December 5, 2015
To Kamieskroon: finally meeting other cyclists on the road
"There's a cyclist coming toward us" says Patrick. "Two" Rachel says. We couldn't believe our eyes, we've only met two other cyclists while in Africa. Shaking hands, they say, "Hi, I'm Monika" and I'm Robi". From Switzerland, they have been cycling for eleven years! They are now taking two years to go home with a plan to open a guesthouse.
Whenever cyclists meet other cyclists, there's an instant connection and understanding. When going in opposite directions, it's exchanging information about the road ahead. We visited for close to an hour talking about different routes with suggestions. http://www.velocos.ch/letsgo/about-us/
We start and end the day at about the same elevation with losing 300+ meters at the halfway mark. A big rig truck coming towards us is honking and the driver waving with two hands, Patrick recognizes that this was our ride from Keetmanshoop to the border.
There continues to be road construction in sections and we cycle on the construction side, our own bike lane. This was nice on one long climb where we didn't need to worry about traffic and could just pedal and look at the scenery.
Sometimes the traffic required riding on the hard packed dirt shoulder to get off the narrow road like when a truck was coming up from behind us on a blind spot cresting a hill or oncoming vehicles passing. This is the area where in springtime people come to see the desert flowers.
When reaching Springbok, we go to the place the cyclists recommended, camped on the green grass behind the hotel, next to the owners private swimming pool. Sweet!
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 67 km (42 miles)
Total: 10,186 km (6,326 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |