The start to my challenge was a little harder than expected. My family and I had visited the Cape Point National Park several days earlier and so I wasn’t keen to pay for the whole family to drop me off at the Cape Point lighthouse again. So, I said my goodbyes to the wife and kids and started my bonus ride to the start with a head wind of about 30km/h. Not the best start to a Challenge like this but my mood soon changed when I turned at the lighthouse and then had a massive tail wind to blow me back out the Cape Point National Reserve!

The ride from the lighthouse, out the national park and up Redhill was pleasant. I only had to slow down in one area to avoid Baboons who were sunning and grooming themselves on the tar road. Several friends had warned me to be careful around the Redhill township as they’d heard storys of the residents being quite aggressive towards riders in the past. On this occasion I was only greeted by the vibrant music emanating from several shacks.

After Redhill there was a small decent to Lewis Gay dam where the tar ends, and the wildlife begins. My first encounter was with a tortoise who was crossing the sandy trail.

From Klein Plaas dam to Ocean view was the only portion of this ride where I questioned whether doing this ride solo was a good or bad idea because once on the plateau you don’t see any signs of life and the warm weather had my eyes darting across the single track looking for basking snakes. In one area the fynbos had covered the trail. I ploughed through and ended up being caked in yellow pollen. The trail was tough going here because you spend most of your time riding in white beach sand which saps your energy.