capediver

Cool!....our fuller figures need all the help they can get! My fear is that I will now have the gears to do those 10%ers fully loaded but not the legs!!!!

Excellent, thanks! I saw a few YT vids on this now and it seems pretty straight forward, just getting the chain length and that B screw sorted...I also saw the angle of the extender makes a difference to the shifting... Will definitely give it a bash to reduce some of this:

Hi, can you detail your conversion please... I want to do the same for bikepacking, I currently have: Crank: Shimano GRX RX600-11,46-30T Rear derailleur: GRX RX810 34T MAX 11-34 cassettte

Prince Alfred Pass.... from the North down towards the coast...freewheeling heaven...with a few climbs, sure but the longest you will ever freewheel! I did 50k's before turning into Kom Se Pad to traverse...spectacular!!

"Race"..???...Nah...."tour"...yes...race...for the younger generation😆

A backpacking challenge.....Just the Montagu Pass.......at first I was afraid, I was petrified......but I made it!

No words! except wtf....sorry about your situation!!

No adventure is complete without this

This is the HIGHLIGHTS Reel.....how to capture the best of 6 days of riding through some of the best countryside in the world??? Every day was packed with highlights...sights, sounds, people, wind, rain, sun, heat, cold, climbs and descents....IMPOSSIBLE so I tried to fit it all into a decent "montage"...maybe I'll go back to the raw footage again later and re-mix it into a completely different video, but for now, this is it! Lekka!

Hahaha...so how many times can I stop to fish, make coffee, or just stand and chune the locals? 684km.....shoei, that's a 14 day tour for me!!!! I'm a tourist not a racer! Next for me maybe....

This is Day 6 and the last day....as I make my way back to the start in George, along the 7 Passes Road, the original old road between George and Kynsna, featuring 7 passes down and out of river valleys...I did the first yesterday, Phantom Pass, and I am joined by a fellow hubber, HdB, who rode up from the coast to join me on part of my ride!

This is Day 5...the highlight of the trip...KOM SE PAD (not GAT!!!), a forestry road running through the Knysna Forest, an idyllic stretch of perfect gravel through a tropical garden, most of which is under a full canopy of thick dense natural forest filled with exotic noises!! Then back into civilization, albeit briefly along the Knysna Lagoon before heading back into the countryside, up the Phantom Pass, the first of 7 passes along the original road between Knysna and George...the 7 Passes Road...and the last overnighter at Varykino Estate in Rheenendal.... Another long one!

I kept doing that!!! I think I was warned about some concrete descent where I may see my gat!😝

Day 4...still on the spectacular Prince Alfred's Pass!!! From Agie's G Spot in De Vlugt up out the valley to Buffelsnek, and down in the Garden Route Nature Reserve at Diepwalle....stopping at a few spots along the way and taking a MAJOR detour up to Spitzkop viewpoint where the 360 degree views show the Indian Ocean to the South and back to the Outeniqua Mountains to the North....The forests of the Garden Route and Knysna start to be thicker and thicker!!!

This is Day 3...and its a long one...but there is just SO MUCH to see, the end of the Kammanassie, the climb to the top of Prince Alfred Pass and then the descent to De Vlugt and ANGIE's G-SPOT...how do you capture such a memorable section in just a short highlights video...IMPOSSIBLE so try stay with it until the end...hopefully its worth it!

This is Day 2, the KAMMANASSIE ROAD...this stretches from Dysseldorp for about 100km alongside the Kammanassie Mountain which is an inselberg in the Little Karoo between the Swartberg and Outeniqua mountains...a fertile valley with the Kammanassie River supporting a rich fruit and nut farming industry...farmers are in the middle of their worst drought in 100 years and are surviving from underground springs that supply water to the crops in the valley....the Littler Karoo's Greenbelt.....

