Sunday 28 June Day 14

Another day of rain!

We left Toekomst this morning in the dark at 6:00. We had to head out through a large flat land area (part of the Sundays river valley national park). We headed off in the correct direction and within 45 minutes found we were riding over our own tracks again. Navigation in the dark is not easy.

After the park we headed out according to the maps. Fiona had an uneasy feeling about the route the rest of the group were taking so we stopped an rechecked. We found that the route the others were taking was completely wrong and we found the correct route. This saved us about 3 hours.

The day was generally cold and wet with very little view because of the low cloud. There was an intermediate support station listed but when we got there we found no one home. All we wanted was a hot coffee to help us warm up. We continued on the route and about 30km from the end we came across a small shop with a restaurant attached. We dashed in there and ordered some toasted egg & bacon sandwiches with some coffee. I had a Jack Daniels that we didn't drink last night so took that out as well. It went down a treat and warmed us beautifully.

When we got outside again the rain had stopped and the rest of the ride was fantastic. Arrived at Bucklands at 16:30 with time to do some maintenance on our bikes. This is a beautiful place, nestled in the base of the very imposing Perdeberg.

Today I tried to tape up my shoes with duct tape but this only lasted about half the ride. When Derek came on this evening he said he had the ultimate solution. Cut up a bicycle tube into a long strip and wind that around the shoe to support it. I found some rubber based glue which I used to stick it on with. Tomorrow will confirm if this will work.

Total distance covered today, 110km

Tomorrow we go over the Perfeberg

Note from Aileen – only 6 more sleeps til I see my hubby – yahoooo!