Cycling The Globe

Distance: 97.6 km
Ride time: 6:51:52
Average: 14.2 km/h
Max speed: 45.4 km/h
Total: 44540 km

As I was having my breakfast at a gas station in the border town of Noordoewer, I had no idea it was going to be such a special day. From the border the are two routes that will take you north; one is the main highway, the other is a small dirt road through the mountains. After studying my map and asking the locals for some advice I decided to take the small road – and boy am I glad I did!

When the first kilometers you cycle in a new country look like this, you know you are into something special.

Luckily there were clouds in the sky today to give some shade for the sun. We even got a few drops of rain which is a blessing down here!

The tarmac would end in the Aussenkehr. Even though there are 4000 people living here at the moment, is it not really a town but a private wine farm. When the harvest is at it’s highest in October and November there will be 30000 people here!

The workers live in small huts that I passed on the way to the supermarket. While the huts were indeed simple, the Spar Supermarket was just as nice as any supermarket in Denmark – I could even pay for my last suppliers with my Visa card.

“Take a photo of me, no me, no meee” – the kids around here are not shy!

From here things would get really remote. In fact there would be no real signs of civilization before Rosh Pinah 100 km down the dirt road.

The road was twisting it’s way along the Orange River. In fact, the left side of the river is South Africa while the right side that I was riding is Namibia.

Even though I only met about 5 cars I didn’t feel completely alone…

My map had this piece of road marked as a “Scenic Drive”. I agree 🙂

The progress was not as fast as it would have been on the tarmac, but life is not always about progress and speed. Instead it felt out of this world riding into the sunset like this. World class cycling to remember!

All the people I have talked to have mentioned the amazing scenery in Namibia. After a day in the country I’m mesmerized as well. A pure cyclist’s paradise.

Now, let’s see what tomorrow will bring!