Tuesday 16th

Yesterday was an absolute nightmare. Left Franschoek. So far so good. Over the pass. Still okay. Then while I am descending the other side the rain arrived. A lot. A hell of a lot. I made it to the T junction where it stopped briefly. I decided to continue. I very carefully laid my sunglasses next to me, thinking... don't forget them. 

I then departed. Okay for about 40 minutes. No rain. But then, it started. Pouring again. I started to cry. Whilst reaching for my glasses to take them off 😳😲😳😲 the fuck. I had left them next to the road. I immediately started heading back there at full gass. I was sure they would be gone. All sorts of thoughts. Why am I doing this trip. Why am I unemployed. Why do I keep making mistakes. The list is endless. I continued at full gass whilst crying. It was one of the worst moments I have had out here. Eventually after what seemed like hours I got to the exact spot I put them down. Holy 💩💩💩. They are still there. I was happy yet still extremely disappointed I had left them. My decision was to go to my spot in the forest and put up camp for the night. It was only 2pm but the rain was not going to stop and I was in a terrible head space. 

As I already knew my tent leaks. So luckily while I was sitting in it freezing I was also bailing water out of it. Quite a sight. I am happy yesterday is done.

Today was slightly better. A good ride in wet clothes. As I sit here the only item left to completely dry are my 🧦. Everything else dried on the ride. 

My bike has picked up an issue from riding in the rain. The BB is crunchy which means it is toast. So tomorrow it is back to Ceres to get that fixed. Today was hard. Mentally very very tough. Many questions and very few answers. I need to learn how to deal with this better. I get very frustrated and angry and I miss the reason for my trip. I am working on it. 

Apart from all that I am good. It was supposed to be up to Greyton and then beyond. But with the weather I decided on a drier route. So be it. Once my bike is sorted I will see what my next move is.

Sorry for the negative post but I am a bit down at the moment. Things will improve. This I am sure. Just a few bad days!

The world is what we make it. No one else does the work. Sometimes good, sometimes not so much. It is important to know that when times are tough you just keep moving forward. Going back or sideways is a waste. Today was better than yesterday. Tomorrow will be better than today. It simply has to be. 

I am very sad my bike is not working properly. I love it like a child. But tomorrow it will be fixed and the screaming will stop. (quite literally)

On these trips I take photos and try to capture what I see. They do no justice. Right now I am in my tent. Op die berg. Been here many times. It's a bush camp. The views are magnificent. This is why I do these trips. I am very very grateful that life allows me to. 

I hope you are all well. Happy. Life is good.

Chat soon.

G.

Been A While

My time in Cape Town was good. Spent with good people and friends with whom I cannot live without. Thank you very much to the Small's and Claire. You are more than friends and I am lucky to have you in my life. Lots of rides with Tom. I hope your bike is working soon.

I decided a short time ago that another tour would happen. Nieu-bethesda would be my destination this time. A small, quaint little town. I have been there previously which made my decision to want to go there again an easy one. Job searching did not go well and I wanted to get cycling again. 

This will be an amazing journey. 

I left CT around 8am. The traffic was quiet and the air was cool. Rain was predicted but it seems I was lucky enough to get here before I got drenched. It was a superb ride today. Easy going. The nerves as usual were all there along with the anxiety I have on the first few days. One would think I am used to it by now but not the case.

I have reached my destination for the night. My brother has kindly let me have a night at his farm. The Farmstead Franschoek. If you need accommodation near Franschoek this is the spot. It is first class. 

I hope everyone who has been part of my journey and has helped me along the way knows how grateful I am. It is all of us traveling together. I always feel as though I have forgotten to thank someone for their effort. So if you are reading this please know I am grateful even if we have just crossed paths. 

I don't know how much energy I will be putting into my blog. I am on Instagram now and trying to get a following for my cycling. Let's see how it all goes.

Anyway day one done. Happy. Tired. Anxious. Grateful. Blessed. 

Chat soon friends. 

