Day 11 - Debring - 4,700 meters - 74 kms !

A pretty cold night sheltered between two mountain ranges at Whiskey Nullah had most reaching for their season rated sleeping bags to ensure a tolerable nights sleep !

This trip feels at times like groundhog day - go to sleep, tackle a really tough climb at altitiude and do it all again the day after - this day was no different !

By the time we were ready to hit the road just after 8.00a.m. the sun had at least made an appearance taking the early chill out of the air !

Our climb this morning was for a 400 meter gain over 8 kms of switchbacks competing with trucks and another cycling groupe although a few of them obviously affected by altitude's were simply being trucked to the top !

After yesterdays extended rest I was feeling a tad better improving my average climbing speed from 6 km/hr to about 6.5 !

Thankfully while long the switchbacks weren't all that steep !

Having ascended to 5,100 meters we then descended through an amazing rocky landscape with absolutely stunning views on every corner of this tightly walled valley.

The technical descent on rocky roads added to the wildness of the area and a last descent from the pass gave fantastic views as well as some nerve wracking glimpses looking over the edge !

Having reassembled, Aussie Geoff repeated the prior misfortune of Scottish Pete by stepping in a tar pool and had to painstakingly remove debris to allow him to cleat back up. These tar pools are everywhere as a result of left over bitumen from barrels left mostly buried by road workers many who live by the side of the road in tents permanently maintaining the mountain roads on behalf of the border regional authority

Riding to Pang a lonely outpost, we took lunch before our 2nd climb for the day 400 metres back to 4,900 meters again on switchbacks !

The group paused on the top to let a storm and strong winds go by before adopting almost peletonic precision as the 8 of us cycled this time on near perfect bitumen for a good 35 kms to lunch by the roadside !

All good things come to an end and so did the road with the next section dirt and rutted similar to painful memories of Tibet !

We arrived at our campsite on the wide open plains near Debring and a nearby salt lake and took stock of our days effort over not too cold a beer planning to do it all over again tomorrow !