2001 Biking South Africa

Day 17, Monday, July 2
Bethulie to Colesberg
110.5km @ 14kph

Despite a wind that blew in our right ears all morning, our first 60km to the Gariep Dam wall were a pleasure. We spent 30 minutes or so herding a stray calf through a farm gate into the field in which it belonged – and must have looked quite a sight dashing back and forth on our bikes while the calf tried to evade us. The last 40km of the day proved very tough with the wind blowing more often than not into our faces. I finally persuaded Charl to act as a windbreak (usually he says I must “break my own wind”), and that helped. But we limped into Colesberg just before dark all the same. Where we spent the night in accommodation at the prison.

The first part of today’s cycling was fantastic, with very little traffic. In one field, there were blue cranes amidst the sheep, and by the time we could see the dam, we saw also a large farm with zebra, wildebeest, and springbok. In another field, a donkey and zebra stood near each other in casual companionship.

Somewhere along the road we encountered a calf on the wrong side of the fence. Both it and the herd on the other side of the fence were in distress, mooing to each other. The road here was particularly wide, perhaps inappropriately so given the dearth of traffic, and the “shoulders” wide and sloped. Despite all this and my slightly painful ankle from yesterday’s twisting fall, we decided to “rescue” the calf. My first suggestion of picking it up and putting it over the fence, was scornfully rejected by Charl. Never mind its weight, the calf had no intention anyway of letting us anywhere near it. So… we opened the gate into the field, a little fearful that all we might achieve is a lot more cattle on the road side of the fence, and then tried to herd the calf into the field. The two of us dashing back and forward on our bikes, the calf stupidly blind to the beckoning gate. Charl, usually so patient with me, actually lost his temper when I took my eye off the calf at just the wrong moment and it once again dashed past the gate! Eventually, however, we corralled it into the gate and went on our way while it trotted over to its happy mom.

We took the slightly longer route over the Gariep dam wall, looking at the boats moored on the brown water. On this side of the dam was an old sign still proclaiming Verwoerd dam. Another sign read: Welcome to the bo-karoo / bo-karoo boundary / grens.

The latter part of our day was all but ruined by an appalling wind.

We saw a long goods train and a concentration camp cemetery, and mountains in the distance, and cycled through a flat valley ringed with hills, passing the Norvalspoort stasie, and a community of dassies dashing across the road. Charl finally agreed to act as a windbreak, which helped increase our speed a little, but still I felt sorry for myself.

We passed Gary Player’s farm and thought of Nils who had been killed with his little boy the day he left this same farm to drive home to Johannesburg. So sad.