Nine kilometres of road hang on the cliffs between Hout Bay and Noordhoek, and the Cape Peninsula has nothing better. Chapman's Peak Drive was cut into the sheer face of the mountain in the early twentieth century, opening in 1922 after years of work, and it clings to the rock a hundred metres or more above the Atlantic with 114 corners, so people say, in a short, spectacular ride. Between bends there are galleries and shelters built over the road to protect it from falling rock, which is a fact of life here.
The name comes, according to the usual story, from John Chapman, a pilot on an English ship who put into the bay in the seventeenth century. Whatever its origin, the drive is a toll road, with a gate where you pay a modest fee, and it can close without warning for rockfall, high winds or fires, so check the status before you set off. When it is open, it is a joy, with a perfect surface, a view down to the water, and traffic that is usually well-behaved, though tourists stop at the viewpoints and cyclists use it on weekends.
Direction matters for the best view. Ride from Hout Bay toward Noordhoek and the sea is on your left, with the cliff on your right, and the sweep of Noordhoek Beach, one of the longest on the peninsula, unrolls ahead. Winds can be strong, gusting across the cliffs, and in winter the spray from heavy swells can reach the road, so take it easy in rough weather. Morning light is soft, and the late afternoon turns the rock gold, though by then more traffic is out.
At the top of the drive, there is a parking area where you can get off the bike, take in the view over the bay and watch the paragliders sometimes launching from above. The route continues to Noordhoek, with cafés and a farm village, and on toward Cape Point. Constantia and Bergvliet are suburbs to the north, and Retreat is a bigger one, but the best place for fuel is Hout Bay at one end or Noordhoek at the other. Bring a windproof layer even in summer.