Most of the preparations are done, we pretty much only need to pack the bakkie and leave.
But in the meantime there is a wedding to attend to.
On Saturday morning Alicia and I will shoot through to Tulbagh for a wedding. We'll join the festivities, celebrate like champions and then head back to Somerset West.
Here I'll pick up Werner, and then our journey begins. We'll head out Saturday evening and drive through the night so that we don't have to drive through the Transkei in die dark.
Our route is up via N1 to Graaff Reinett, and then via Country roads skirting below Lesotho to Underberg. This will be rough, as we'll sleep Friday evening, and then take turns to nap in my bakkie (Corsa-tiny inside) and only catch a dos on Sunday again.
We do this so that we have a chance to rest and explore underberg on Monday and get everything in oder for the race that starts on Tuesday. Tuesday to Thursday we'll be zipping through forests, valleys, sugar cane fields, riding over water (minus the Peter aspect, they build bridges) and generally do what mountainbikers love most. Ride. When we reach the sea at Scottsburgh we'll cycle along the beach to get the beach effect, and then we'll go up to the local high school and into the history books as legends (well in my head anyway.)
We then catch a lift back to Underberg where we spend another night in the backpackers before going home.
Coming back we'll cruise through the Transkei. Sleep in Grahamstown, cruise home again on the N2, maybe stop in Harkerville for more trails, and then zip home via Heidelberg (and hopefully some of Alicia's mom's amazing food.)
I'll do most of the packing tonight, and then recheck and repack everything on Friday again. I'm only taking one box and one large duffel bag for my baggage. That means I'll need to pack creatively to get everything in. but I don't really need half the stuff that I usually pack, so I should be fine. Werner sorted himself out with some ammo boxes (engineer.) I'll remove the bike rack and sail and just put the bikes upright and our baggage in the middle like we did when I just got the bakkie. Fuel consumption is a bit of a pain with the bikes on the rack, and on a 3000km every bit helps.
I might update the blog while on the trip, but to be honest I think a decent story afterwards will be better. Maybe I'll post something on the vleisbroek or twatter along the way, but the best bet is probably to callor msg me if you want to stay in the loop (don't worry mom and Alicia, I'll call you.) Werner acquired a Gopro video camera that we'll take along, so there will be footage, and if we feel creative we might just put a lekker video together afterwards.
I honestly can't explain how excited I am.
Only three more sleeps...
Maak jou oë toe en jou hart oop
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