ccc2

phew and here i was thinking i will dust off 3 years of neglect from my mtb. i know about the honesty box but the last thing i need is for someone to get into my face accusing me of being dishonest. i've only ridden Majick so i don't know where the honesty boxes are on the other trails but here is a suggestion: ride with the fee in your pocket (how much is it?), if confronted, pay, get receipt, if no receipt don't pay, drop off fee into the box after your ride.

only City CC members rode this llast one but we have had guests on previous rides.

post mortem. City CC have been riding down from the SCape since 2003. we used to combine it with the Knysna Oyster Festival but recently have decided to rather do it after school hols. we have used various routes back over the years including all the way on the n2 to Swellendam and then turning in towards the interior but NOW we seem to have hit on just the right route ito distances, safety,accomodation etc some observations: once over the outeniqua mts - the chance of rain diminishes. traffic - 1st timers on our tour were amazed that motorists were friendly and patient - esp the section from Herold to O'hoorn which is narrow and very undulating. a back-up vehicle is essential to follow the group. drink for the next day - even if its just water. a beer or 2 or a glass of red wine with your meal won't effect your performance the next day. a protein shake straight after the ride, no matter how easy the ride was , is VIP a combination of protein shake, a warm bath in the spa's and sleeping in long johns prevented dead legs at the start of the next day. pasta is not an essential - all my meals were meat / veg / salad. all our meals were at restaraunts including b'fast other on one day when we braai'ed chicken and one morning when we made our own "Jungle Oats" i didn't drop an ounce in weight? our distance for the week was 556 kms - i averaged 27kph i had fun.

Who is What?

i came across three signs in a row on the bike path/pavement just before the bridge over the lagoon. the 1st one was for 'beware - roadworks' then these two. we saw no roadworks taking place between this spot and the dolphin beach turn. the hard shoulder is wide enough to accomodate the signs. EISH

if u replace a worn chain then replace the worn cassette or live with skipping chain or slipping gears.

cat 1

half way thru the cat 2 race , moore stephens team had decimated the field.

cat 2 sprint for 5th

home and the cupochino at the wild bean edgemead.

we met up with a few of our club members who rode out to Durbanville/fesantekraal

we spent the last night at the lady loch guest house in wellington. what a lovely place. we enjoyed their trademark steak for supper. here is our last group foto - all fine things have to come to an end.

Friday - 2nd last day we had a bit of a mishap on thursday night at the only restaraunt in Rawsonville - the tin house - when the new owner unbooked us without letting us know. can they afford to turn away a party of 15? - nice one. we had a late breakfast at the "Damm Fine Cafe" in Goudini, then we rode thru the beautiful slanghoek vally, before we had a little climb up Bains kloof. the first one to the top won the polka dot pyjamas. the descent into wellington isn't pleasant.

We had a fantastic ride from Montgu to Goudini Spa today. We covered the 100k ride in just over 4 hrs. The weather has played along all week and is set to continue into the weekend. All participants have handled each day with ease and have committed to next year.

We missed the entry for the DC but we're not at all disappointed

Our destination for today is avalon springs in montagu. We had a beaut of a ride from warm waterberg spa. We rode the 92 km in just 3.45 which included the infamous op de tradouw climb

Day 3: We started the day with a quick trip to the town from the spa and started the climb up Huisrivier pass. It took the sprinters just over an hour to climb the 18 kms to the top and then it was a quick dash to Ladismith for lunch. Ronnies Sex Shop beckoned and we agreed to ride as a group for balance of the ride. With no wind we were soon sipping a beer.

Going down the main road in Oudtshoorn

Chilling with Meerkats at the Cango Wildlife Farm

The second half of today's journey was from Oudt shoorn to Calitzdorp spa. We elected to ride on the tar roadd instead of the cement one. We encountered a stiff breeze but managed to maintain a nice easy 25kph average up + down hills.

Arrived safe and sound in Herald

City CC embarked on their annual pilgrimage to the Southen Cape today. Our first day we conquered our first climb of the Spa 2 Spa tour. The Outeniwua is a gentle 12km climb which took about 40minutes . The descent was chilly. We stay ovvernight in a little place called Herald. Tomorrow we have our first 90km ride to Calitzdorp via Oudtshoorn.

aim for riding time of 8 hrs then add another hour for stops,punctures etc - 9hrs. u need someone in the team or back up to kick ass at the 'stops' becos some okes take this chance to pack out the proverbial kitchen sink. p*ss,change bottle,grab munchies and back on the bike should'nt take more than 3 minutes in theory. on the day another matter.

after Phil said something that went something like this on one of the early stages " and the goosebumps on these rider's bodies are quite remarkable" i switched to mute.

my days of organising club teams for dc stopped when they started charging Rx per team as opposed to individual entries. everyone has the best on intentions to ride but ask them to cough up the entry fee, accomodation,petrol for back up, food in advance, never mind getting everyone to train together and you end up turning over at least 20 potential riders. for 2 years in a row i ended up paying for myself and our phantom 12th man (i know, i'm a softie). so cox it. i'm out. done my bit and got the Tshirt. a great event though for building club spirit etc this is where you find out a lot of things about your friends and club mates (and yourself) at about 150kms.