Ride Report: 247km Cederberg Circuit over two days

Originally published in August 2021 – Spring is in the air, and it’s the ideal time of year for a bike-packing trip. We were digging for inspiration in our archives, and stumbled upon this story of Rae Trew-Browne’s adventures on the Cederberg Circuit from last year. It’s too good not to share, and has us ready to hit the road in search of rolling gravel, epic passes, burgers, beer and roadside cokes.

It was a cold Autumn morning when I picked up Erik Kleinhans in Durbanville. The sun had not risen yet as we embarked on a 2-day mission through the heart of the Cederberg, along the popular Cederberg Circuit route. The plan was to drive up to Citrusdal early and be on the bikes soon after sunrise to tackle the 247km route over 2 days.

Day one would take us from the start in Citrusdal to Cederberg Oasis before following along the looped route the next day to finish back in Citrusdal. The drive was pleasant. It only took us around 2 hours to get to Citrsudal as the roads were fairly quiet. 

We parked on the main road in Citrusdal and started getting our gear ready to depart. The forecast for the day was strangely hot for this time of the year. A maximum temperature of 27 degrees, with no cloud cover, meant we started shedding layers pretty quickly after the 6 degrees starting temp in Citrusdal. The Cederberg is known for its heat in summer and freezing rain in winter so the best time to go is April – June and late July till November. After a really cold winter in Cape Town, it was actually so nice to be riding in short sleeves for a change, and with all the rain the Cederberg has had this winter there were plenty of fresh mountain streams to cool off in.

The first 40km or so of day one had us riding the farm roads up towards the Clanwilliam dam, the road is mostly tar and is quite busy with farm vehicles and trucks. There is the odd inconsiderate driver but we found the trucks to be quite considerate and passed us with plenty of space. As soon as you hit the gravel below the dam things quiet down considerably. I can’t remember when last I saw the Clanwilliam dam so full. There were sections where it was almost spilling out onto the road. It might not be the Cederberg but it is a very picturesque ride with stunning views out over the dam.

The kilometres seemed to tick by and before long we had made the right turn into the Cederberg. There is roughly 25km from the turn to Algeria, with the looming challenge of Uitkyk Pass just beyond Algeria. I forgot how much climbing you actually do before you even get to Algeria, the road is rolling and you are pretty much only going up or downhill with very few flat sections to speak of. You don’t descend too much at least which means each “up” is less “up” you will have to take on when you climb Uitkyk Pass.

We rolled into Algeria around midday with a slight tailwind on our backs so we were starting to feel the effects of the heat. Especially since our bodies were still in winter riding mode. After a quick coke and some chips, we took on Uitkyk Pass. The pass was tarred a few years ago, so unfortunately it has lost some of the personality that it had when it was a rocky gravel road but it is still a solid challenge. I prefer climbs that have corners in them, the switchbacks tend to break up the monotony sometimes, so I always seem to struggle up Uitkyk as it is pretty much a straight shot up the valley with only one really tight corner about a third of the way up.

Once you are at the top though, the views are stunning as you look back out through the valley you have just climbed up. It’s pretty fast from here on out till you get to the short climb and descent to Krom Rivier. We still had the tailwind on our backs so made quick time to Cederberg Wines. They were also grading the road as we rolled through so some sections were still pretty soft but those infamous corrugations were nowhere to be seen for at least 40km. As far as rough terrain the Cederberg is definitely in good nick at the moment with all the winter rain and grading of the roads.

After a quick photo stop at Cederberg Wines, we pushed on to Krom Rivier where we had planned to stop for lunch and beer. The Cederberg has two local breweries and Nieuw Brew is based down in Krom Rivier, so it is available at the restaurant down in the valley. The restaurant is pretty stunning, they have built it into the landscape with as little impact as possible. You actually still feel like you are sitting in the Cederberg wilds, even though you are in a rather nice restaurant. The burgers were incredible, or maybe that was just because we were starving after a couple of hours on the bike? Either way, the food and beer were delicious. It’s definitely worth the little detour off the “main road” to visit Krom Rivier.

