by Ralph Pina | Apr 11, 2019 | cycling, Towerkop Nature Reserve
Why refer to our truncated, private annual cycle tour as a ¨para¨ cycle tour? Around the braai fire at our pre-tour campsite at Towerkraaltjie, we came to the joint realisation that almost all of us were nursing or recovering from some physical injury or other, not... 
by Ralph Pina | Apr 25, 2018 | cycling, Gamkaberg Nature Reserve, Rooiberg Nature Reserve, Swartberg Nature Reserve
By popular demand we arranged another private MTB tour aimed at occasional cyclists, and not racers. The format was the same: reasonable daily distances, emphasis on touring and taking in the scenery, backup vehicles trailing us, plenty of stops and camping all the... 
by Ralph Pina | Dec 26, 2017 | kloofing, Matroosberg
Traversing the Matroosberg from the Ceres side to the Hex River valley Paul Verhoeven proposed and led this 3-day kloofing trip as a more “sedate” version of the usual MCSA two-day dash down the kloof. Groothoekkloof descends rapidly from the ski slopes of... 
by Ralph Pina | Aug 4, 2017 | Canal du Midi, France
Canal boating from Négra Lock to Argens-Minervois July saw the realisation of a lifelong fascination near the end of my sixtieth year celebrations: a canal boat trip on the canals of old Europe. I had seen a TV documentary about the Canal du Midi some years ago. Its... 
by Ralph Pina | Feb 19, 2017 | Groot Winterhoek Wilderness, kloofing
Thirteen years after the last time down Visgat canyon, I had the privilege of another swim down this almost pristine gorge. The permit was arranged via the Cape Town branch of the MCSA by Paul Verhoeven at late notice. We dropped everything to descend it once more and...
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