The Karoo

I'm currently riding through the Great Karoo desert. Karoo means dry place, and it is a fitting name. One early traveller to this area had this to say:

"I came to a pool of mud. The little water it contained was almost boiling ... Tears of delight came into my eyes."

I haven't reached this stage of dehydration however, quite the opposite in fact. Even though it should now be coming into winter the air is so hot and dry that i constantly feel the need to drink. I have had to learn to swill my mouth with the tiniest amount of water or else I quickly drink all the fluids I am carrying and feel sick from over hydration.

The highs and lows of riding solo

The day started with a relaxed tour of Louis's goat farm. All the farmers I have stayed with since Cape Town have been happy to explain their business, and many have offered to show me around the farm, which I always keenly accept. I can now identify 5 different breeds of sheep and goat, and distinguish qualities of wool. I'm sure i'll find a use for these skills back in London. I had a fairly easy mid length flat day of riding ahead and so was happy to spend a bit of time touring Louis's farm. He pointed to a mountain at the back of his land and told me that I should go over it instead of around it, as there were fantastic views from the top. David, the Freedom Trail organiser also said that I *must* take this route. South Africans frequently use 'must' where they mean 'could'. I am used to making the mental substitution, but I was feeling bouyant on this morning and decided to be a bit daring and so took the mountain route, despite the lack of any tracks being marked on the map for the first 20kms or so. This was my first serious error of the day. Until I made it to bed at 11 that night, I would think back to that moment of deciding to cross the mountain.

David's directions described both routes - around and over the mountain. The mountain route would, he said, 'take a little longer, but provide for more varied riding surfaces.' There were in fact 3 distinct riding surfaces that I encountered on this route.
1. On yer bike
2. Push yer bike
3. Carry yer bike
Each surface was present in roughly equal portions. So I struggled to ride, pushed or carried my bike for much of the morning. Making it to the top, I was too tired to really appreciate the spectacular views. I checked my GPS and found that the waypoint for the next track was actually in a field on the other side of a fence from me, so I needed to take a best guess at which direction to follow down the other side of the mountain. The land is used for cattle grazing, so there were numerous animal tracks leading off in various directions to confuse the issue. I picked one, but after about 1km it disappeared suddenly. That would be a cow track then. I pushed and carried back up the path, as it was strewn with melon sized rocks. I rode further along the watershed of the mountain and started to descend a jeep track, but that too disappeared at the top of a gorge, and I was left to push and carry back up the hill once again. Eventually I found the right track down the mountain but the surface was similar to the one on the way up. I hit a sharp rock and my back tire blew out. After fixing the tube I continued only to have the exact same thing happen 100 metres further along (yes, Ben S and Ben W, you were right, I should have gone tubeless). The terrain was too rough to ride, so I carried, and somewhat dejectedly threw my bike down the rest of the mountain, but my problems had only just begun. I tried for the next hour and a half to find a farm track east to the neighbouring farm land, but eventually gave up, everything seemed to lead to dead end or else turned South. I was now almost out of water too, so I headed back to the last farm house, but there was nobody to give me directions. I decided to give up with the cross country route and take the road to my destination, which would still be 70kms once I got to the road. It was 1700 and the sun was low in the sky - I needed to get moving in the right direction quickly. I asked some kids the way back to the road and they pointed to a farm track. Mistake number 2. I started the slow climb along the track but after about 15 minutes I realised they had sent me the wrong way. I was now getting pretty depressed about the way the day was going, at this point i was still within 15km of where I had eaten breakfast, so decided to take a break and finish my sandwichs to rally my spirits. I turned to start the ride back to the farm house, but found that my back tire was flat again. I fixed the tire only to discover that my last GPS batteries had run out after only 30 mins use (in South Africa the Ever Ready brand is most misleadingly named). I made it back to the farm as darkness descended, but then took off my sun glasses and realised I had about another 30 minutes of light. Over the next 5 hours I munched my way through emergency rations of dried fruit, nuts, energy bars and race fuel (a stimulant packed water additive). I was getting tired and my legs refused to pedal at much more than 15km/h despite the reasonable gravel road surface. I prayed for a second wind, but instead got a force 2 head wind. I stopped praying after that.

