cycling Cape Town area.

[durhambiker]

A few weeks ago I found I had a spare week.Wondered where to bike for a week in November.Far east???..too hot and too much jet lag.Americas...same problems...Then I thought..Hmm.Cape town...almost directly south.not much jetlag.temp 21C......Took Koga to bits.boxed.dragged it up to local train station>newcastle airport>emirates>Cape Town..
Pedalled around and had a fantastic time..Really recommend it people!.

[Cyril Haearn]

Tell us more please
What about food and language, do they all speak English? Did you get up Table Mountain? How much did you spend?
Diolch yn fawr iawn

[simonhill]

No jet lag, but it is a nearly 12 hour flight.

Yes, tell us more.

Accommodation, costs, etc.

Ooppss, just read you flew Emirates, that's a much longer flight, great service though..

[Heltor Chasca]

Food amazing. English widely spoken. No need to learn Afrikaans. Stunning scenery and some good options to pedal out along the garden route or up the west coast. Good bike shops and bike scene. Affordable and very high standard of accommodation depending on budget. Loads of stunning day trips if you want to stay put.

Consider flying LON-CPT then do a tour and fly PLZ-JNB-LON

[durhambiker]

it was a bit last minute and the train connection worked best with emirates as i did want to take my touring bike and pannier..just scraped in the 30kg limit.flight is 7hoursto Dubai.the killer is 4hour wait 12til 4am in Dubai.then another 9hours.next time i will go klm via amsterdam.As said,yes everyone speaks English.The climate is very stable in low 20s in Nov..ideal for me.Scenic Fantastic..main roads wide hard shoulder..great for biking..Heard lots about it being dangerous but I had no problems.visited a township.Ostriches on the beach.S.Africa is 5 times the size of France so a vast country.Spectacular scenery.£50 per night b and b...can live v cheap.

[durhambiker]

jet lag not a great problem as s Africa in same time zone as us give or take an hour..Klm more expensive but i could leave Newcastle early morning and be in the bar In Cape town the same night as opposed to the following lunch time..that way fits in naturally with ones sleep patterns.I hired a car for a few days too.worked out about £40 per day including petrol for a VW polo.

[durhambiker]

I was not that bothered about going up Table mountain..but you can either walk or cable car.I have hired road bikes in majorca.Gran Canaria etc..But I find I still prefer touring from place to place with my steel frame touring bike.I had never taken my bike on the plane before so I did it to check out the logistics etc before I subject my wife to It..(im 54 and don't fancy divorce much!).I must say im not an organised person at all.went to Cape town with no accom booked...but I bike.1 pannier.pedal spanner and a multi tool and I had absolutely no problems of any sort.I absolutely loved it.

[durhambiker]

flight £700..car £100.accom £50 per night in b and b...great coffee shops.Spent approx £1700 total..could do it much cheaper if eat fromsupermarkets etc.I enjoyed the history etc of Cape town..and contrast of big scenery similair to driving round California.Great road system out of Cape Town.The bluetooth map ap on my samsung galaxy hooked up to the car radio and directed me faultless ly

[ChrisF]

Hmm. I've often wondered about S.Africa for cycling, but I too have been warned it can be dangerous and a group ride is the best option.
This November I went instead to S.Spain. Flight to Malaga (2+ hours) about £150 return, bike hire about £100,less than £50 pd B&B. 20-24 degrees every day by mid afternoon (although colder in morning and late afternoon.). Didn't really see any clouds at all. Only downside is short days, light at 8 and dark by 6.30pm.

[Kapalasa]

I've done month long, solo bicycle tours in South Africa and neighbouring countries for the past 3 Christmas holidays. This Saturday I start my fourth. South Africa is a fantastic country to tour on a bicycle. Here are the three blogs I wrote on my previous tours.

This is the tour I did in 2016/17, Clarens, Lesotho, Port Alfred, George
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/18982

This is 2015/16, Joburg, Durban, Ladysmith, Swaziland, Nelspruit
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o= ... 17076&v=BT

This is my first tour, 2014/15, Mossel Bay, Cape Town, Sprinbok
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o= ... 15141&v=3v