This section was probably the toughest riding of the day, with lots of river crossings along the way, so not many pics were taken.
I missed this bit, and still am glad I did.
Around 12h30 somewhere me & Ian struggled to cross a small stream, and we had to help each other: taking turns heaving our front wheels up & out of a gap inbetween two rocks.
For an onlooker this must have been a real funny sight to see, two old codgers trying to pose as fit bliksems helping each other by lifting a bike the other one tries to motor through, but both clearly done already.... anyway, I felt this bit finished me, that last straw, a bike's back etc, I knew I'd had had my share of hard work for the day.
And work it
had been, and although not really hot up there it was warm enough already. I know myself: if I feel that way the canyon I'm going to tumble off & into is not far off, and when in there I'll be completely useless! This will not be good for the group spirit so let's ask Jon for a moffieroute out, and as luck would have it we just had crossed the first "road' of sorts.... so I did.
Jon said that another two hours of interesting stuff was lying ahead still before the stop at the 'China Shop', apparently
the local oasis where a Coke can be bought - whilst following that road would do same after about 10 kilometers.
Ian was also tempted to go the easy way but decided to join the hardebaard group, so they continued.
This was close to 13h00 then, and I swore on someone's grave I'd wait for them at that China Shop, come hell or low water!
I tracked back to that road... which went wrong of course but I found 'a' road - which
had to be the same one, as roads there are as common as massage parlours stocked with buxom therapists & cold beers.
Anyway, 10km se moer, almost 30km & 1 hour later I ended up at that famed Chinese Oasis after having to ask a few times of course.
It was closed however because the china was still on lunch, but he
did wake up past 2 and opened up to the gathered community outside who clearly also were in dire need of his offered wares on sale!
This landmark-shop, a rather large one at that (a barnsized thing, park 3 Cessna's inside!) completely stunned me once inside - by its emptiness, the vast vacant areas, the sparsely stocked racks and the complete absence of any refrigeration equipment, there WAS nothing cold!
Oh wait, there, two small undercounter freezers... of which one was empty & smelly & warm inside, and the other one had some barely frozen chicken inside, the looks of it proving that you had to be utterly famished to buy any of it....
Yes, he
had some 2L cooldrink bottles on his racks, but these were warmdrinks since their arrival there, and I still had my camelback with some cooler than that shite water in it .... but after sitting outside, in the shade luckily, for half an hour I decided to do as the locals do, and bought a Coke.
No, not nice at all but at least sugary, so I could wait a bit more at ease for my riding buddies.
They arrived just before 4, so they'd taken almost 3 hours to get there .... and they were glad to see me there, or was it the big Coke bottle in my hand handed out to them?
If it was then this was short-lived, warm coke is noone's fave
but it found it's way down several throats.
Suffice to say they were properly knackered, and the decision of "shall we buy some cold beers close by?" was a easy one!
So we did, and took some home to our overnight rondawels -
iiicccceeeecold beers people, almost eish, very much earned also.