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ing me back to the information booth in the morning so I could continue my cycling from
there. I wished them a good-night and headed to my room.
The next morning, Rudy came by with a cup of coffee at 6:30 a.m. I put all my
things in his buckie and then we ate breakfast. Marikie packed me a huge lunch and gave
me a picture of their wedding as a gift. We prayed together before leaving the house and
then Rudy and I went to his factory. All his workers were assembled for prayer and after
a singing a few songs, they went to work. Rudy dropped me off at the information booth
where I changed into my cycling shorts and top.
From the very start, the cycling was difficult for I was battling a relentless head-
wind. I quickly found the R317 and managed to establish a rhythm as I cycled to Storms-
vlei. The scenery and accompanying birds were reminiscent of my journey in equitorial
Africa which helped distract me from the long climbs. I eventually arrived on the N2 and
hadtocycleeastforabout300mtogettheroadtoRobertson.IenteredStormsvlei,crossed
a river and cycled a bit further where I stopped to eat my lunch.
Afterward, I started a climb which was extremely difficult- not its length or steep-
ness per se but the force of the headwind. It quickly drained me. I finally reached the top
and managed to maintain a relatively good speed on the other side. It was a bit hilly after
this point but the stretch to Robertson was the windiest I have ever experienced in my life.
It was an excruciatingly slow pace but I finally arrived in Bonnievale.
I had a psychological blow when I consulted my map. I thought I had only 19 kilo-
metres to Robertson but actually had 31 kilometres. The first 15 kilometres were in almost
gale-force winds. I needed to keep my head down as low as possible to minimize the wind
resistance. I took quite a lot of breaks to rest my nerves and my body. It was only during
my breaks that I had the chance to look around (it was too unsafe to do it as I cycled.) I
soon realized that I was cycling by acres of vineyards which sadly lay bare. I could only
imagine how more beautiful this area was in the summer with a carpet of green in the val-
ley surrounded by the mountains and a blue sky.
Underheavyclouds,IfinallyarrivedinRobertsonby5:00p.m.Iwasreadytomake
aphonecall,whenapasser-byaskedmeifIneededanyhelp.Iaskedhimifheknewwhere
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