Road route, East Rand to Van Gaalen Cheese Farm

[The Ouzo]

I'm looking to do a road ride to van Gaalen cheese farm. 

Using Strava routing and asking it to follow most popular routes its mapped out a route for me, but I'm looking for input from those that have done something similar or are familiar with the routes. I want to know where to avoid and is a must include.

It will most likely just be 2 of us with no support vehicles.

 

this is the route Strava suggested

https://www.strava.com/routes/3078270612641910458

Edited April 4, 2023 by The Ouzo

[100Tours]

I would head out via Krugersdorp/ontdekkers, and then down sterkfontein - it is about 10km longer, but probably a nicer ride.

[JJDT]

What is the max distance or if distance is not an issue, this is my suggestion.  I will continue on Allandale to Kyalami then right on the old 947 route until Summit then left into Summit Road (still on the old 947 route). Just past the N14(where your route continues on) I will turn left into Lion Park road. Just past the intersection of Ceder road turn right into K33.05 road going over the N14 again. At the next intersection turn right into Pelindaba Road again heading towards Harties (If you are keen you can continue straight over the intersection for a quick Cradle Loop). At the end of this road at the T-Junction turn left towards Broederstroom, this road will take you to a few meters from the entrance of Van Gaalen.

[The Ouzo]

1 hour ago, JJDT said:

What is the max distance or if distance is not an issue, this is my suggestion.  I will continue on Allandale to Kyalami then right on the old 947 route until Summit then left into Summit Road (still on the old 947 route). Just past the N14(where your route continues on) I will turn left into Lion Park road. Just past the intersection of Ceder road turn right into K33.05 road going over the N14 again. At the next intersection turn right into Pelindaba Road again heading towards Harties (If you are keen you can continue straight over the intersection for a quick Cradle Loop). At the end of this road at the T-Junction turn left towards Broederstroom, this road will take you to a few meters from the entrance of Van Gaalen.

Thanks, will plot this and see distance. Not to worried though about the distance, and ride through the cradle is always nice.

 

Edit. Works out to around 100km. Might add in a loop of the cradle to push the mileage up.

 

thanks

Edited April 4, 2023 by The Ouzo

[The Ouzo]

On 4/4/2023 at 1:34 PM, JJDT said:

What is the max distance or if distance is not an issue, this is my suggestion.  I will continue on Allandale to Kyalami then right on the old 947 route until Summit then left into Summit Road (still on the old 947 route). Just past the N14(where your route continues on) I will turn left into Lion Park road. Just past the intersection of Ceder road turn right into K33.05 road going over the N14 again. At the next intersection turn right into Pelindaba Road again heading towards Harties (If you are keen you can continue straight over the intersection for a quick Cradle Loop). At the end of this road at the T-Junction turn left towards Broederstroom, this road will take you to a few meters from the entrance of Van Gaalen.

It looks like we're going to turn this into a double century. 

Would you use the same route to come back ?

[JJDT]

If you follow my suggestion for the "to" route I will follow your original "to" road going back or just swop it around for a nice loop as oppose to just out and back. I do not know how busy the Old Pretoria Main road is but as another alternative is to keep straight until you reach Olifantsfontein Road and then turn left for the "to" route or going back head straight untill you reach Old Pretoria Main Road and then turn right.

[The Ouzo]

Right, so post ride analysis.

 

It was always going to be a tough climb back home, plenty elevation gain on the return leg

 

Weather predictions had a cross to tail wind heading out and a tail wind pushing us home. We were putting alot of faith in that tail wind.

 

Left home slightly later than we wanted to at 6:40 and it was very quickly apparent that we would have mostly headwind heading out. Oh well, its all down hill right ?

Multiple stops along the way for little nature breaks and we were in good spirits, trying to keep the nutrition going and just enjoying being out there.

And what a site as you come over the last hill and see Harties in the distance. The achievement of getting to a place under your own steam when you've only ever taken motorised transport to get there (an its a long way with motorised transport) is so good.

The mileage hit 100km as we crossed the water, we stopped, took some pics, headed to other side of the bridge just to say we did it, then turned around and cycled back to a get something to eat. We were 1 hour behind schedule by now, but hey, there is a tail wind to push us home right ?

We probably ate the wrong thing, steak and chips before riding is probably not the right idea. But it was delicious. 2 x red ambulances to wash it down, and because the food took so long to get to us it caused a delay in timing, so we ate and left right away.

That first climb out of broedestroom killed us. About 7km @ 5% and heat was pounding us. This is where things started to unravel, we did not drink or eat enough. By the time we got to Pedal and Sprocket to meet with my mates family for a quick snack my gut was complaining. I could not eat or drink anything. I was forcing myself to nibble on a fast bar and sip some diluted coke.

We left from there and did about another 25km of slow riding before stopping on the side of the road for a breather. My mate was finished. This is when we made the call, given our pace, and the distance to go, we would not be able to complete the entire ride in daylight. So I called for backup to meet us Mall of Africa. 15km away. 

Whilst making the call a very kind gentleman in a Merc going in the opposite direction did a u-turn and came to check if we need assistance.

Heading down to Kyalami and the sun was fading fast, from there left onto Allandale and we rode inside the roadworks section up to the Mall. My wife's office is just down hill from the mall and we rolled into the parking lot as the clock ticked over to 170km.

 

I must say I was a little concerned about how traffic would be on those roads, and there was a fair amount of it, but for the most part people gave us space and we only really had one incident with a Taxi turning into the road from the opposite side whilst we were heading down a hill at over 60km/h. 

 

It was a great ride though. The take aways being our nutrition and hydration were a big problem, our timing could have been better, and then for me I need to get my bike fit checked as I suffered really badly from neck and shoulder pain.

 

With just 30km left of the ride I'm sure I could have made it back, but my mate was absolutely stuffed, plus it was now dark, I was the only one with lights (and I'm not sure they would have lasted much longer) and there was some not so lekker areas to ride through. We made the right call on the day, but I'd like to try again one day.

[Dexter-morgan]

Hardcore ride!

[The Ouzo]

14 minutes ago, Dexter-morgan said:

Hardcore ride!

Thanks mate. It was an ambitious challenge. 

Now for a couple of days of rest before I look at the bike again.