my load. We bid farewell I nearly get run over riding into the street. I middle finger the culprit (myslef) and get going again. 

Up Franschoek pass. It is a beast but gets dealt with quite quickly to my surprise. Down the other side. Like a child in a candy store I love all the turns and fast downs. It is a blast. My smile is from ear to ear. I really enjoyed that.

On the straight. I can see the tree line I am aiming for. Nothing could possibly go wrong now. As that very thought enters my mind I feel drops attacking my leg. Is it rain? No! Is it snow? No! Is it my water bottle? No! WTF is it...

I have run over something and the sealant is struggling to repair the damage. I stop and and attend to the situation. Eventually it stops leaking. I am happy. Suddenly the tyre pressure gauge would have been a god send. Who would have thought 😁😁

I get to my destination and set up. Wash in the river and have a fairly good nights sleep. All in all I feel okay. Grateful I have made it out of town alive.

Tomorrow

So... I leave again tomorrow. The usual butterflies are here and I am a little nervous of the traffic. While I do my best to stay alive I can't say the same for the drivers on the roads. 

It is a little spot on the other side of Franschoek I am aiming for. Stayed there before. The spot in the forest near the dam. It should be a grand ride. I am ever so looking forward to it. The riding is my passion, not so much the sleeping on a half inch blow up mattress. I have a new inflatable pillow so hopefully that will keep me a bit more comfortable. My aim is the Karoo. Surprise surprise. I haven't decided the route so could take from 3 days to 3 weeks to get there. Who knows. I have ditched the dyno front wheel for a solar power bank. Fucking hope it works. The wheel and all its wires were quite ugly and bulky. The power bank not so much. Fingers crossed people. I am still of 2 minds as to whether or not I will post or take a break from it all and just be with my own thoughts every day. 

Sorry it had become a bit of a morbid blog. My goal is to make it better and back to being fun to read and so on and so forth. 

Anyway happy Sunday. Off for a drink. Bit of a goodbye drink again I guess. Okay from now on less guessing too. 

Anyway chat later and be safe. Until then sweet dreams and happy thoughts.

G

A Few Days

It has been a few days since my last post. Amazing how I am now going to blame it on not having time but there have been loads of opportunities to write. I think this may very well be my last post. My life has had many ups and a few downs since I last chatted to you. Most importantly is the fact that I am not in a good head space in Cape Town and I am aiming to go riding again soon. My time here has been one to remember and i cherish every single day of it. I will be very sad to leave as I know the lonely days and nights that lay ahead. This is the only real demon I face on my trips. The rest of it is magical. The riding, the scenery and most of all the people I meet. But it is very lonely and it takes its toll on me. However I need to get away again and go and do this. In simple terms run away again. 😁

So if you read this I thank you. Sorry it has been so long. I am not sure I will keep it going on this trip. This trip will be different. Not sure of anything right now but the fact that I am not doing well here in CT. 

Sorry for the doom and gloom. I hope I can turn myself around quickly and be back to normal. But then these days what is normal. We are all fighting different fights and just trying to cope in this new age. We will all succeed and come out better than ever. New jokes. New attitudes. New goals. New horizons. New life. I certainly need to find it. 

Chat soon people. Be safe. Be you. Be happy. Love you all.

Greg

It's Not About The Bike

Well which drug cheat ever said that?! What a twat. Today was all about the bike. It just wants to go. Greg says here is good for the night and the bike says... no no nooooooo. Like a whiney house. This is the first tour for this bike. I bought it specifically because it is the best tool for this job. It doesn't have tea from 9am till 12pm. Then lunch from 12.30pm until 3.45pm. This thing is a hard worker. It is not a professional flag 🚩🦺 waver. It is a trusty Lynskey. I was gonna say steed but have you seen the steed bakkies? 😳 negative sir. 

Anyway I got up. Yesterday was a write off. Rained the whole day. Today, different kettle of fish. It was absolutely perfect. Packed and ready to go I say my goodbyes and hit the road. Down the pass into town. A coffee to keep things real. A pie in the pocket for lunch. I was set for a good day. Picketburg had been good to me and I will return there again. 

Not much to do for the first 50kms. Road riding. Boring as a game of test cricket 🏏. Then swing a right and onto some gravel. I had been missing this. The last couple of days had been mostly road. I just find it a tad boring.

Wow! What a road. It will connect me to the tar where I am heading. It is a fabulous piece of art. Not much but beautiful scenery on both sides. A little up then a little more. Then more up! It started to become a shitty road quite quickly. A bit more up. Then some more. Again more up. I mean how much up is there? A bit more just to rub it in.

Done with the up I reached the summit. It was beautiful. I took photos, well I thought I did. 10 stationary movies of my finger. Well so be it. I am not going back for a few pictures. The down was good. Normally downers are terrible. You feel all dehydrated and lonely. Tired and depressed. This was magnificent. I could barely contain myself. Almost going into the side of the road a few times I decide to slow down and be a tad more careful. 

