Take a ride to Hell and back? Some bikers will look the devil in the eye and say “oh yeah”. On day one the ride starts from the De Hoek Holiday Resort and goes over a rugged 60 kilometre route to the overnight camp at Gamkaskloof. The first four kilometres or so are tarred followed by gravel snaking through the farms in the Cango Valley. A climb of over 700 metres in a few kilometres is no small achievement as you do battle with the notorious Swartberg Pass. At the top of the pass you take the turn-off onto the Gamkaskloof road, to The Hell. A cut-off is enforced on the top of Heartbreak Hill, about 50 kilometres into the race. This is done largely for safety reasons. Total ascent is 1,750 metres. The return trip starts with a gruelling four kilometre climb up Elandspad. You follow the same route back to De Hoek. Each climb becomes a downhill canter, each downhill a challenge, the character of the ride changes completely. Today’s total accumulated climb is 1,900 metres.