Bike ride from Cape Town to Sutherland
Hi fellow bikers,
I soon have to go up to Sutherland for my work and I have *no* intention of taking the provided shuttle bus to get there. A lot of you have told me that its a really nice place to bike, so I would like to know which route should I take to get there. Googlemaps tells me to take the N1 all the way to Matjiesfontein then turn left on the R354, I presume that there are much better routes.
If any of you could suggest a couple of nice secondary roads that would be nice and safe to take, I would appreciate a lot. Having been in South Africa for only a few months, I don't know my way around much, but I have a GPS so I can plan my route in advance. I have experienced offroad riding only once and I would not be very confident in leaving tar, especially if I'm loaded with luggage (panniers) and riding alone.
Any suggestions from you would be greatly appreciated,
Bruno.
There are some very nice dirt roads that can be used to get to Sutherland, but as you say, alone and loaded is perhaps not best for you right now.
The road from Matjiesfontein to Sutherland (tar) is not actually that bad and there is some nice scenery along here. It is also worth fitting in an hour or two in Matjiesfontein to perhaps have a pub lunch and visit the museums there.
From Cape Town I would go via Ceres and eventually join the N1 about 10km before Touwsriver, then unfortunately there are no tar options as far as I am aware to Matjiesfontein except the N1. But at least you have Bainskloof Pass, Mitchells Pass, Theronsberg Pass and a shorter time on the N1.
Many of the gravel roads leading to Sutherland are like gravel highways, and should present no problem to novices.
Thanks for the suggestions, both on the forum and in personal messages. I guess I will do something like this:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Observatory+Road,+Cape+...
