Day 9 of our mountain bike tour throughout South Africa’s Backyard Route with tour firm, African Bikers, started not like most different days on the tour. As an alternative of consuming breakfast after which climbing inside the corporate van and being pushed to some close by mountain biking vacation spot, we began the day with breakfast after which cycled straight out of the lodge right into a distant desert-like area accompanied not by only one tour information (Steve), however by an extra tour information named Mark – a neighborhood who knew the back-roads we might be using higher than most.
The primary a part of the journey consisted of biking on dust and gravel roads. Whereas there have been no steep climbs through the day, there have been quite a few ups and downs.
Flat tires had been a standard incidence all through the day… and a few riders in our group had been luckier than others.
At a number of factors all through the day we may not journey our bikes, however needed to push or carry them over rocks, via tall grass, and even throughout small streams.
The stream crossings had been my favourite a part of the day… and (regardless of my hatred for swimming) I used to be the primary in our group to leap in and take a swim. The others quickly adopted and we had fun splashing about within the shallow, heat water.
Our vacation spot for lunch was a small cave the place historical South Africans had way back drawn elephants on the partitions of the cave. “This area,” Mark informed us, “used to have a number of Elephants.”
By the point we reached the cave, most of us had been so drained that we may hardly benefit from the cave work, however as a substitute needed nothing greater than to lie down and relaxation. It was tremendous sizzling exterior and we had been all very drained.
After our picnic lunch within the cave we completed the day with a brief 10 km bike journey via some tough single-track trails again to the van the place Kim was ready for us.
It was an extended, sizzling day (and I misplaced my sun shades someplace alongside the way in which), but it surely was a satisfying day. We loved our bathe and meal again on the Rooiberg Lodge upon our return and I slept properly that night time, realizing I might get up early the subsequent morning and be fortunate sufficient to take part in one other unbelievable day of mountain biking in South Africa.