Today will be our longest day with 435km to cover. This will take us to Blesfontein guest farm in Sutherland where we will spend two nights. A late start from Rooiberg Lodge means that we will need to push on if we don’t want to ride after sunset.
The first gravel section takes us to Barrydale where we continue on with the R62 over Op de Tradouw and Wildehondskloofhoogte passes to Montagu. But we do not get onto tarmac before having our first technical issue with Alpha’s rig. On closer inspection it became clear that it was not the brakes ;).
A mere 800m from the fuel station in Montagu I run out of petrol. After filling up from the Jerry can we ride into town to get some food for lunch later.
We then continue towards Touwsrivier via Joubertspoort Pass and Ouberg Pass. By now we’ve made peace with the dust because it is everywhere and sometime you find yourself longing for the mud of a few days ago.
We fill up in Touwsrivier and Marty changes his air filter after sucking in a lot of dust. We do a short stint on the highway before we turn of towards Sutherland. This is a place not only known to be the coldest town in South Africa but also for it’s amazing stargazing. It is the home of the South African Astronomical Observatory.
We stay at Blesfontein guest farm just outside Sutherland for the next two nights. This will give us a chance to rest and do any maintenance that is required. It is not yet winter but the evening temperature is freezing when the wind blows.
Since the weather was just above freezing and the dam water probably just below I decided that it was a good time for a swim. Marty’s grandson Conner joined me.
After a nice steak and chips dinner we are treated to a bit of stargazing by our host. It just brought home the fact that we really are a very small and insignificant part of the universe.
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