It is not often in January that we have overcast conditions and drizzle for a run. The runners took advantage of the cooler weather to circumnavigate Devil's Peak - a rather tough route. All three groups left the Newland's fire base along the jeep track and set off towards the Block House. The gravel jeep track gave way to a wet single track, and back to gravel at the Block House. From here, the walk/run group headed south along the contour path, to complete a 11 km circuit in just over 2 hrs.
At the Block House, the Main and Recovery groups headed north, above Tafelberg road, along a very flat and easy contour path. The Main group continued for some distance along this contour path before turning left off the contour and up past Oppelskop. From here, the Main group headed over the saddle to the top of Newlands Ravine. The Recovery group turned too early and instead took a rather difficult zig zag route up to the saddle. However, they did make it to the top of Newlands Ravine. Both the Main and Recovery groups had a steep climb down Newlands Ravine and into Newlands Forest. Once in the forest, the moss covered rocks and many tree routes made this a slow-going downhill.
The Main group covered 10 km in 2h 40 and the Recovery group completed 12 km in a not-to-be-done-again 4 hrs.
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| Above - the correct route taken by the Main group; Below - some zig zag route taken by the Recovery group. |
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| A view down to Rondebosch. Overcast conditions make for great running. |
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| At the Block House |
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| The Main group on their way down Newlands Ravine. |
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| Looking back onto a sleepy CBD - Near the top of the Recovery group's zig zag route to the saddle. |
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| And when the Recovery group finally reached the top! |
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| After 3 hrs (more than 1 hr being non-stop up), on our way down back to Newlands - very steep downhill. |
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