Adventure or Torture

When @poplapmeisie (the wife) and I are on holiday, we like to take out mountain bikes along to enjoy some of the local nature and bike routes.  Usually we start with smaller routes and progress as the holiday goes along.  From a leg stretch 10km to a more gruelling 25km ride.

This year while we were in Wilderniss, late one afternoon we decided to go on a "stretch the legs" 10km ride and with my curios, yet sometimes determined wife, we ended up on a 25km adventure or should I say a 25km torture. Everyday's an adventure right?

OK, for some 25km sounds like a ride in the park, but just remember, we have not been on our bikes in a few months, and 25km on gravel and jeep track = roughly 50km plus on road.

The ride:

We headed out Island Lake Camp site and headed along the vlei/lakes road.  A beautiful ride along the many lakes in the area.  About 5-7 km in the road splits and you can take the road to Swart Vlei or left up a pass to Karatara.  Now here @poplapmeisie 's curiosity kicks - " I wonder how long the pass is"

So up we went along the very bad eroded gravel pass. It felt like it took forever, but after a few swear words and a few breaks we made the top.  What a View...

At the top, we soon found our second breath and was cycling along the winding gravel roads between cattle farms and green pastures.  Not wanting to take that bad pass back down, we decided to head on and boy, were we heading for an adventure.

First mistake for the day - since it was only going to be a short ride, we only packed half a bottle of water.

Second mistake of the day - we did not know the roads or how far it was.

Third Mistake - Cellphone battery almost dead, so no gps apps could run.

But even thou we were sort of lost in the middle of nowhere with little water, we continued.  Finally after an hours cycling we came to a cross roads and finally had a new sense of direction and energy.  Left to Hoekwil we go.

Now cycling on tar, the going was easy and the speed picked up and soon we were in Hoekwill....a mere few kilometres from our camp.

Going down the Hoekwill pass to the campsite was a real adrenaline rush.  After almost 2 hours and 25km we finally reached our camp. We both dropped the bikes, jumped into the lake for a cool down and reached for a cold beer.

Next time, we'll be more prepared for life's little adventures.