After lunch, instead of climbing back the way we came we took the incredibly scenic route past Truitjieskraal, which is world-renowned for its rock climbing routes. It is only a 10km section but it has to be my favourite part of the Cederberg, mostly because you are off the ‘main road’ and you finally feel like you are in the middle of the mountains, away from it all.

It’s quite loose and rocky through this section but the 700×45 tyres on the Canyon Grizl were more than adequate for the task. Once we got through the Truitjieskraal section it is just a short downhill on the ‘main road’ to our sleepover spot for the night, the Cederberg Oasis.

The Oasis is one of my favourite spots for bikepacking because they have affordable accommodation so you don’t have to carry a tent, or bedding, etc. and the food is amazing! So you literally just need clothes for the evening and cycling clothes for the next day if you don’t like riding in the same gear. It makes it very pleasant for all the climbing when your bike isn’t 20kg+ with all your sleeping and cooking gear.

Erik and I both went for the legendary pork ribs, they are so big they have to bring the chips on a separate plate. For the really hot days, there is a small pool that you can cool off in and there are some walking routes if you feel like taking a stroll up one of the koppies close to the Oasis. 

My favourite accommodation option here is one of the wooden A-Frame tents. Comfortable enough for a good night’s sleep, but still wild enough to feel like you are on an adventure through the mountains.

After a quick breakfast of cereal and toast with jam we got back on the bikes and began the next half of the loop back to Citrusdal. In terms of “attractions” in the Cederberg, most are seen on day one so maybe plan more time for the places you would like to visit. Day two is pretty much just riding out of the Cederberg through the many Rooibos farms. There is a new coffee stop around 30km into Day two which is open on weekends only. They took an old abandoned shepherd’s house and turned it into a nice little shop. Other than that we just had to make use of mountain streams till we got to Op Die Berg. It’s only 65km to the town but you can bank on around 3 hours of riding with all the climbing you do in the first 25km, which is almost 1200m.

We were ravenous when we got to Op Die Berg so thankfully there is a little coffee shop there that serves meals too. It was quite a bit colder on the second day so the coffee was great. After filling up on more burgers and chips we hit the 40km or so of tar that takes you to the base of the Middelberg Pass.

There are no shops on this section, so we relied on what we had on the bike and filled our bottles at the last stream just before the big climb. The tar road was fairly quiet as the only vehicles on it are from the farms in the area. The tailwind from the day before was now a headwind which added to the challenge of climbing almost 2000m for the day. Erik and I took turns upfront as we pushed on.

Of all the times I’ve ridden in the Cederberg I’ve only done Middelberg Pass once, and I couldn’t really remember much about it, just that it was quite tough. Thankfully though you get a lot of switchbacks and tight corners in this climb so I was able to break it up into smaller sections. After all the climbing we did in the first 25km and the headwind from Op Die Berg there were times on the steepest gradients of 16% that I was tempted to walk, but we soldiered on and eventually made it to the sign on top of the pass where we could stop for a photo.

There is not much to say about the descent into Citrusdal, apart from it being some of the best fun you will have on a bike. It’s 18km straight downhill and once the gravel becomes tar, you can really send it. 

We increased our average speed for the ride by 3km/h in the last 12km. It was full sendy send, with super tucks and everything. It is a popular road on the weekends so keep an eye out for cars coming up the pass. It was a great way to end the ride, having so much fun on the descent helped me to forget about the suffering earlier on and just made me keen to ride some more. 

I do slightly regret finishing on the main road in Citrusdal as it was busy with trucks driving up and down. I kind of felt all the bliss of the Cederberg slowly seeping out of my pores. Next time I will aim to finish just outside of town to preserve some of that bliss.

Keep an eye out for a Tips and Info article going live soon where I break down the ride into one, two and three-day options.