Looking Up

I didn't see a single car for the first 4 hours, nor any people. There was a real sense of isolation, which I've come to appreciate. The Karoo air is extremely dry and free from air pollution, and the few buildings that I came across, having no electricity, burned candles. So when I stopped to rest, usually in the middle of the road, I could lie down and star gaze at the most amazing sky. I saw 3 shooting stars that night. I also noticed for the first time, that due to the air quality and lack of light pollution, you can see stars right on the horizon. Lying there in the road with the warm desert wind and the stars, I was seriously tempted to pull out my space blanket and polythene sheet and just sleep. I felt completely safe having seen noone in hours, but without cell reception, I knew this would cause problems at my expected destination, so I pushed on.

Being on my own it became difficult to motivate myself to continue. Pauses for breath turned into 10 minute star gazing sessions. Reaching for my water bottle was an excuse to stop for a few minutes. I took out my MP3 player to keep me company - Lilly Allen's gifted lyrics have never failed to lift my spirits, so I feel bad for a while, but then I just smile (...I go ahead and smile, etc). It was only a temporary fix though, as the album started over again, (damn it Lilly, when's your next album coming out?), my body decided it had had enough and I stopped at an intersection still 16km from the farm.

It was 2230, and after 13 hours on the bike with only minimal breaks, I couldn't go any further. I called David to explain, at that point I would have been perfectly happy to don my winter clothes and sleep in a bush, but David said he would make a plan and call me back. Somehow he managed to find a bed for me at a hunting lodge 50 metres from where I was slouched on the roadside. It was the most incredible news I had heard all week.

A Very Different Day

The day before this somewhat epic and solitary journey, I had a very different day when it was a real pleasure to be on my own. David had arranged access to a closed off 4x4 track through part of the Baviaanskloof reserve. Access is actually the wrong word - I had permission to use the track, but I would have to find my own way in around the 3 metre high game fence. I've learnt that it doesn't matter how high the fence is, there's always a way underneath if you walk far enough along. Entering the reserve, it felt as though I had strayed into jurassic park. Once the game fence was out of view, the mountainous landscape was completely unspoilt. There wasn't a single sign of human activity in any direction as far as the eye could see. No telegraph poles, no fences or buildings, just an overgrown 4x4 track.

It was so stunning to be a part of these surroundings that I slowed my pedaling right down to take it all in, which also ensured that I was quiet, essential for suprising game. I knew that there were buffalo in the reserve and after my first few knee deep river crossings I found fresh buffalo dung. It may not sound that exciting to you reading this at work, it was after all just a rather large pile of turd, but it meant that I was sharing this wilderness with 1 of the big 5, and although I didn't actually see the animals, they were close by somewhere. Throughout the day I saw a variety of antelope ranging in size from spot to rudolf. There were fish in the river, and the birds sang. It feels as though I'm painting a cliche, but the Kloof really is spectacularly beautiful and I felt exceptionally lucky to be allowed to enjoy this area of it on my own. I didn't see or hear anyone all day until after I had left the reserve.

So as you can see, riding on my own has had its ups and downs. Thankfully the downs have been limited, and the ups have made the trip.

And Finally...

Thanks to all those people that have sponsored me so far. If you're reading this (can that ever be false?) and you haven't sponsored me, then that is theft, and I shall be looking to prosecute on my return to civilisation. Nothing this good comes for free, so get over to my just giving page now please (Link to the right somewhere). You are only excused if you are a student or if I owe you money. If you would like to contribute but don't wish to setup a just giving account, then you can do so by cheque. Details of how to do this will follow on the next post.

Stijn - it's not cold yet in Karoo, still having quite a warm spell. Drop me an email (alex.butcher[at]gmail.com) and I'll fill you in on my onward plans, as they seem to get more complicated by the day....

After 3 tough days, I'm resting up today, eating my way through my hosts' fridge. I've just spent an hour repairing 8 punctures. When I start back on the trail tomorrow, I will be half way along, so another milestone achieved. As always, thanks for all the emails and text messages, sorry that I haven't replied to all individually, as I only have short periods of time with cell/email reception, but it has been great to receive them all.

Cheers,

Alex