The Karoo cuisine is not conducive to a low carb lifestyle. Think roosterkoek, vetkoek and endless different types of konfyt. Throw in some really good craft beer and mountains of homemade rusks (not necessarily taken together) and you are not going to remain lean for long.
Luckily at #Ridethekaroo they throw in a few kilometres on the bicycle to balance things out. After 80 kilometres on the road I felt that a craft beer or two was in order and nothing wrong with going back for more roosterkoek with butter, or in my case butter with a touch of roosterkoek!
I learnt a few things about the Karoo too. It can be absolutely beautiful one minute and the wind can be howling up a storm the next. The second half of our race was slap into the wind which made it very tough in the 30 plus degree heat. We lay in our tent to recover, (after said craft beers of course) pouring with sweat, and two hours later were huddled in big jackets as the temperature plummeted. Crazy weather changes.
The best thing about this year’s #RidetheKaroo was that they had had 250 mm of desperately needed rain in the previous six weeks. I’m sure we had a one in a thousand chance of riding through that area with green growth and pretty wild flowers and we nailed it. We even had to negotiate mud!
Those Karoo farmers are tough people living in an unforgiving and remote part of the country but they are incredibly hospitable. Thank you for an amazing weekend.