Safely back down and not feeling too out of sorts I take on the long flattish dirt. It is not bad. I enjoy it and reach the tarmac safely. It's a left here.

I arrive at the little town or shithole I like to call it, Redelinghuys. I don't have many words to describe this place. They say a picture is a thousand words 🚽. 

I buy some water, a chocolate and a coke. The card machine does not work. Am I surprised? Nope. I almost can't believe they have the items I wanted. So cash it is 💸. Transaction done I leave. The 5️⃣ 0️⃣ are there to watch me depart. I am not sure if they can't believe what they are seeing or if they think I am a crim. Who knows. Who cares. By the looks of it they couldn't ride a bike from their car seat van to the bonnet. Not my concern. Stomach in chest out. 🛃

From there on it is pretty much plain sailing to my destination. About an hours ride with little to nill to talk about. 

I reach my camping spot. Great little place. Or is it? The lady at the desk reminds me of my sister. I just wanted to punch her in the face. Sorry everyone but this is life. She talked too much. Crap was her language. I recognized it straight away. She had the butler deliver my beers so I was grateful for at least that. 30 in total. Well it's Thursday and no sales from now till Monday so at least I have a small stock with me. One day he think of everything. Today is that day.

Right I am off to shower and wash the old bones. I figure I smell a bit as when I went to the Padstal I got a few looks that could raise the dead. Don't worry I put a spell on all of them. They won't do that again without any eyebrows. 😉

Until we meet again. Take it easy. Take it slow. But most of all take it.

Peace out 💙

Indeed

Tuesday

I keep forgetting where I left off. So I am not entirely sure if I ever repeat repeat anything?! I hope not. But at my age I am just happy if I make it to the 🚽 before I go to the 🚽.

So yesterday saw me up early as I wanted to get here before the rain started. Up at 7. Showered 🚿 ready to go by 7.45. I squared up on Friday so knew I was in good standing. I managed to get to the top of hell's climb quite quickly. Once there I took a second to wave my goodbyes to the weeks long accommodation. I noticed a little dirt on my bike. I bent over and flicked it off. For some bizarre reason as I did that I knew it was 🐶💩. I lifted my 🧤 to smell it and accidentally touched my top lip. It was very much indeed 🐶💩. I put the bike against a tree and went over to a puddle to wash it off. I must have spent a good 10 minutes trying to get rid of it and the smell. You simply do not get ride of the smell of 🐶💩 without washing powder. 

So off I go. Fantastic trip down the other side of the pass. Into Porterville. Usual ☕ stop. Chat to the boss lady. She informs me of excellent Sunday trading as many people out to see the snow. She was elated I was cold. I asked her to step up the delivery of my internal heater. Coffee done it was off to Piketberg. Nothing in it. 30kms of semi flat road. My GPS took me straight to Spur for a 🍔🍟. It was good. Filled an empty fuel tank. I checked off to Spar (good for you) for a nights food supplies. 

On my departure I noticed a darkening of the environment. I got nervous and held all my goods tight. You see it on 🖥 and always think you know what to do. I did. I reached into my bag shuffled around for what I was looking for and pulled out my raincoat. The clouds had arrived before I wanted them to. It was not good for me. Riding in the rain is my second least favorite kind of riding. What could I do? I put on my coat and tried best to stay happy. It worked. I was smiling again. It was to be temporary. 

I took like a bat out of china. Fast as I could. The others did too. We all hoped this wouldn't be our last supper. I swung a left onto the pass. Not too steep not too long but enough to see me get caught. I covered my mouth and nose as to not let anything get into me that would cause me to get sick. My eye apparel was fitted as extra caution too. With me looking like an ER doctor I was surely to survive this onslaught of weather attack. I coughed once and looked around. No one was staring at me or yelling at me to go home. It was grand. A free journey without FB or internet warriors or keyboard police around. I relaxed and settled into the climb. The rain was hard, but I was harder. It kept coming and so did I. It certainly was a battle royal. I knew I had to just finish to win. It certainly was tough going but a little wetness would not stop me.

Eventually I get to the gate. I knock on the office door. They recognize me. We greet. I get served hot coffee. 2 cups. Wa wa we wa. A quick bit of small talk. The rain stops long enough for me to make it to my cabin. Unpacked and showered I feel like a new man. It is an early night and a good rest. 

Today was a quick spin to the shops. No rain but something far, far worse. Wind. Not my own even though beans were had for dinner the previous night. A headwind. I don't know who controls the wind but it was there and back. I struggle with the wind. It is demoralizing. You go hell for leather and realize you are doing snails pace. There and back. It was not the most fun but I love riding my bike. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. Rain and mud destroys your bike. Wind destroys your soul. Well me anyway. 

Okay until next time. Keep it real. Beers and wine soon. You are buying. 

G 

Happy My Birthday Month