African Bikers Mountain Bike Tour – Day 12
Our last day of cycling in South Africa began with a drive to a ritzy beach town and a walk to the shore-side. After our quick break from the car, we drove for another hour or so before arriving at our destination for the day – a large network of mountain bike trails spread across several hundred acres of dark jungle-like plants and sunny beach side scenery.
The day consisted of two separate rides – one before lunch and one after.
The pre-lunch ride was mostly on a dirt road that weaved its way up and down through a dense jungle-like environment. There was one large hill, which by this time in the tour, I was able to charge up with very few problems (the pace of the other riders was finally becoming normal for me).
At the end of the ride was my favorite part – a long downhill single-track trail that weaved its way through a collection of small trees and spit us out near the main road, just a short distance away from where we would be eating lunch.
When we arrived at our lunch spot, Kim (our driver) had arranged a picnic lunch for us. We fueled up and then prepared for our second bike ride of the day – a slightly more difficult trail (consisting of a lot more single-track) just on the other side of the road.
Sandra and Erwin stayed behind while Harry and Kirsten took the lead, but Michi, Julia and Steve and I pretty much stayed together. We really enjoyed this particular trail. On the map we had been given the ride looked tough, but it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable rides of the entire tour.
One moment we were riding along the ocean-side, overlooking the rocks and water below… and the next moment we were back in the jungle, jumping over tree roots and crossing over small wooden bridges on our full-suspension mountain bikes.
As I returned to the van at the end of the day, I was kind of sad, knowing that this had been our last bike ride of the tour. No one else said anything about it, but I wondered to myself if the others were sad about the end of the tour as well… or if some of them might be ready to go home.
After packing the bikes on the trailer and climbing back inside the van, we drove to yet another beautiful guesthouse and were each assigned a room.
This particular guesthouse was one of my favorites on the entire tour. The property was large, with a pool, several different apartments scattered throughout the estate, and a cozy sitting area on the outdoor patio.
Later that night we went out dinner at a lively local restaurant, where two musicians performed just a few feet away from our table and we chatted with one another about our upcoming tour of the Addo Elephant Park and the end of our African Bikers cycling holiday.
