DJR

So glad you posted this bit. People do not understand how rough and tough THE LADDER is. The locals gave it that name for a very good reason. I also like that you use caps, and will do so myself in future. Thanking my lucky stars that I did it when I was much younger and without a bike.

Very good post. I so wish that more people would get this into their skulls and into their way of thinking about problems and possible solutions. The world will be a better place.

Below is a bit I wrote about a decade ago for an article on the Hell (Just in case someone wonders who Oom Koos was): The road into Gamkaskloof is completely different from the Swartberg Pass and was only completed in the 1962, basically by 1 man, an Ellis Chalmers bulldozer and a small team of workers. When tenders were invited to build this road, there was very little interest and those tenders received were so expensive that the provincial roads department almost scrapped the idea. One of the local divisional council grader drivers, Oom Koos Van Zyl, said he could do it if they gave him a proper bulldozer and there and then it was decided to do the job in-house. In a very short time, about a year and a half, he single handedly bulldozed the Hell Road from the Swartberg Pass turn off into the kloof, and for very little money, R30 000 to be precise. He got paid only his normal meagre salary throughout. About halfway along the Hell road is a massive boulder called Oom Koos Se Klip, right on the very edge of the road. It is said that this was the only obstacle that got the better of him and his bulldozer, which is why the road winds slightly around it and not straight through it! The exact location of the route was determined by the geology of the surrounding mountains. It simply avoided hard rock that would need blasting and stuck strictly to rock that could be bulldozed. The last bit, the Elands Pass descent into the valley, I think, is the real monument to his bravery and ingenuity. It must have taken huge balls to drive a dozer from the top down that mountain cliff. A bulldozer has incredible power and traction on level ground, but very little on a steep side slope. Going over the cliff edge must have been a very real and present danger every step of the way. The 3,5 km long Elands Pass drops 500 m in altitude, it has 51 bends, 5 of which are full 270 degree hairpin bends. Now you know why the Hell Road has no beautiful hand built stone walls! Bulldozers might be efficient, but they are not made for stylish elegant construction. It is very different from the Swartberg Pass, but with a rugged beauty of its own! For the number crunchers: The total distance is 37 km, with 201 bends, curves or corners, yes, that is 18 per kilometre. Not straight! It contains 8 separate mountain passes and the Hollanders would see the bits in between as mountain passes as well! So, not flat! It crosses 5 streams with shallow rocky drifts and no bridges. These become impassable after flash floods. As with the Swartberg Pass, snow and ice often close it in winter, but usually only for a few days at a time. The official name of this route is the Otto Du Plessis road (administrator of the Cape Province at the time), but they should rather have called it The Road That Oom Koos Built!

Yes, you can report him to his station commander and to IPID

There was only ever one, yes!

The one legged pilot was the very same maverick owner of the Tiger Moth. (Of which I also have some stories to tell.) He, later, thank goodness when I was away at varsity, did a landing there to deliver medical supplies after heavy rains had cut the inhabitants off for a while, and broke the undercarraige of the same plane in a washed out ditch in the rough runway. The plane was stranded and later airlifted with a heavy lift helicopter and repaired. Altogether I count him having crashed 4 times in his flying career. First time he lost a leg from the knee down in a crash while he was in the airforce. Second one he was a passenger in a military plane. Then he went on to study medicine. Third one was the crash-light in the Hell. Fourth one was flying an experimental plane and in that crash he lost his remaining leg. After that he started an air ambulance business which he later sold and went farming. He lived to well into his 80 and only passed away a couple of years ago. I know I sound like an old ballie when I say that they (perhaps for the better?) don't make them like that anymore!

Good move. If the water is high because the dam upstream is letting water out then it can drop suddenly if they close the sluices. If it is overflowing then it depends on the rainfall in the Great Karoo. B.t.w. About how to get out of Hell ....... I had the amazing / terrifying / probably never to be repeated experience to land and take off and fly out of the Hell as part of a casevac operation many years ago. Climbing out of that valley in a small plane on a hot day was plenty stressful. Luckily I was young, stupid and invincible ..... and I implicitly trusted the pilot, even though he flew with one prosthetic leg (lost his real leg in ..... yes .... a plane crash!! But that is a story for "after beers". I hope you get out of there as safely as I did.

