“ In a world of over burdening ourselves with a paralysing amount of scrolling screens and duties , this a place so far removed from it all - it is a return to a simple life made up of wheels ticking over , dust rising from the ground , and watching the sun rise and set over a river .”
The logistics for the ride were basic : leave Cape Town on the stroke of 4am curfew , arrive in the Cederberg in time for a coffee with the farmer , load the bikes and ride the length of the Biedouw Valley to the river . Day two : ride halfway back up the valley . Day 3 : finish the ride and return home . The distances weren ’ t big at all . But 30kms on a dirt road carrying everything , in steadily climbing heat , is quite different from a Sunday evening freewheel on tar roads around a leafy neighbourhood .
The first day ’ s ride took us the full length of the valley . There was no ways dad was going to pass up the warm hospitality of a farmer and his wife on arrival , with their special blend of strong coffee and home-made rusks . It would have been rude to turn that down . So it was mid-morning by the time we eventually saddled up and rode off .
The kms ticked by with plenty of stops to admire the scenery and dust off the flies , chat to the horses along the way , and investigate every river crossing for a potential swim . Our arrival in the afternoon at the farm , Uitspankraal , at the Doring river was as welcome as they get . The host , an East London lad by the name of Kyle , took over an abandoned farm , and with his family have turned it into an oasis second to none .
Within a minute of arriving we had an ice cold drink in one hand and a welcoming handshake in the other ,
48 Cow and Belle | October 2021