My western cape gravel bikepacking route

[valen_tin]

58 minutes ago, Roul said:

Had the same thing happen to my Garmin mount, can potentially help you if you pass through Swellendam.

Edit: And following on Strava, enjoy!

Thanks for the offer! Swellendam is near the end of my route. I'll send you a pm.

[eddy]

On 1/8/2024 at 1:12 PM, Stephan said:

 

6. The Swartberg pass detour to Prince Albert and back is fantastic (did it three weeks ago), but you need two days (and its a very tough two days with lots of climbing, and in the heat of Feb you are going to be baking!)

I've ridden the pass in both directions and enjoyed both. And going to Prince Albert from Oudtshoorn is well worth doing.

However, if you don't mind tar I enjoyed the road from Prince Albert via Klaarstroom, Meiringspoort, De Rust and the road past de Rustica and the caves back. (Essentially the first 70% of the Swartberg Gran Fondo. Do it either way.

From PA over the pass to Calitzdorp is 100km and a wonderful day on the bike. After the pass the road gradually loses altitude towards Kruisrivier and onwards to Calitzdorp, with some nice rolling hills. It is possibly my favourite ride.

[Shebeen]

5 hours ago, valen_tin said:

Hi all,

 

I started my trip today and rode from Simondium (close to Stellenbosch/Franschhoek) to Napier. Thanks to road closures on franschhoek pass and van de stel pass, there was not much traffic. Gail blew quite hard, but rather from the south. The gravel roads around here are really awesome, but also quite bumpy, which killed my canyon garmin mount. In summary, a fantsatic day. My legs feel good despite the heat.. and offseason in germany.

I'll not post here every day, but you can follow me on Strava, if interested.
https://strava.app.link/2wuxsm4X9Gb

 

Thanks again for your help!

 

 

Enjoy the fun

[Prince Albert Cycles]

7 hours ago, eddy said:

I've ridden the pass in both directions and enjoyed both. And going to Prince Albert from Oudtshoorn is well worth doing.

However, if you don't mind tar I enjoyed the road from Prince Albert via Klaarstroom, Meiringspoort, De Rust and the road past de Rustica and the caves back. (Essentially the first 70% of the Swartberg Gran Fondo. Do it either way.

From PA over the pass to Calitzdorp is 100km and a wonderful day on the bike. After the pass the road gradually loses altitude towards Kruisrivier and onwards to Calitzdorp, with some nice rolling hills. It is possibly my favourite ride.

Nice cold beer in Prince Albert 

[valen_tin]

I finished the trip today. Overall great experience. I mainly sticked to the route as planned, except for taking the N2 from Riviersonderend to Caledon today at 5:40 (which was fine, little traffic, broad shoulders) instead of the gravel sections via Grayton. Temperatures and wind were picking up today so I had to speed things up. My highlights were Montagu pass, Klein Karoo, Swartberg pass including the section to Calitzdorp, and the hospitality of south african hosts. I even got breakfast at 5:00 once. I spent 5:30-6:45 hours cycling each day, so the stages were quite uniform. Had good winds on the long days and shitty winds on some of the shorter ones though.

I felt save throughout the trip, except in Calitzdorp on Saturday, as there were lots of drunkards next to the liquor store on Main road...

Would take my MTB hartdtail next time though. Rooiberg pass and the adjacent roads, as well as the roads from witsand to stilbaai were just much more bumpy than i thought the would be. European gravel roads are usually smoother 😉.

 

 

 

[Dubber]

13 minutes ago, valen_tin said:

I finished the trip today. Overall great experience. I mainly sticked to the route as planned, except for taking the N2 from Riviersonderend to Caledon today at 5:40 (which was fine, little traffic, broad shoulders) instead of the gravel sections via Grayton. Temperatures and wind were picking up today so I had to speed things up. My highlights were Montagu pass, Klein Karoo, Swartberg pass including the section to Calitzdorp, and the hospitality of south african hosts. I even got breakfast at 5:00 once. I spent 5:30-6:45 hours cycling each day, so the stages were quite uniform. Had good winds on the long days and shitty winds on some of the shorter ones though.

I felt save throughout the trip, except in Calitzdorp on Saturday, as there were lots of drunkards next to the liquor store on Main road...

Would take my MTB hartdtail next time though. Rooiberg pass and the adjacent roads, as well as the roads from witsand to stilbaai were just much more bumpy than i thought the would be. European gravel roads are usually smoother 😉.

 

 

 

Congratulations.  That is some solid riding in testing weather and challenging road surfaces.  Glad you had a good trip and experience overall.  Nice work!

[DJuice]

Congrats. If you have time, please share some pictures.