Hunting trip out of Moordenaarspoort.

Since leaving The Bonthoek farmhouse Casper had been having problems with his back wheel. He would stop every so often and pump it up. Just before arriving at Moordenaarpoort he stopped to pump it again. I went ahead to the farmhouse and tucked into a plate of creamy butternut soup and a few cups of tea while Casper poured water over his tyre to see if he could find where it was leaking. When Casper joined me the hosts were surprised we had arrived so early and asked if we were pushing on to sleep at Kranskop. We had been on the go for almost 13 hours. With sunset the temperature had plummeted making it more conducive to cranking out some serious miles. Casper later confessed that he would have been quite happy to clock out for the day. My reply was that we would sleep when we got to Cradock. Casper merely rolled his eyes and continued spooning soup down his throat. 

Finishing, I rose from the table, thanked the hosts and told Casper he better hurry if he didn't want to get left behind. With that I went outside, grabbed my bike and make my way over to the cottage to use the bathroom, fill my bottles and refresh my chamois cream. Unknown to me, Casper came outside, didn't see my bike in the shadows, called out a few times, cursed me for leaving him behind and dashed out the gate and down the road in hot pursuit. I came out the bathroom to find Tim and the hosts looking bemused. "He has gone to hunt you down!" 

"Really?" I replied. "Thanks going to be very interesting because he is a lot faster than me."

Fortunately the hunt was short lived. I ride without maps and rely solely on memory. I figured Casper would have to dig out his maps and figure out which way to go. That would slow him slightly. That's exactly what happened. Getting to the first turn and unable to see me Casper sorted his maps and settled down for some night navigation. He confided in me later that he was very disappointed. He thought we were getting on nicely and really didn't expect me to pull a fast one on him. 

Turning on to the district road I could see Casper's lights a few kilometres up the road heading off at 90 degrees to my right. He obviously caught sight of my lights and came to a stop setting his headlight to strobe. Satisfied that he had seen me I made my way up the road and together we continued on our way to Kranskop 40 km's ahead.