Argus Part 2...

Our weekend was full of cycling.  On Sunday morning, Danie was up with the birds to take part in the Main Argus Cycle Tour.  It's 109 scenic, gruelling kilometers around our beautiful Cape Peninsula.  It wrecks havoc with the traffic and road closures and results in about 30,000 people suffering with extremely sore legs and bottoms.

Needless to say, after having taken part in the Junior Tour, Jake was very excited about the main race.  We packed a picnic, made a flask of hot chocolate (aren't the mornings starting to get cool - the idea of winter just about kills me), then stopped in at Danie's to grabbed some blankets and a spare tyre tube for Danie that he'd left at home.  We had planned to watch the riders along Boyes Drive, which is very near to Danie's house and Danie knew to look out for us along there too, which meant we had a pretty good chance of seeing him.  We ended up having to hike up steep Old Boyes Drive to get to our view point.  We spread out our blanket and poured our hot chocolate, clapping and cheering as the cyclists passed us.  It was THE perfect morning for cycling, not a breath of wind, which is highly unusual for this time of year in the Cape.

Sunrise halfway along our hike, looking out over Marina da Gama...

Jake, excited to see the main riders...

The first bunch of cyclists we saw coming past, was Group A.  There were 3 or 4 groups that went ahead of Group A, but we missed them.  Still, these guys are the professionals, they are serious about their cycling and they are fast.  The wind propulsion that follows the bunch is incredible.  One of the most interesting things for me about watching the race up close like this, was seeing the different groups go by.  The serious riders stick together in a bunch, like in the picture below.  As the groups get less and less professional, the distances between the groups becomes less.  Eventually, by the time we got down to about Group S, they were all kind of merged into one continuous stream.  Danie rode in Group H, which was a really good starting place, amongst the seeded riders.

Group A...

One of the Group A stragglers, with Group B closing in quickly behind him...

This was Group H - Danie's in there somewhere.  Amazingly, he did spot us and since they were riding up hill, he slowed a little extra and I was able to pop the spare tube into his hand and he high-fived Jake as he rode past...

There he goes...

One of the highlights was definitely the riders themselves.  I was overwhelmed by how many people bothered to wave, smile or say a few words as they passed by.  It was amazing to see people in fancy dress, to see the many charities being supported by the cyclists, to see the different modes of bicycles, to hear the cyclists chatting and laughing as they encouraged one another to the end, to see blind men riding on the backs of tandems and disabled men peddling with their arms.  Although I'm not sure that all the people riding these bikes were disabled, some definitely were...

By the time most people got to us and I'd realised that they were worth taking a picture of, they'd gone past already.  It was fun trying to capture a few moments.  So many riders were already so exhausted by the time they got to us (about 25km into the race).  The next couple of pictures are just a few of individual riders...

I would definitely fall off this bike.  I mean how do you actually get on there in the first place?

Ummm... I'm sure that this man's bottom was sore in more ways than one.  Here's hoping he remembered his sun block...

I was also amazed by how many elderly folks were riding...

A fairy of sorts.  And another one with a sore bottom on the way...

Jake liked this lady.  She was wearing the same cycling top that he'd raced in the day before...

There were a lot of teams riding together too, always good to see team support...

This is looking back up the hill.  We sat below the road sign on the left.  It was the 84km to go mark, not very encouraging, in my opinion...

By 9am, we were ready to go.  There was still a steady stream of cyclists coming through, but we'd been there since about 7am.  Danie passed us at 7:40 and we'd seen a few other friends, including Danie's brother.  We headed back down Old Boyes Drive and home again. Now that the sun's up, you can see a little more.  This is part of the Marina (Danie's house is quite a bit further to the left of this picture) and Muizenberg Beach is in the background.  So pretty...

Happy chappie, still wearing his medal and new cycling T-shirt...

All in all, it was a fun morning for Jake and I.  He loved seeing the people in fancy dress and so many people spoke to him and high-fived him along the way.  They also tried to steal his breakfast roll, which he thought was very funny.  As for Danie, considering that he hasn't done as much training as he would've liked to, he did really, really well, finishing in less than 3 1/2 hours.  I am very impressed!!

Secretly, I'm also more than a little  jealous that I haven't done the ride before.  Besides the cycling part, it looks like so much fun!  My running partner, Sueann, did her first ride this year too and also did really well.  She's convinced that she can get me to train and ride with her next year - we'll see.  I quite enjoyed sitting on the side of the road eating breakfast, drinking hot chocolate and watching the passing parade of cyclists.  Also, my legs were tired from walking up Old Boyes Drive (it's steep), so I would really need to get a lot fitter.  Anyone keen to join me?

Sue XXX