Having been invited by Willem to stay in Warrenton, there was a little pressure when I woke up – I had to cover 42 km. Now this would have been fine earlier in the journey when the temperatures weren’t as high, but now it was a good push that would take some digging to do. And, considering I was already struggling with the heat by 9am, things were not looking to promising.
I arrived in Windsorton, having slept a few kilometres out of town at Klipdam, and rushed for the fridge – a cold drink was needed! EISH! But time was pressing and I had to move, and I wanted to cover the next psychological 10km to the N12 – as from there I had no choice but to make town. Along the way I crossed the Vaal River, again… and something it appears I am going to do a few times still.
Along a fairly narrow stretch of the road, a white Merc pulled up and the window dropped – Bernadene from a nearby farm. She’d hosted some walkers a number of years back, and we got chatting. Again, time was not on my side… and with the road being so narrow we were regularly interrupted by trucks and other vehicles. So we continued with our respective journeys, and I saw the N12 ahead. AHA!
But, I got a little side-tracked just before it… and swung in at the Rocky Rand Lodge. I’d been told about it the previous day, so thought it best I pop in and say Hi. I sat down and ordered another cold drink, as I had absolutely nothing cold with me. Even the water that was vaguely cool from being outside overnight was now SUPER heated. One cold drink, two cold drinks… smashed! Slowly my core temperature dropped and I was vaguely human again (was I ever human though?).
After a good chat with the bar lady and her visiting son, and feeling kind of refreshed, I was told my drinks were on them… and good luck for my journey. Awesome!
I headed north on the N12, with just short of 30km to go… ouch, this was gonna be a loooong day!
But I pressed on, with a lowered core and loads of sugar in the system, I managed my high from there and kept hydrating and eating MuleBar… and all was fine for a while, until I pulled over to refill my bottles. I made the fatal error of sitting down – NOT a good idea. My legs were number when I stood up again and they didn’t want to move… so I cracked a Red Bull and that got me going! Nothing like a raging Bull to get one back on track.
I continued on and soon another white Merc pulled over – this time Brett, a farmer who lives just a few kilometres away. We had a great but short chat and I put my head down now to cover some distance. Aching with each step (my feet are taking strain in the shoes at the moment – especially after 25 km), I watched my odometer and the signboards with interest… counting down the distance.
As I caught first glimpses of town, I saw a guy running in the opposite direction – and I just had to find out where he was running to. He’s a local guy, training for the Two Oceans Marathon in April. You go boy! See you there (well, me for the half anyways).
The Quest garage outside of town called me in as I was now talking to myself and, even worse, taking the advice! Some ice cold water and I pressed on, calling Willem to confirm directions. Next thing you knew I was there… easy!
Willem wasn’t home from work yet, so I chatted with his wife, kids and a friend of theirs for a while. Willem and Giep then arrived from work, and we proceded to braai… and braai… and braai! Much relief came for my body when everyone jumped in the pool. YAY!
As the evening progressed, I was persuaded to stay an extra night as they’d take me on a tour and see some stuff… including flood and mining related things around own. Awesome! Guided tour!
We got to bed late, but it didn’t matter to me – Saturday was going to be a rest day.
