Month: March 2016

24TH March 2016

Life, and other posts got in the way of me writing this piece for a couple of weeks. But finally  I’ve managed to carve out a few hours to bring the blog up to date with a couple of my more exciting cycling related developments of  the year.

Track

Confession time. Starting with Shu Pillinger‘s RAAM attempt in 2014, and successful completion in 2015, I’ve become something of a “dot watcher“. It’s a term given to friends and family of riders who sit back at home following the position and progress of the rider they are supporting, shown as a small numbered dot on a map of the route. Be warned it’s highly addictive – I’ve since found myself checking in on the progress of riders on the Trans Continental in July 2015, and most recently The Munga last December. Continue reading “Track & Trace”

My body is now sufficiently recovered to sit at a keyboard long enough to jot down the tale of an unexpectedly eventful Argus weekend (and yes, I know, it is now more correctly known as the Cape Town Cycle Tour).

Junior Cycle Tour, 5th March 2016

Our move to South Africa and the Argus are inextricably intertwined with my passion for road cycling. I’ve ridden every edition since that first one in 2008 and, come September, I sit eagerly at the PC waiting for entries to open without ever questioning the decision to ride it again. In the last three years that tradition has evolved to the extent that I’m almost more enthusiastic about the shorter, but equally enjoyable Junior Cycle Tour. Continue reading “More news, after the break”

Cape 300km, 19th February 2016

And once again, I’m re-using the ride report written for the Audax SA website! 🙂

In one sense, a full house of finishers could be seen to justify the decision to move from a 3am start to 9pm the previous evening. But in contrast to the 300km brevet last November, the weather concerning us at the start certainly wasn’t heat. Whilst the entire Cape were celebrating the arrival of some much needed rain, eleven hardy Cape Randonneurs were kitting up and heading out to Vrede amidst varying levels of downpour. The rain had at least stopped by the time we gathered for the pre-ride formalities and rolled down the driveway, but it was hardly a promising forecast. An ominous ring of clouds loomed over moonlit mountains all around us as we made our way towards Franschhoek. Together with the occasional scattering of stars peeping through the clear patches, it would have made for a rather beautiful scene if it didn’t also represent the very real possibility of a drenching with a long cold night of riding ahead. Continue reading “A Hard Day’s Night”