The Amazing Adventures of an Average Actuarial Cyclist

Suddenly it's December and time for the last race of the year - the 97km  Die Burger Cycle Tour hosted in Stellenbosch. After the Cape Argus this is the biggest road race in the Western Cape and also my favourite road event on the calender. I'm usually fit this time of the year and while lacking the razzmatazz of the Argus, the vibe at the front end of the field is more relaxed and the wider roads & smaller field generally makes for safer cycling. I was lucky enough to be seeded in Group %, among with the Elite Ladies, it was a privilege to be have a front row seat to see how its done by the biggest names in woman's racing in SA like Anriette Schoeman and Jennie Stenerhag. The race starts with a neutral zone (which I have learned the hard way last year is anything but...) and then a 5km climb up the Old Helshoogte road (where I got dropped last year after falling too far behind in the "neutral" zone). The pace up "Helz" is always ferocious

The Coronation Double Century is a unique event. 250 teams of 12 take part in a 202km ride starting & ending at Swellendam. It's the only event in SA where amateurs get the opportunity to ride in teams and also the only event where the weakest teams start first and the strongest last. This makes for some hairy situations as faster teams are passing slower teams all day long and there are no road closures. It was my second outing at this event and my first ride for the Sanlam Investment Mixed team. Despite 5 punctures and 2 broken spokes, we completed the 202km in 7h23m, the 103rd team overall and 15th out of 59 mixed teams. Below is some photos of our ride: Team Sanlam Investments before the Start 6:30 and we're off Your's truly leading out the team at Montagu Riding together near Bonnievale Helping a teammate out

Wines2Whales Day 3 (77km 1450m climb) was here and it was time to pick the ego off the ground and make up for the previous day. My lack of heroics the previous day meant we had to drop down one group to start in E. We left Oak Valley at 7h40, quickly crossed Paul Cluver to drop down on some singletrack to the Houwhoek Inn Hotel. The benefit for me of dropping down one group was that the pace on the singletrack was more leisurely, allowing me to slowly regain the confidence I lost the day before Singletrack After Houwhoek Inn we dropped down to Botrivier via the historic Kat Pass. Dewald & I decided to play it safe down the pass as there were some treacherous sections, still some other riders couldn't resist bombing down the pass at full speed and one idiot almost ended Dewald's race prematurely when he couldn't control his bike on the downhill. After the waterpoint at Botrivier school Dewald & I picked up some speed, raced through open wheat fields,

Day 2 of the Wines2Whales is known as the "fun" day of the event. Only 68km with no major climbs and loads and loads of singletrack in the mtb heaven of Oak Valley. I wouldn't claim to be the most proficient technical rider so talks of big drop-offs, singletrack sections named after snakes like Mamba and Boomslang had me a bit worried! Its fine when you ride in the middle of the field because there will always be some bloke around with worse technical skills, so if you feel a bit out of your depth you just fall in line behind him and let him take the pressure. However the closer you get to the sharp end of the field the less place there are to hide, you have to throw caution to the wind and gun down the singletrack as fast as possible as not to hold up anyone behind you. We set off from the Oak Valley Race Village at pace, the open gravel roads makes for fast riding, maybe too fast because after a few kilometers there was a sharp drop-off with a tight turn at t

The Wines2Whales MTB Race is the Western Cape's answer to the Sani2C. 3 days of fun mtb'ing starting at Lourensford near Somerset West (the Wines), crossing the Hottentots Holland mountains into the picturesque Elgin valley and finally finishing at the beach near Onrus (this is where the whales come in). My teammate for this adventure was Dewald de Goede, my ex-neighbour from the previous complex we lived & a very handy cyclist to boot. Registration was on Thursday evening at the historic Lourensford Wine Estate. The weather for Day 1 looked promising, in contrast to the W2W Adventure that was held the previous weekend which started in monsoon-like weather (which wreaked havoc on bicycle mechanical parts and prematurely ended a number of competitors races.) Registration at Lourensford Wine Estate Looks like the rain will stay away! After registration it was back to home for some last minute packing and figuring out how to fit 2 29ers into & onto a Pali

It's September, spring is in the air and time to kick the post-sani and post-winter cycling slump. The Western Cape bad weather lifted for a day and I arrived early on a chilly Saturday morning in Citrusdal for the TipTrans Cederberg Experience, 115km of mtb'ing through the Olifantsrivier valley and the Cederberg mountains. Even though I'm far away from full fitness, I was looking forward to a proper long mtb ride. We started off with a neutral zone riding behind a TipTrans truck riding through the main street of Citrusdal. Just after town the truck pulled over and the serious racing started. And were off! The dirtroad to Clanwilliam. Continuing northwards towards Clanwilliam, the road was flat, the wind from behind and the racing fast. The weather warmed up quickly and we were fortunate to have a slight tailwind. The front group quickly pulled away and since there was no way I was going to keep up at my current fitness levels, I settled into the second group

Sani2C Day 3 - The adventure is almost over! The last 84km is supposed to be a fairly easy descent from Julivet to Scottburgh with a few pesky climbs in between but nothing like the long climbs on Day 2. Team Racemiere were again bumped up a few batches, this time from Group E to Group C.  However this was as good as it going to get for us, as our bolt was shot after Day 2, and clearly our fellow riders had more effective recovery regimes! The route consists of mostly of long sections of gentle farm roads sweeping through valleys of green sugarcane plantations, today we were the team enjoying the scenery being passed by the faster teams. Team Racemiere looking strong! The route had it's fair share of exciting downhills, racing downhill with sugarcane leaves flapping into your face definitely a new experience. Crossing into the Vernon Crookes nature reserve, the trails got a bit rougher but we saw the sea for the first time and it was good knowing the end is not too f

Sani2C Day 2 - the heaven & hell stage and the reason the Sani2C is famous. A long 100km stage, starting with a stunning single track descent into the Umkomaas valley, the track then crosses the valley  taking the riders over the Umkomaas river and out the other side with a monster climb back up the mountains. Our good ride on day 1 meant we were bumped up from Group J to Group E for day 2, meaning the slower riders were now behind us and not in front of us when bombing down on the long downhill single track sections. Day 2 started early and Group E were off at 8h00. The first few kilometers took us into a fun dual track section through pine plantations, suddenly the trees opened up and words can't adequately describe the scenery that unfolded before us. A beautiful valley with a big river snaking kilometers below us, and we were descending right down the "walls" of the valley! The beautiful Umkomaas valley at sunrise What follows is about 30km of t