A general view

So we are ~amount of days into the ride. I don't know what day it is or even how many days we've been riding.
It's still baby steps with a goal for each day and sometimes even smaller achievements.
I remember blithely writing a post a while back about being fit for the first six days and building on that.
It hasn't really worked out. The first 8 days were pain in the left knee and a sinus headache causing a lot of trauma. I am riding much better now and you would think things are in a groove. But I seem to ride into more niggles. The sinus turned into a head cold and a cough which persists. My right achilles is playing up as well as my right quad.
Irritating!
Oh and the butt is welded to the saddle to the point that even when I am sitting on a couch, I can still feel its presence. I think this is why my quad hurts - overuse from standing to ease the sore butt.
The eye puffiness is a thing of the past so mornings are much better.
I suppose all these "ailments" come with the territory and I mean this literally. I would normally never lug my bike into and over the places I have been, much less ride in these weather conditions.
But despite all of these aches and pains, I am really enjoying myself.
Today was a fab day although it rained most of the day.
We left Toekomst and meandered about a bit looking for the route around the water. Then the rest of the group made a nav error and we weren't to see them until later this evening.
The three of us (Doug, Sean and I) decided to have an easy day to Bucklands (100k). And we did.
We rode the most amazing route through the Gwaas Valley which was characterised by scrubby bush and a huge range of succulents.
Then there was the winding descent through Perdepoort. Even with mud and rain in my eyes, it was beautiful. There were moss and lichen covered thorn trees in one section of the ride and huge ancient prickly pear bushes.
Cold and wet we stopped at the Emergency SS but no one was home. I was pretty hungry and gatvol of bars but found some fruit cake to sustain me.
Eventually we popped out at a place called Kleinpoort and there was a roadside cafe where we stopped for toasted bacon and egg saamies. A lifesaver.
Doug produced a tiny bottle of Jack Daniels to complete the meal and we covered the last 30k to Bucklands in just over an hour and a half to be in by 4.30pm.
You must understand that to have an average speed of over 15k per hour is phenomenal in this event and it was our best so far.
Hannes and his daughter Lisa welcomed us and we were able to wash bikes and do some much needed maintenance on them.
What a great day it has been. Crappy weather and loving it cos I know it's not something I would voluntarily do, beautiful scenery that our country has so much of, excellent company and new spaces, people and experiences.
So we keep moving on, all the while getting closer to the end goal.

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