For anyone interested...I've combined daily gpx files...the original combo is a huge file so I have tried to reduce number of points....had to use 3rd party app.....not sure why Garmin doesn't have a function for this!? Anyway it opens in Basecamp OK... GRG Jan 2026 small.gpx

Day 1: The INFAMOUS MONTAGU PASS...previously a driveable scenic route up from George, WC towards Oudshoorn...... badly damaged by floods but if you a keen MTBer (or a mad bikepacker) then its a great workout with fantastic vistas!

Day 0....Cape Town to George...base camp and quick recce to the start of the route at the foot of Old Montagu pass which has been closed since rain damaged it 2023/2024 floods which carved away the top layer exposing bedrock and creating a trench in the middle for most of the way up....BUT......

It was! 20260109_183134_596.mp4

7 Passes...mostly with Hubber HDB....wow...so cool..he rode up from Sedgefield to ride with me!!! We chatted up a storm between Homtini and Hoogekraal...what a legend...pulled me up every pass in between...thanks HDB!!!! BTW.... 7 Passes is fully open all the way into Madiba Drive and the main George road.... Finally trip has ended back in George...I don't have a full stats summary but its got to be close to 340ks in 6 days...Garmin registered 50 climbs!!! It was awesome to the max...gravel roads were generally all good to very good to champagne in the Knysna forest sections...hot as hell most afternoons...little rain on Kom Se Pad bit didn't get through the canopy... Drought and fires were top of my mind...the people in this area need rain desperately... Met so many cool people...even that oke who didn't greet on Kom Se Pad...he looked cool... So that's it ..done and dusted...shorts, day by day and trip videos will be out soon...

7 Passes...mostly with Hubber HDB....wow...so cool..he rode up from Sedgefield to ride with me!!! We chatted up a storm between Homtini and Hoogekraal...what a legend...pulled me up every pass in between...thanks HDB!!!! BTW.... 7 Passes is fully open all the way into Madiba Drive and the main George road.... Finally trip has ended back in George...I don't have a full stats summary but its got to be close to 340ks in 6 days...Garmin registered 50 climbs!!! It was awesome to the max...gravel roads were generally all good to very good to champagne in the Knysna forest sections...hot as hell most afternoons...little rain on Kom Se Pad bit didn't get through the canopy... Drought and fires were top of my mind...the people in this area need rain desperately... Met so many cool people...even that oke who didn't greet on Kom Se Pad...he looked cool... So that's it ..done and dusted...shorts, day by day and trip videos will be out soon...

Day 5...Diepwalle camp to Rheenendal along Kom se Pad....so this is one of the runs I've been looking forward to!! So just at Diepwalle...great facilities...tent deck was cool but roll off your mattress and you instantly wake up on the hard deck!!!😝 Kom se Pad was everything I imagined...covered full canopy forest...stopped many times just to listen...incredible!!! Road was mostly in very good condition...a few potholes but nothing to detract from the scenery...it is too short..my only "gripe"... Realities...gates open at only at 8...Gouna side is locked and manned...the other...not..so choose your direction and timing wisely....fee now day park fee has R52 and cycling permit R70... Met a runner...Vincent...cheers...greeted a lycra clad oke in the middle of the section but he must have been in training for a major event...didn't even nod or look sideways...maybe it was too early...went flying silently past ...had a few of those...weird....no-one around for miles, paths cross and no acknowledgement offered..eish... Big climb out of Gouna River valley... Great breakfast at the Farm opposite Simola Always nice to ride along the Knysna Lagoon ...put a line in the water near Red Bridge but nada... Phantom Pass was a breeze...and milkshake at the new Old Road Trading Store at Totties rounded off a great day

Diepwalle along the famed Kom se Pad...what a glorious road...it rained a little last night...road had a few holes but otherwise was pristine..forest was dark and moody!! Very special part of the WC... Down to Simola...Kynsna Lagoon...Red Bridge...Phantom Pass and Rheenendal... Lekker ride!!

Nice!!!!