A rest day - The ninth step ... Somewhere in South Africa - CycleBlaze

November 29, 2020

A rest day

Steytlerville

Rest days are probably best described as work days because this is when we get the chance to deal with work matters.

However, we started today with a gentle cycle around the town, as opposed to the township, section of Steytlerville.  A central pillar of apartheid, via the Group Areas Act, was keeping the towns and cities "white" and ensuring that "anderskleuriges" (literally, people of another colour) lived in townships sufficiently removed to make the whiteys think they had the place to themselves.  It has been thirty years since the Group Areas Act was repealed but spatial divisions remain, largely due to the wealth gap.  Demographically, Steytlerville's population is overwhelmingly what is known in South Africa as "coloured", Afrikaans speaking people of mixed race.  There are a smattering of black Africans, mostly Xhosa speaking, and a similar number of people of primarily European heritage but the town itself remains predominantly "white".  This is the case in most cities and towns.  One wonders, sadly, how many generations it will take for it all to change.

The rest of the day was spent working.

Tomorrow will be a long, by current fitness levels, ride to Willowmore, about 90 kilometers to the west.

The imposing Dutch Reformed Church, a staple of many rural towns in South Africa.
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The more quaint, and slightly dilapidated, Anglican Church.
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Various houses in the town.
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A strange little outdoor museum of old farm implements.
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As quaint but far more interesting - a private museum of motor cars in someone back yard. All setup to look like a nineteen fifties petrol station.
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Chin-wagging with the owner of the car museum
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The old bridge over the Groot River. Groot means big but now, after almost seven years of drought, it is bone dry.
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Looking southwwards from the bridge over Steytlerville with the Baviaanskloof mountains in the background. The Baviaanskloof (Baboon Valley) is where my dad was born and raised. One of my cousins still runs the family farm.
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Today's ride: 6 km (4 miles)
Total: 200 km (124 miles)

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