I was looking for a long day out. Captain Craig suggested the route. The weather looked OK on the public holiday and Alan was keen. Luckily I looked at Google Earth the night before and saved us a potential dog leg. 
We parked at the Shell on the R301 somewhere in Paarl Industria. 
The first few km to the church in Wellington were easy and then the first climb came. Brains Kloof Pass remained cool with a a slight drizzle. It turned to rain by the top. Sunglasses on to shield the eyes for the descent. Then the road past 

Slanghoek. My DC captain checked on my training as we arrived in Rawsenville. Just to make sure that I was not slacking. The tail wind turned on us and the approach to Villiersdorp turned interesting. I promised Alan coffee of good quality and so I was under pressure to deliver. The pass before town was bigger than I remembered. Coffee was consumed with delicious quiche and salad fresh from the garden. 

Back to it. We were only 130 km in. 8km of headwind to the Franschoek Pass turn. Easing off the pace to not overtax the caffeine legs. 

We refilled with the world’s best water before the quick descent to more coffee. We declined the offer to continue to Gordon’s Bay. That would just have been silly. 

However fuelled by nectar we hit the pedals hard out of town. Then right onto the R301. More headwind and rolling hills past Madiba’s statue outside Victor Vester. I was about to despair when my partner in crime put the hammer down. The double espresso with a shot of condensed milk obviously stayed down and seemed to be kicking in! I feared getting dropped but hung on for dear life. Recovered enough to offer some form of help on the sharp end. And so we did our best impersonation of a breakaway desperate to stay away. The madness to end all rides seemed to be a race against Mr Garmin who was beeping and crying for a recharge. 
If it’s not on strava then it does not count. 

And so we arrived at the car still parked at the Shell. Lucky us! In old school fashion I have absolutely no proof of this ride. I did not even take a selfie on top of Franschoek Pass #fail. Mr Garmin survived long enough to give us the following: 196 km, 1700 m, 8h03 and a whole bunch of fun. Thanks Alan for sharing this great day.