Day 7 - Kimberley to Brits Town
Rise and shine at 02h30 in Kimberly is the normal order of the day because of the extreme temperatures experienced in the past with the ride to Brits Town through the Karoo! The team was all ready for stretching after breakfast at 03h45 and we departed the Flamingo Hotel at 04h00.
The day started with lights on the bikes and stars in the sky so we knew it would probably be another hot one on the route to Cape Town. The trip through town went fairly well with a number of lucky escapes of hitting potholes! Our first stop was just after 50 kilometers where we stopped for a pit stop and some refills of the bottles.
The first major rest stop came at the garage about 120 kilometers out of Kimberly in Hope Town where we stopped for coffee and bottle refills again. The trip had gone well in the early hours of the morning with one or two mechanical issues and also a few punctures however we had managed to cover the distance in just over 3 hours riding time with strong efforts from all in the group.
We later stopped for lunch in Strydenburg where the hosts had prepared a wonderful spread for us including much needed pasta and cut fresh fruit which went down very well. By now some of the riders were tired and rather preferred to ride in the bus.
We all knew we still had some distance to cover in the heat before arriving in Brits Town so the team did not waste any time eating and getting back onto our bikes. We left there at about 11h50 and by this time the temperature had already reached 36 degrees so we started to get the first section of the remaining 77 kilometers out of the way as quickly as possible, hitting 45km/h in some sections to get to our destination.
By now the water in our water bottles heat up in no time and people started to get irritated with one another over sometimes small insignificant issues. By the time we had reached our first planned stop thereafter the temperature had reached 46 degrees and we were literally baking in the sun. We made the decision to try and get through the remaining 40 kilometers with one more stop as we knew the water bottles would be warm within 20 minutes of riding which was the case.
For the first time in 8 years we did not have the King of the Mountains competition as the peleton worked nicely together. The heat and the wind tested the guys and girls and a number of riders remained of their bikes for this section.
We eventually arrived at 14h30 and went directly to the pool area for a quick swim and stretching which was extremely refreshing. Tamara was shoved none gallantly into the pool whilst most of the riders enjoyed a cold beer from the truck.
Later the afternoon the temperature had come down slightly since our arrival and the group went directly into the routine of some massage, weighing and medicals. At the evening meeting which started at 18h30 the awards for support and cycling went to Sarel and to both Reiner and Lean for their efforts before and during the ride on the day.
We had a good stay at the Trans Karoo Country Lodge however dinner was a bit too little for our Iron Man participants from Germany. The Karoo roast lamb was absolutely fantastic and everybody wanted second helpings!!
No time was wasted as everybody went to bed early as it was yet another early rise and shine with another hard 255 kilometers laying ahead to cover the next day to Beaufort West. Past experience has shown us that the day will have some extremely fast sections with a number of small drags which will split the peleton if we‘re not careful!