G💙

More Uphill 😅

Riding

Always Friday

Yesterday's ride was absolutely grueling. Leave Montagu. So far 👍🏻. Through Ashton 👍🏻. By the way, they have built a 🌁 there that must have cost 💰💸💳. Next 🦵🏻 to Robertson 🆘️🅾️. Had a quick 🍪. Very nice. Then I depart Robertson. Back 🛣 to Villiersdorp. The 🥇 20kms windy. Then holy 💩🙈🙊. It was like dying in slow motion. If you weren't pedaling you were being 🌬 (and not the good one) backwards at a 💯 miles an ⌛. The language was appalling 🤬🤬. One of the reasons I ride alone. I think the worst wind I have ever, forever ever, yip ridden in. No matter what I did, 💸💶, 🤬🤬, 😭😭 or even promise to become religious, it just kept getting worse. I was truly broken. 

Anyway. In Villiersdorp. Spar! Few goodies for my effort. Few baddies too 🍔🍟🍦🍐🍏. I wasn't too sure about this day but after the conditions I had it was to be off to my spot near the dam. There I managed to pull myself together and have a great 🛌. I was just happy not to be in a headwind anymore. 

Today was 🆙️. Clean 🧼🧽 and over Franschoek pass. It was an enjoyable ride. Nothing much to do! Into town for a coffee. At the 🏕 for twee nights. Chilling out. Hopefully get to 👀 my brother and his family on Sunday. 

Otherwise not much to report. This trip is ending soon. It has been a blast. Can't believe how far I have gone and how much I have 👀. Met some fantastic people. Looking forward to seeing my mates in CT. Missed them.

Hope you are all well. Strong. Happy. 

Until then. 

🗜™️

Wednesday 17.

Another cold night. 🥶 not quite as bad as the night before but full winter 🛌bag. The 🛌 itself was one of the best in a long ⌚. Packed and ready to go it was off. A slight uphill to the boss ladies office. Pay the 🧾💳 and gazoom. Through the main 🚧. It's a ⬅️ turn. Joe obviously! Not long into my ride but what do I 👀👓... another 🚵🏼‍♀️. We chat. She lives in the area 🤔. She owns a company that does bike races. Business is 🤫. We depart ways. More joe. It is a splendid ride. Not too 🌡. Not too 🌬. Great riding conditions. As I am passing another farm I see another rider. Mmmmm. This one not sure. It is a 👳🏽‍♂️ fella. On an ⚡⚡🚲. With no ⛑. Flip flops. No 💧💧. I ask him if he is okay. He says this way to Montagu?? I said nope you are going the wrong way. He looks confused. I said follow me let's go. He turns around and we ride a bit. We are doing almost 0 kilometers per ⌛. I tell him I need to push on and 👋🏻 goodbye. I take an impressive lead 😉. After about 30 or so minutes guess who is back 😳🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️. He must have ramped up his electric ⚡⚡. I don't even see him pedaling up the hills. Just pushing a button. F this I said. We get to the top of a pass. Let's test your skills now mr durbanite. I take the hell off. If he beats me now I am walking the rest of this trip.

Here is a lesson 👨🏻‍🦱👨🏻‍🦳 I don't like being beaten. My skills are tested. ➡️↘️⬇️↗️➡️↘️↘️➡️↘️↘️⬇️➡️↗️➡️↘️⬇️↗️➡️ you get the idea. Needless to say I didn't see him again. I am not being a 🐈 here. The guy was lost. I offered him 💧. He declined. Then he was going at 🐌 pace. Then he is overtaking me. WTEFF. Anyway I hope he made it back safe.

Down the pass. It is a lot of fun. I get to the 🍵 junction. ➡️ turn. Next T junction. Right turn. A little over a kilometer and I am in town. 🍔🍟 for lunch and off to my usual 🛌 spot.

Clean and fresh I am resting up. Been quite a fun day. Looking forward to tomorrow. Beers soon compadres. Chin qui. 

Over and out for today.

🗜™️

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