Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 77, December 2015 | Page 54

Mc 50 Shades ’ n i l l o r d n a Rockin’ s e i s i a d e h t n i rs By Marie-Anne Meije A nother bucket list dream come true. A visit to see the flowers in Namaqualand! And better still, to do it on a bicycle. It all happened rather quickly. Spaces had come available on a tour and I said “I’m in”, and then Jean Reynolds said she was coming too. And so it came to be that early on a Thursday morning towards the end of August, we tied our bikes on top of the trailer and headed to the Northern Cape. The news was already out that the flowers were exceptional this year. Our destination was Oranjerus near Upington where we met Chris and Lizzie from Escape Cycle Tours. We arrived there in the late afternoon and met everyone on the deck overlooking the Orange River while the sun was setting. There were two more in our group, Keith the Irishman who just landed and Andre the Belgian patissier from Jo’burg. Day one started with hoots of laughter. Our Irishman had obviously not set his watch correctly and overslept. When Lizzie went to find him he came to the door still half-asleep, naked and clutching his family jewels with his hand. Lizzie took a while to get over that one. Eventually, we all got on our bikes and headed out. Lizzie, still in shock, took the first ride, while Chris followed in the mini bus with the bike trailer. We rode towards Keimoes through the vineyards. It was on gravel travel, first it was gentle undulating countryside and a good warm up. Later riding though the hills, it got a bit more challenging. Marie-Anne admiring the beauty of the Namaqualand 50 Shades riders Jean Reynolds and Marie-Anne Meijers riding through a hundred shades of flowers 10 ISSUE 15 DECEMBER 2015 / www.moderncyclist.co.za