By the time the ride finishes, the high ground of Franschhoek Pass is far behind and you are back among the flat, busy suburbs north of Cape Town, in the Kraaifontein and Durbanville region. Tygerberg hill, the low, rounded rise that gave Bellville its backdrop, sits close by. The mountains of the winelands are a faint blue line on the eastern horizon, and Table Mountain stands out to the south-west on a clear day.
The pass itself is the memory worth carrying. The R45 climbs out of the village of Franschhoek in a series of tight bends and then runs along the shoulder of the Franschhoek mountains before dropping toward Villiersdorp and the Theewaterskloof dam. The old road follows a route first used by elephants and later by farmers and traders, and the views over the valley and back toward the vine-covered slopes are some of the best in the Cape. Franschhoek itself, whose name means French corner, was settled by Huguenot refugees in 1688, and the town is now one of the country's food capitals, with a surprising number of serious restaurants for a place of its size.
Between the pass and the finish, the character of the ride changes entirely. The R304 and the N1 carry fast traffic, there are taxis and trucks to watch, and the sun glares off the tarmac. The advice is simple: leave a generous gap, keep your visor clean, and save the sporting riding for the mountains. Late afternoon can be congested as commuters head home, so a stop for a cold drink before the final run is not a bad idea.
Kraaifontein and Brackenfell have plenty of fuel and shopping centres, and Durbanville has cafes and wine farms if you prefer something more civilised. The Durbanville hills are a good place to watch the sun go down over a field of vines, with the sea fog sometimes pouring in over the ridge from Table Bay in the evening.
If you are doing the whole route, it is a good day: mountains, vineyards, history, and a city at the end.