It could be said that we were feeling better this morning, but the truth was that neither of us are in the best of health. Eventually you have to move on though and today was as good a time to do it as any. Sniffing and coughing away, we loaded the bikes and set off up the road.
Just to give our diminished lung capacities and malfunctioning body thermostats a good working over, they kindly built the road out of Mossel Bay up a very steep hill. If we had had any doubt that today would be a tough one, we were under no such illusions by the time we got to the top. In fact the whole day turned out to be a bit of a struggle.
A poorly Debs, nearly rode into oncoming traffic, when she got confused about which lane had been closed for roadworks. Fortunately my shouting and a slowing car driver saw her to safety. The plan was never to bring her back slightly squished, after all I like her the shape she is and would prefer it if she stays that way! Luckily we were close to a petrol station and a couple of bottles of fruit juice had us topped up with vitamins and gave me time to console an upset Debs. We left the garage and carried on in a much more careful fashion.
I am sure were we to ride the route while feeling 100% it would have actually been pretty easy. The hills weren't particularly steep and the weather was on the cool side. Obviously this is Africa in the summer, so cool is a relative term! Most of the cooling came from an extremely unwelcome headwind; sometimes it seems like everything is conspiring against you. Not wanting to be outdone, the South African road crews got in on the act as well, as we passed kilometre after kilometre of roadworks. Our hard shoulder was taken away from us and we had to try and ride on the closed sections of road. In truth it wasn't much of a hardship, but it does add a little more pressure to the day.
There are no photos from the road today, mainly because it hasn't been that picturesque, plus to be honest we just couldn't be bothered. If we hadn't managed to find somewhere to have a reasonable lunch, it would have been a thoroughly miserable day!
To round off the cycling, we were treated to a few tough climbs before we dropped down into the town of Riversdale. Unsure where the camp-site was, I made a quick phone call and we were soon on our way to a very empty camp-site. It is a bit of a peculiar place, but we are pitched and have opted to have our own private bathroom.
By the way that we are the only people here, we have to assume it is going to be quiet. With luck, a good night's sleep will have us in better health and more able to cope with the rigours of the road.
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