Photograph: The bakkie heading for “Die Baai”

I would not be permitted to enter the Addo Elephant National Park on a bicycle. I didn’t want to either; the thought of being trampled by an elephant or gobbled up by one of the Big Five didn’t appeal one bit.

So I aimed to head back to “Die Baai” and accepted the offer of a lift in the back of a bakkie to the industrial town of Uitenhage, 40 kilometres inland of PE.

The vehicle rumbled along some dirt roads, through game farms, before reaching its destination, by which time I was soaked in rain.

I nevertheless continued cycling, enjoying the radical change in weather from the heat of the day before.

Once again seeking a way that avoided freeways, I passed the town of Despatch and then entered PE on a double-lane road past a township where every house appeared to have a solar heating unit on its roof.

Every time I stopped I would freeze but I didn’t have much reason to stop very often. I was feeling different to previous days’ cycling, both upcountry and here in the Eastern Cape. I was starting to feel fit.

Pushing the pedals had now become a pleasure.

More-or-less following the route of the inaugural Tour of South Africa was now becoming an experience on a bicycle, at last, and not a “baie sukkel” (Afrikaans for struggling a lot!).

COMMENT: Can you describe what it’s like to feel fit?