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4 Passes Cape Town


travisza

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Hi all,

 

Planning a cycling weekend in Cape Town at the end of the month. We're staying in Franschoek on night 1 so day 1 riding needs to be a looped ride starting and finishing in Franschoek.

 

Day two is already planned...we're riding Franschoek to McGregor.

 

Making use of gravel bikes so road or dirt routes are good to go. I'm in charge of planning the route for day 1 so looking for some advice on whats best to ride. The 4 passes route caught my eye and looks like it could be a great way to see a bunch of awesome places around Stellenbosch, Franschoek, etc.

 

What do you think?

 

post-23819-0-05368700-1571749512_thumb.png

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Hi all,

 

Planning a cycling weekend in Cape Town at the end of the month. We're staying in Franschoek on night 1 so day 1 riding needs to be a looped ride starting and finishing in Franschoek.

 

Day two is already planned...we're riding Franschoek to McGregor.

 

Making use of gravel bikes so road or dirt routes are good to go. I'm in charge of planning the route for day 1 so looking for some advice on whats best to ride. The 4 passes route caught my eye and looks like it could be a great way to see a bunch of awesome places around Stellenbosch, Franschoek, etc.

 

What do you think?

Its a nice 130km loop.

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And presumably if you do it anti-clockwise you will finish down Franschoek pass and then go up it the next day in the opposite direction.

Thats a good idea. I was going to ask if there's a "better way" around to do this but your suggestion makes sense.

 

Thanks

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Looks like a fantastic ride, but how is riding up Sir Lowry's pass? 

 

It's not my favorite hill in car, let alone on a bike - people seem to drive terribly (even worse than  normal)

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And presumably if you do it anti-clockwise you will finish down Franschoek pass and then go up it the next day in the opposite direction.

Also I wouldn't enjoy going down sir lowry's. Keeping to the far left on your way down means looking over the edge of a very long fall on your left and keeping away from lousy drivers on your right. Wouldn't be much fun on a windy day. Definitely makes more sense to go up Sir Lowy's and keep close to the cliff face.  OP - this is probably the only part of the route that is a bit lousy in my opinion. The N2 is still pretty busy once you're up sir Lowry's but for the most part there is a wide hard shoulder to ride on. 

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Either way is nice .. done it a few times

 

Just make sure to check news, often riots at bottom of sir lowreys on the N2 ..also try not to ride past there alone, prime hotspot

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Also I wouldn't enjoy going down sir lowry's. Keeping to the far left on your way down means looking over the edge of a very long fall on your left and keeping away from lousy drivers on your right. Wouldn't be much fun on a windy day. Definitely makes more sense to go up Sir Lowy's and keep close to the cliff face.  OP - this is probably the only part of the route that is a bit lousy in my opinion. The N2 is still pretty busy once you're up sir Lowry's but for the most part there is a wide hard shoulder to ride on. 

 

Its not that bad, 1 lane is closed 1/2 way up at the moment, after that the clapped out corsa's and trucks are only doing 13km/h near the top. In a big group its fine.

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I did it in December, Sir Lowry's is quite dangerous, we started in Somerset up Sir Lowrys and back F-Hoek,. F-hoek from the dam's side is a great climb, to get there was pretty k@k with roadworks, to tense for me. We had a support vehicle.

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Anti clock also means that you get to stop for pies and coffee at Peregrine at about the right point in the ride.  

Peregrine...I've written this down.

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I did it in December, Sir Lowry's is quite dangerous, we started in Somerset up Sir Lowrys and back F-Hoek,. F-hoek from the dam's side is a great climb, to get there was pretty k@k with roadworks, to tense for me. We had a support vehicle.

Read F-hoek... Quickly.. And thought sir lowrys to fish hoek... Was WTF.

This must be god on a bicycle then. Walk on water... No I cycle on water

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We stopped doing that look because Sir Lowry's felt narrow and dangerous and the superbikes going up Franchhoek pass (on the dam side) gave us the sh!ts.

 

Pity, as its a stunning loop with some really nice sections

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