2001 Biking South Africa

Day 05, Wednesday, June 20
5km before Nylstroom to 3km before Rust de Winter
103.5km @ 16kph

The road between Nylstroom and Warmbaths is a delight. It climbs and dips through veld dotted with euphorbias midst thorn trees. And rewards one’s efforts with a fantastic drop on the outskirts of Warmbaths. Where an obnoxious bus driver took the pleasure out of the day by forcing Charl off the road and clipping my pennant as he passed me way too close for comfort. But the R101 thereafter was quieter and flat between sunflowers, faces turned to the sun. At Pienaarsrivier before we turned east to Rust de Winter, we lunched in the sun at a truck stop on chips and obscenely large Russians. And rested our weary selves satisfied with our day’s achievements.

Despite the tension, we had a nice braai last night in an empty campsite, basic but clean. But Charl and I fought again this morning after which I had a little cry and felt a bit better. So we had a slow and painful start to the morning, on a day on which we planned to cycle to Warmbaths and Hammanskraal and beyond.

We cycled 5km back along the road into town, did a U-turn, returned to town, and then cycled onward into hilly and daunting terrain. On a beautiful day, clear, cool, and windless, the road quieter than some of the others we’ve travelled.

It was lovely out there, all bush, grass and hills in a myriad greens and browns against a blue sky.

Before Warmbaths we had several climbs and some pretty good downhill runs until in a flat valley ahead we could see the town. One downhill stretch was absolutely straight, and I could see it flattened out at the bottom, which meant I could just let go, with no traffic behind me, and clock 55kph on my odometer – lekker, and bitingly cold. The road we travelled catered to the tourist trade a little: we passed a very cute looking granary, vendors’ huts, an attractive farm stall, and The Doll House with porcelain dolls for sale.

Just coming into Warmbaths there was a huge increase in anxiety-producing traffic, one bus passing much too close for comfort, snapping my pendant as he barrelled by.

At a truck stop at the turnoff to Hammanskraal, we had chips and Russians for lunch, which we enjoyed despite my considerably-heightened anxiety – I had seen a sign saying Hammanskraal 78km, a stark contrast to our maps which promised a more manageable 55km. I was feeling that 78km was more than I could cope with, especially on a scary road; so anxious was I that I was wondering if we would have to rethink the entire trip! But the road, in the end, proved easier and quieter than we thought it would be.

High notes: A whole field of yellow sunflowers and in our campsite that night we met a man who, when we told him about cycling to Cape Town exclaimed: “Ek bel nie eers so ver nie!” ("I don't even phone that far!")