April 3, 2022
Keetmanshoop to Tses
Highway riding
I love that the temperature has dropped about 10 degrees farenheit. I left in the early morning and I actually thought for a moment, "I'm almost cold." That definitely has not been the case this entire trip so a wel;come change.
Hit the road at 7:00am. Followed the directions I received to the robot, aka traffic light, and made a right. Not long after, I was on the B-1 highway heading north. I started out with a gentle climb and was not making very good time. Luckily, it eventually flattened out substantially and now I'm Speedy Gonzales now that I’m on pavement! Another cyclist complained about how much she hated riding on the highway and the scenery was so boring. It’s funny, I didn’t mind at all and was quite enjoying myself until near the end when so was getting tired. I am very lucky because there’s green whereas typically, it’s all brown.
I had heard that the highway was narrow with no shoulder. Both of those things were true, but luckily, there was little traffic. Most people gave me plenty of space. It's a main trucking route from South Africa.
Speaking of which, I forgot to put it in the blog, but early in the trip when Penny and I were riding together, I had a nasty encounter with a truck that has made me more cautious. Penny and I were on a wide shoulder riding side by side, clearly out of the lane of traffic. I check in my mirror and I see a truck barreling towards me. He had crossed the white line and was in the shoulder space. I slammed on my brakes and tried to ease behind Penny. He passed incredibly close and it could have gone so terribly wrong. At a minimum, I could have hit Penny as I was maneuvering and we both would have wiped out. Worse case scenario, he could have taken me out. Thank goodness I remained calm because there was not room for error had I panicked. Penny told me truckers don't like cyclists and would have thought nothing about hitting me. Given my experiences with her, half of what she told me was not true, but at any rate, a scary encounter. Anyways, I am that much more cognizant of keeping an eye on traffic at this point.
After awhile, I pulled off at a rest stop and a trucker was there, but I asked if it was alright if I shared the table. Just fyi, rest stops here mean, table, shade and a garbage can. That's it. The guy mentioned he use to work in tourism and has a friend who just finished leading a bike tour group to Cape Town. He showed me a picture and sure enough, it was the group I met! Small world!!!
And yes, the grasshopper saga continues. I have never heard myself find so many ways to exclaim my displeasure when I see them on the road ahead. My favorite today, "For God's sake, help me!" Out loud. To no one in particular. Imagine thousands of little feet landing as they hop all over the place. It's a strange noise and sometimes I hear the rustle along the side of the road before I see them. Would make good sound effects....for a horror movie! That evening, a friend told me there had been two separate car accidents in this section because of the dead grasshopper residue on the road. Makes for potential slippery and dangerous driving. I would have never guessed that. (And because I am so behind, the following week, someone was killed, also blamed on the grasshopper situation.
The other, I could have done without, excitement of the day involves a snake. Because there are tall grasses, frequently right up to the road, I keep an eye on that to make sure nothing is darting out onto the road. I have already seen countless dead snakes and I'm pretty sure one was a puff adder right next to the edge of the road. Snakes here could be deadly. What I wasn't expecting was a snake slithering across from the other side of the road. It was small and I saw it too late and there was no time to avoid it. The damn thing went right under my feet/pedals! I reactively lifted one foot up high away from the ground just in case. Thankfully, I missed it, but damn, that was close!!! Thanks for the lessons snakes, but could you please stop coming so close to me!
I arrived at the turnoff to Tses, where I knew there was a place at the church/school for people to spend the night. It was a derelict town. Corrugated metal used to build houses. I made my way up the road and was surprised to see a huge club with music blasting out of it. Poor or not, at least they have an entertainment venue. Just beyond that was the town store where I got information on the accommodations. The lady was very helpful and I was trying to keep an eye on my bike as young kids were hanging out in front of the store. She knew it was a problem and shooed them away from my bike. I then made my way towards the church, but made a wrong turn. I was hesitant to keep going and saw a truck coming. It was the lady from the store. She was just closing up shop for the afternoon and saw that I had turned a block too early. She made sure I made it the rest of the way safely and eventually got ahold of the right people to get me situated.
The property houses basically a boarding school where people send there kids to learn. All eyes were on me as I was the only white person around. In the morning when I wheeled my bike out the same thing. I just smiled and said good morning to everyone. I better get use to being the center of attention!
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Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 2,437 miles (3,922 km)
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