Best ride so far. The road up the pass was quiet with stunning scenery of the river gorge, surrounding hills and nearby towering peaks. We saw a troop of baboons near to town and returned to Swellendam soon after without venturing into Barrydale. p tional Tradouws pass to Barrydale and back. This can either be a rest day, or you can join me/us for a spin to over the mountain in this symmetrical route profile. For the best milkshake around (or maybe it just tastes better after you cycled over the pass to get there). This is also the start of the famous DC (double century) road bike race, which is a 200km TTT team-time-trial race (teams of 12), starting and ending in Swellendam, of which your ride captain can tell you more. Seeing as this is an optional/rest day, there will be no water points en route, but we do pass the town of Suurbraak if you need to stock up at the corner café, while keeping your bike in line of sight. And we pass fellow Tourdeboland rider, Nic Louw’s one holiday home on the outskirts.