Agreed! If you can only see "one side" then it is because you are "blind in one eye".

I have climbed The Ladder, but WITHOUT a loaded bike ......... so, in my mind at least, you get the weekly DJR admiration prize for bravest guy on 2 wheels or 2 legs. Such a pity you could not pass the Gamka and climb out the other side of The Hell. Make a note to go back when you have the chance, it is truly Heaven ( and Hell) to ride.

Riversdale had one like that. He went by the name of Jan "Bike" ....... who saw and heard everything .......a bit like a mother just "knowing" when her kids are being naughty. Kind of scary too.

Sorry to say, but the only solution I see is to separate cyclists and cars/buses/taxis physically. Practical? Perhaps not, but I have given up on the pipedream of drivers changing their bad aggressive behaviour. In my neck of the woods, the Cape Town Southern Suburbs, it seems that the taxis, Ubers and 60/60 delivery motorbikes are now the dominant factor along Main Road. Skipping red traffic lights is standard practice, as is using no indicators, blocking intersections, cutting others off, parking wherever you feel like, stopping to pick up or drop passengers anywhere convenient, in total disregard of the rules of the road or common sense. All this while the law is absent. Even the Constantia soccer moms in their Range Rovers are learning from them ........ with dead and maimed cyclists the result.

The question that comes to my muddled old mind is this: If someone does not feel safe to ride the road between Camps Bay and Hout Bay, where on earth is it going to be safe? It is a wide road, with an 80 km/h speed limit, a wide shoulder, with excellent road conditions, clear road signs, clear visibility, no sharp dangerous corners with no obstacles. Where can one be safe from the way South Africans drive? Sadly, I cannot think of any road within reasonable distance of Cape Town. Perhaps others have a greater tolerance?

I am just totally sad but cannot say that I am shocked. I truly no longer feel like riding anywhere on the road, having had more than my fair share of close shaves. The behaviour of ZA road users is just getting more appalling by the day. 😟

The Scottish part of me wants to say something derogatory about this, but the French part of me is intrigued ......... (you clearly saw the tongue in my cheek, didn't you?)

Ha ha, estate agent speak is only second to politician speak.

Rocketbike👍👍👍

If you are married, then this is ONLY for very BRAVE guys: Remove the insoles from your cycling shoes and wash shoes and insoles in the dishwasher like they are crockery. Smells gone, bacteria gone, possibly wife gone, then stuff with dry newspaper to wick up moisture and dry properly in the sun.

Rescue Remedy - a drop or two for everyone in the car goes a long way. Don't ask me what it is or how it works, but it made traveling with kids possible for us - and I never tested positive for a performance enhancing drug - yes, I know it is because they never test the 6 793rd finisher...... ha ha.

You did a fantastic job. Not many of these old commuter / work type bikes are ever restored, which is sad because they are as much part of the cycling heritage as the flashy sought after racing bikes.

I am usually a Van Der Merwe ........... occasionally a Koos.

If you paid it online using your credit card, your bank can reverse the payment. Edit: For if you are sure you should not have been fined and decide to change your mind

Also, if you start real early, do a great time and your friens start real late, then you could beat them to Wineberg Hill by just carrying on riding. Lets say you start at 6am and do a 3hrs15 and they start at 9.30, it will be easy to do........but personally, I do not have friends good enough to do that for (let alone doing a 3hrs15 ride.....)😁

The only way is to finish early, take your car from the city centre and drive along the M4 Main Road or M5 southwards, cross the closed M3 at one of 2 bridges to the Constantia side and go over Constantia Neck into Hout Bay. Then try get as close as you can to Suikerbossie and walk the last bit to go cheer your late starting friends. We did it once and it was a traffic nightmare, not even thinking of the way out of Hout Bay afterwards. Unless you stay and party untill after the roads open late afternoon?

Sunset / Moonrise, Tafelberg Road last night, getting chased by my new little toy ..... a DJI Neo2 drone ....... but you'll have to wait a bit for the movie of an old slowpoke huffing and puffing .....

I think we love this place equally. The view, Northwards from where the road crosses the top of Faircape, inspired me enough to make a quick sketch when I got home. Next time I'll make one looking South to include Table Mountain