Wind. Long climbs. Heat. The same mountain ahead for tens of miles. Driving rain. No time to enjoy the nice hotels they booked after long days in the saddle. Intestinal distress. 3 hour dinners. What more could you want?

Well, penguins for one. Lots of them. Strong legs when we were done. Excellent company, mostly Brits with two Czech's thrown in. And lots of African tunes.

I plotted the routes on RideWithGPS to see what Category that the climbs fell into. How about the 5% to 11% 3.2 mile climb out of Simon's Town, a mere Category 3 on the last day where Chapman's Peak was a letdown. Or the Franschhoek Pass on Day 2, 4 miles at 6.5% to 11%, a Category 4. The Hellshoogte Pass climb on Day 1 was only 4.3% to 8.7% over 3.2 miles for a Category 3. No problem!

Thank you Leslie for letting me add your photos to mine.