Ceres is fruit country, and the signs on the road say so, with apples, pears and peaches grown in the high valley of the Warm Bokkeveld. The town lies in a bowl surrounded by the Cape fold mountains, and the name is that of the Roman goddess of agriculture, which suits it. Orchards cover the floor of the basin, packing sheds and juice factories line the edges, and in blossom time in early spring the valley turns white and pink. Around forty thousand people live here, a mixture of farming families and seasonal workers.
Winter is the surprise. The Matroosberg, the high peak that closes the valley to the east, collects snow every year, and when it does, cars arrive from Cape Town to throw snowballs and take photographs, turning a sleepy road into a small traffic jam. This is one of the few places in the Western Cape where the cold is real, with frost on the orchards and ice on the roads in the early hours, so check conditions in July and August.
The riding in is a pleasure. From Wellington, the Bainskloof Pass brings you down through the mountains toward the Breede valley, and from there you approach Ceres through Mitchell's Pass, a narrow cut in the rock engineered in the 1840s. The road bends along the river through a gorge, with the walls rising above you, before opening into the broad, green valley. Heading north, the Gydo Pass climbs steeply out of the basin toward the open Karoo plateau, with views back over orchards and the rows of trees, and the world turns dry and empty.
The town has all the usual services, with fuel stations on the main road, banks, workshops and supermarkets, and Worcester, thirty kilometres south-east and a good deal larger, is the next big centre. The farm stalls along the road sell fresh fruit, juice and dried fruit, and the cafés in town are a good place for pie and coffee. Late summer and autumn bring harvests and the smell of ripe fruit, and the light on the mountains in the late afternoon is excellent. Take warm gear if you are riding in winter, because the evenings are sharp.