Recollection

Perfect riding day into Stuttgard farm from Hofmeyr today. As most cyclists know the wind is always from the front...although for most of todays riding i had a great tailwind.

There really is nothing quite like the silent embracement of the Karoo. The people that have felt or understood the magic and allure of this special place will agree when i say that there is nothing to do but to step back in wonder.

Even though quite a bit of the journey is still left spend some time today thinking about what exactly this past few months has done&meant to me.
However my knee succeeded quite convincingly in letting this train of thought go for the time being. Yesterday still felt fine, today strain starting to show. Even though i really love the climbs on the route (makes for great downhills), right now it is basically one painfull pedalstroke after the other. Although you get used to the pain after a while, rather similar to most things in life. Luckily i need to attend a wedding this weekend so will detour a bit from the route, only need to nurse the knee along for three more days of hard riding. Or smash it and go for the paralympics.

In any case, i realised that this journey is about so much more than just the cycle, the amazing scenery and people i meet along the way. One part of it that i have been neglecting for a while is the fundraising aspect, and at the moment that is the main reason to keep pedalling. It is a difficult concept to understand, why would anyone want to give someone else money just because i'm out there somewhere on my bike. That said, i'm sure that every cent makes a difference and hopefully i can help make a difference. A pebble to cause a landslide...

In any case, time to get some rest, hopefully i'll be able to make it over the mountain before the predicted thunderstorm, the crossing Bottlenek was bad enough.