Namaqualand Cycle Tour – August/September 2020
Introduction:
It has been a while (over three years) since Judith and I
have participated in a long-distance cycle tour. Although we have over the
years, kept up our regular cycling regime and did participate in a three-day
tour around Prince Albert Swartberg region with a group of KZN cyclists, our cycling experience
has been rather sedate, since the completion of TDA 2017.
We have decided to partake in a cycle tour through
Namaqualand, mainly with the intention of seeing the annual Namaqualand flower
display, and basically to get back into the groove of long-distance biking.
The Tour is offered by our local Prince Albert Cycle Shop www.princealbertcycles.co.za
which is owned and run by Arno Botha. Arno offers numerous and varied cycle
tours, mainly in the Karoo and surrounds. These include, the Tankwa Karoo,
Klein Karoo, Groot Karoo, Garden Route and Namaqualand.
This tour will start in Springbok in the Northern Cape
(Springbok is 1 200 km from Cape Town) at the end of August, and will consist of a group having
a maximum of 14 riders, while the total cycling distance over the seven days
will be approximately 350 km.
We are scheduled to meet up with the other riders in Springbok and proceed to
cycle and explore the stark, but hopefully flowering Namaqualand, ending at
Agama Tented Camp (near Garies) before heading back home to Prince Albert.
We will most probably travel to Springbok with Arno, leaving a day early, as he needs to do a recce, to decide and finalise
the route, depending on the condition of the gravel roads, as well as
maximising the flower viewing experience. The tour overnight stops are fixed,
but the final route can and will be fine-tuned.
Cheers
Mike T
