Almost Home

It’s a little hard to describe how beautiful the last three days have been. They have probably been the most scenic consecutive days of the tour. From Keetmanshoop we cycled to the Fish River Canon and another 178km to the Orange River— the Namibian and South African border.

I traveled these roads by car five years ago. I remember the beauty of the surrounding landscape, but the last three days of cycling imprints a new beauty in my mind. At one point I overheard Clive saying, “I have just died and gone to cycling heaven.” This was at 10am. After lunch, in true TDA style, the dirt turned soft, sapping legs of energy, and then 60km of strong head wind. The wind was having the last say and reminding us what cycling in Africa is really like. During the afternoon ride, my thoughts were, “I have died and gone to cycling hell!”

Today’s rest day was well earned. In one week, we will roll into Cape Town and the tour will all be over. When I think back it will be days like the last three that I will hold onto.