Barkly East to Lady Grey: Am I cycling with my brakes on, it sure feels like I am? Friday February 7, 2014, 71 km (44 miles) - Total so far: 4,430 km (2,753 miles) I have done many passes the last week I am struggling to count them all, what I do know they are spectacular and I am happy those killer hills in the Transkei prepared me for the passes I have cycled so far. But I have some crazy believe system in my head I believed after Barkly East I am on my way to a flatter South Africa. Boy did I get that one wrong, about 10km out of Barkly East I started climbing, it felt as if I am going to end up in a place I will need oxygen, well I surely dont remember signing up taking the route from the Transkei to the Freestate knowingly I will be riding over a 200km of mountain passes. I was under the impression I would be cycling around the Drakensburg, kind of miss it, not over the highest mountains in South Africa, not only once but I will do this 6 times! After the pass from Barkly East there is no decent, there is no mercy! There is a steady climb for the next 30km.. I only had one decent in the whole 71km.. I now went on the internet to investigate these huge monsters I have dealt with and this is what I found.. Just south of Lesotho, the tail of the Drakensberg chain of mountains curls all the way from Lady Grey in the west past the village of Rhodes to link up with the KwaZulu-Natal Berg north of Mount Fletcher. At 2588 metres, Naude’s Nek between Maclear/Mount Fletcher and Rhodes is the highest public road pass in South Africa, while Jouberts’ Pass outside Lady Grey is the third highest (2349 metres). Lundean’s Nek offers a peep into Lesotho and its jagged peaks next door; Barkly Pass, the country’s highest tarred pass, features fantastical rock formations; the little-used Bastervoetpad Pass has vistas rivaling those of the Valley of a Thousand Hills; and the tricky Carlisleshoek and Volunteershoek Passes to Tiffindell Ski Resort take you to the roof of South Africa. Sho! I am so finished I need two days rest!
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 17:37:27 +0000
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