Lucknow

March 26, 2024

Mundarama's Royal Hotel is similar to almost every Royal Hotel I have encountered in South Africa. Invariably they are in small country town whose population is diminishing. They enjoyed a heyday in sixties and seventies when traveling salesmen did their rounds. The bar could always be relied upon to have a few locals to scowl at any new comers who intruded on their territory but inevitably becoming bosom buddies with them after sharing a beer or two. And of course, kitchen service might not be available. And if it was, what was available was iffy. I can recall stopping in at a similar establishment in the village of Peddie while hitch hiking back from from university in the seventies - lunch of the day was baked beans on toast. In Mandurama's Royal, the kitchen only works from Wednesday to Saturday so breakfast was a bowl of muesli in our room.

Everything was still locked up by the time we left this morning but the barman had given me the combination of the lock on the gate that lead to the courtyard at the back so I was able to recover our bicycles.

After five kilometers we turned off the Mid-West Highway onto a road to Errowanbang. A bit of a climb until we turned off onto a gravel road called The Gap Road. This was just a bit steeper and Leigh sensibly walked some of it.

Leigh was standing at the turnoff to Errowanbang to take this photo for my sister who lives on a farm near the village of Bathurst in the Albany district of the Eastern Cape.

Walking the last few meters of the first climb on the Gap Road.

It flattened out to give us some lovely cycling.

After eight kilometers the road reverted to tar and we slowly climbed in a series of ups and downs until we reached nine hundred and fifty meters, which I think us our highest point so far on this trip.

We took the road towards Spring Hill, including a couple of kilometers of gravel, stopping just before the village to enjoy lunch, at the end of which Leigh noticed her front tyre was flat. First puncture of the trip and first puncture caused by a piece of glass that we have had with Scwalbe Marathon Mondial tyres. Despite the puncture, it was a very enjoyable day's cycling.

Once we reached Lucknow, five kilometers past Spring Hill, we called Angela and Gerald Naef to let them know we were getting close to their farm. They met us at the bottom of the steep hill leading up to the farm where tossed the bicycles onto the back of their ute, saving us a stiff climb.

Angela and Leigh in the lovely garden that Angela has built over the last twenty years or so.

A hot shower, laundry into the washing machine and a cold beer followed in quick succession. Some good food, excellent wine and lots of talking took up the next few hours.

But more on that tomorrow.

Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 808 km (502 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	8
Comment on this entry	Comment	0