Hout Bay is a fishing harbour tucked under steep mountains on the Atlantic side of the Cape Peninsula, and it is the right place to eat before or after Chapman's Peak. The Afrikaans name means Wood Bay, because early Dutch settlers cut timber from the forests in the valley behind it, and the harbour has been a fishing base ever since. Today the working boats share the quay with restaurants and market stalls, and on a clear afternoon you can order fish and chips on the water while seals bob around the jetty hoping for scraps.
Chapman's Peak Drive is the reason most riders come. It runs for about nine kilometres between Hout Bay and Noordhoek, cut into the sheer face of the mountain, with the road hanging above the sea on one side and rock walls on the other. There are more than a hundred bends, most of them wide and clean, and the surface is generally excellent, but the drive is a toll road and is sometimes closed after rockfalls or in strong wind, so check before you commit. Early morning light on the water is the best, and later in the day the sea haze turns the cliffs a soft grey.
Out in the bay sits Duiker Island, a small rocky islet crowded with Cape fur seals, and boats leave from the harbour to take visitors close. A little inland, the Constantia valley holds some of South Africa's oldest vineyards, planted by Dutch governors in the seventeenth century, and the wine route there makes a fine finish to a day. The town itself has a lively market at weekends, with food from several continents, though parking can be a trial.
Fuel is easy in Hout Bay, with several stations on the main road, and Constantia has more. The mountain here makes its own weather, with fog and wind arriving suddenly off the Atlantic, so keep a windproof layer. The nearest big town is Retreat, but you will not need it.