City's trip from Oyster Fes 2 CTown

[mbaymike]

Tuesday - We were all awakend by the train bypassing Hartenbos at about 6.30 on Tuesday morning. We all trudged off back to the Musselcracker for breakfast. The climb out of <?: prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Mossel Bay is a bitch. Period.<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The detour past Boggoms and Vleesbaai was quiet and scenic with rolling hills every few k?s. It started raining just before we decided to stop at the Aloe Factory Coffee Shop.

We were absolutely wet through when we hit that downhill into Riversdale. There was a scramble for the showers at the Oakdale Cottages.

Steve promptly started spraying down not only his bike but all of our bikes. Bless his soul. We had accumulated quiet a bit of dirt from the Boggoms/Vleesbbaai road due to mud/cow dung and heavy rain. 115 kms for the day

 

The climb out of mosselbay is called "de bakke bult"...if you not quite fit you can replace the second "b" with a "k" and there you have it.  this is my local training ground.  ...ps...did you guys tackle the hill on the way to george or not?  6km in length!!!!!

 

Kaaimans ???? if so ' date=' ja. we were worried about the traffic on this section but it turned out ok. the trucks are going just a few k's faster than you up the climb.

 

i know there is an alternative route out of mossel bay in between the houses but no-one knew of the exact roads to take.

[/quote']

 

kaaimans is between wilderness and george....de bakke is when you leave hartenbos on the way to mosselbay.....it's the last hill before you hit a looooooong flat out of town and onto the highway in the direction of CPT. 

[Conti]

ccc2, why bib shorts?

[nitsckie]

 

Can you give a brief description of what was involved in organising something like this. Me and a group of friends are planning to do this kind of thing next year but havent gotting around to planning it yet. I was going to to do the "up" ride but I think riding back is much better and you wont have the pressure of trying to "save some for the race"

 

 

 

nitsckie2008-07-30 02:40:05

[ccc2]

ccc2' date=' why bib shorts?[/quote']

 

if u wear bib shorts u will never revert back to drawstring again. they dont move around as much as drawstring.  drawstring feels as if you are riding with a cricket box down the front.

[Conti]

ok,thanks

just a bit worried about the DC afterwards.

 

[ccc2]

Can you give a brief description of what was involved in organising something like this. Me and a group of friends are planning to do this kind of thing next year but havent gotting around to planning it yet. I was going to to do the "up" ride but I think riding back is much better and you wont have the pressure of trying to "save some for the race"

 

thats our way of thinking as well - Ride the Knysna and then have fun on the way back to CT.

 

The biggest problem was getting a commitment from our members. We wanted to restrict the party to 20.  when push came to shove and we asked for a deposit we only had 12 takers. By that time we were aware that accommodation in Sedgefield was at a premium (Shearwater, where we stayed previously had been sold and I didn?t know of a place that could accommodate all of us. (we avoid Knysna as its too ?busy?)<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The 2^nd biggest problem was getting members and bikes up to Sedgefield our kombi takes 8 people and 10 bikes on the trailer. Our trip only kicks in from the Sunday night after the Oyster Festival funrides.

 

I worked out the distances

Sedgefield ? H?bos 83 km

H?bos ? R?dale 83 km (we only decided to do the detour the night before)

R?dale ? B?dale 150 km

B?dale ? <?: prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Worcester ? 144 km

Worcester ? CT 110 km

 

Had to then find accommodation in the towns that would accommodate us ie single beds at a reasonable price and had restaurant facilities available on the premises (more about this later)

 

Booked accommodation for 13 people and called for deposits so that I could pay the deposits to places of accommodation.

 

Worked out a budget per person x 12. subtracted what accommodation , food and fuel should come to. Our backup stayed free iow the other 12 members subsidised his costs.

Thankfully at R2 000 pp we were showing a small surplus and we gained two other riders in the month leading up to the trip so there was a bit of comfort built into our surplus. you never know what extra costs you can incur.

 

During the weeks leading up to the trip we decided the following:

We couldn?t afford to supply energy supplements (this wasn?t a problem as most of the guys were going to use their own anyway)

We would self cater at Sedgefield, Riversdale and Worcester (one member owns a fast food franchise and another member is a qualified chef). We did fish/calamari in S?field, pasta in Riverdale and a chicken potjie in Worcester. (this saved us at least R1 500).

Monday we ate at Hartenbos in the restaurant @ R65 per head and The Barrydale includes supper and breakfast in their tariff.

We also included breakfast in our price because we were scared that some riders wouldn?t eat 1^st thing in the morning and then run out of fuel on the ride. Midmorning coffee was for own pocket.

 

Make a list of :

Members name , id , Med aid , next of kin

Get them to sign an indemnity form

Hospitals / Medi Clinics en route

Bike shops en route (Francois of Manic Cycles came to our rescue in Worcester)

Impress upon the riders to keep left at all times (even the most intelligent of people ride like idiots at times)

Dress for the worst weather ? it?s the middle of winter.

[GFishy]

Now this looks like alot of fun...