A reverse C pattern route through a beautiful country with a checkered past led us through splendid scenery and culminated with a little adrenaline.

The final days of our Lesotho dirt road odyssey concluded with a magic carpet ride across the highlands and a descent down the legendary Sani Pass.

Originally I thought this story had two parts, but as it turns out there is a trilogy within these photos…

Bikepacking across the tiny ‘Mountain Kingdom’ of Lesotho was one of the most anticipated passages of our current tour. It didn’t fall short of expectations…

Most of the time we meet South Africans on the road, they aren’t shy to state that we must be extremely adventurous, or simply crazy. In many situations, it also starts a conversation that can uncover a place to go next, an offer of nightly accommodation, lunch, dinner, and camaraderie. Then again, sometimes we only get the word ‘respect’ accompanied by a fist to chest motion.

According to Wikipedia, the proverb “a rolling stone gathers no moss” is commonly interpreted in one of two ways. The first being that those who are always moving, with no roots in place, are avoiding responsibility. Although I can’t deny the truth in that sentiment, I prefer the second interpretation, which equates “moss” to stagnation or the antithesis of growth and experience.

“I think they [Knards] will be too slow.” “You won’t find 29er tires or tubes in Africa.” “That thing is going to be heavy.” I pretty much ignored the aforementioned comments, among a couple other worries that were floating around in my skull, and rolled into Africa with the ECR, complete with Knards. Here are my thoughts after 1,000 KMs.

Weaving in and out of the Swartberg Mountains and the Cape Fold has carried us over and through well over 25 poorts and passes.

Does the Tubus Vega fit the ECR, with 29+ Knards? Well, the answer is… kind of. A few people have asked and commented about the compatibility of the Vega with the ECR. Here are my thoughts.

The sun is the master here. It seems far more powerful than anywhere I’ve experienced. The darkness quickly fades at 5AM and the star of frenzied flame explodes into the sky at about 5:30.

As we coasted through the final meters of the Franschhoek Pass descent, elation quickly faded as we faced the first part of the riddle to our passage East.

Six months ago we were torn between several locations in which we could take our next cycling tour. The general requisites were that the place(s) have a warm climate (Gin hates the cold), posses unique and interesting cultures, and send us off through beautiful places…