Why this ride
Out of Kraaifontein, one way: 208 km, roughly 3 h 53 in the saddle. The stops in between: Cape Town / Western Cape and Atlantis.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep · part 1
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 208 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 53
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Cape Town / Western Cape return → Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep food st
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 64 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 44 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fuel stop near Kraaifontein
Kraaifontein lies on Cape Town's northern edge, where the suburbs give way to wheat fields, vineyards and the first ranges of the Boland. Its name means crow's fountain, a reminder of a time when this was a farm with a spring rather than a busy suburb on the N1. For riders, it is the threshold between the city and the Winelands.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Kraaifontein write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep is where the day begins. Next is Cape Town / Western Cape return.
2. Cape Town / Western Cape return
The name Swartland means black land, from the dark renosterbos scrub that once covered the hills, and the landscape is rolling farmland, with wheat fields that turn from green to gold and then to stubble as the year goes on. In spring, particularly in August and September, the roadside verges and fallow fields explode into yellow and orange with daisies and other annuals, and the little town holds a wildflower show to celebrate it.
Read the complete Cape Town / Western Cape return write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cape Town / Western Cape return comes up about 98 km into the recorded legs. Next is Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep food stop.
3. Atlantis
Atlantis is not a postcard town, and nobody here pretends it is. It was built from scratch in the 1970s on the sandy plains north of Cape Town, part of the apartheid government's plan to move coloured families out of the city and to create an industrial centre far from the suburbs. The result was a planned town of factories, schools and housing estates, some forty-five kilometres from the city, which still struggles with unemployment and crime. It is worth understanding that history as you ride through.
Read the complete Atlantis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep photo pull-off.
4. Constantia
Constantia is where wine began in South Africa, and it still has the air of a place that knows it. The valley lies on the eastern side of the Table Mountain chain, sheltered from the Atlantic, with old oak avenues, whitewashed Cape Dutch farmhouses and vineyards climbing toward the steep slopes of the Constantiaberg. It is one of Cape Town's leafiest and wealthiest suburbs, but the farms are open to visitors and the roads around it are some of the most beautiful in the city.
Read the complete Constantia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Clarence Drive Coastal Sweep photo pull-off closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fuel stop near Kraaifontein to Cape Town / Western Cape return
Fuel stop near Kraaifontein → Cape Town / Western Cape return is 98 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Cape Town / Western Cape return to Atlantis
Cape Town / Western Cape return → Atlantis is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.