The last day.........

A fantastic day in Cape Town, very little wind, blue skies and a slight chill in the air. Leaving Fishhoek and heading around Cape Point we got great views of the Cape. Unfortunately Chapmans Peak is closed, being short of time we were also not able to get all the riders to Camps Bay in time so, we jumped into the vehicles at Kommetjie and out again at Suikerbosse and road into Camps Bay just before twelve.

Nando's once again hosted the riders and some of the children of Grabou to a lovely lunch. Some of these kids had never seen Camps Bay or bicycles like ours so it was a great experience for all of us.

I would just like to take a moment to thank Steve, Di and Selle from Daytrippers for making sure we got to each location safely, for feeding us and transporting all our junk.

To Elana and Ingrid for helping Steve, and Selle especially with the accommodation issues we had, and of course for the well needed massage services.

To my friend Kelly who worked tirelessly on this project and for putting up with our not so small requirements.

To Bron I know you wanted to be here, thanks for all your help behind the scenes.

To my sponsors thank you, thank you for all the money, these kids will benefit from your generosity.

To my fellow riders, Kobus, Mark, Michelle, Deon, John, Kevin, Kelly, Luke, William, Julia, Jacquie, Siphiwe, Andrew, Lizzie, Chris, Michelle, Rui, Keith, Cairen and Mike. Thank you for making this tour an unbelievable and brilliant ride filled with fun and laughter, sweat and pain, I hope you got as much out of this as I did, I look forward to seeing you all again next year.

The second to last day.

Waking up at 7am this morning the rain was pouring down, at breakfast the general consensus was not to ride and we would go in the cars off to Muizenberg and then wait for the weather to clear and head towards our end point which was Fishhoek.



Typically with CTN weather changes quickly, by the time we had finished breakfast the rain had cleared and it looked ok to ride.



Most of us decided to ride and ran off to change, leaving later than normal at just after 9am, the route today took us from Paarl through to Fishhoek via Stellenbosch. We had decided to make a stop in at Stellenbosch as Kelly reminded us there was a Vida Cafe' there, and desperate we all were for a cup when we reached this beautiful university city. A quick stop off at our new offices in Winelands was next on the agenda, some of the JHB staff had not seen the office so it was a nice interlude before we pushed the last kms through Khayelitsha and onto Muizenburg.

What we didn't expect but definitely got was, the hard cross winds on the Cape Flats which meant we had to work extra hard, the road is not great here and having to ride single file with no hard shoulder left us all feeling a tad tired once we reached Muizenburg. The last few kms took us on the Argus route to the Calder Hotel which had been newly renovated, we were the first to stay at the Hotel and it was a nice experience.

This was the last night of the tour so dinner at the Bohemian was the last chance to kick back and relax after a hard weeks riding and we had a lot of laugh's over a great meal and show from Pearl and Iain the cabaret show.

The last day is always emotional, we should reach Camps Bay around 12 where we will meet the kids from Grabou at Nando's

It only takes one idiot to start......

We were treated last night to the most wonderful dinner at the farm of the B&B owners, Paddy and Peter Hugo who opened their house up, managing to rustle up a braai of chops and chicken sosaties and LOTS of wine.........which then led to a bet.

The bet was........if Mark Elliot could ride up and down Dutiotskloof pass twice for my one ascent and descent I would put R1000 towards his Starfish account.........you can only imagine the banter from then onwards.

So we woke this morning had a great breakfast, I must admit I was a bit nervous! I am not the best of climbers, Mark is an ex-pro rider and the odds were stacked against me, the agreement was that we would all ride together to Franschoek have coffee and then the race was on. Mark's team members included Michelle Harris and Kobus Burger. I had John, Rui, Chris, Michelle, Kevin, Deon, Andrew and Lizzie on my side, we knew that all we had to work hard to get to the bottom of the climb and then Kevin, John and wing man Andrew had to get me up the hill, Mark had to get up and down twice.

All I can say is I was VERY lucky to have Kevin and Andrew on my side, they got me from the bottom of the climb to the top, when I was tired they got me going again, they encouraged me and most of all stayed with me all the way to the top. On our way up Mark flew past us on his first descent, I was aiming for the radio tower at the top, what was around the corner was not expected and the additional 1.5km climb was just not welcome at the end of the climb, once we reached the top I turned and starting riding, pushing as hard as possible all the way down the hill hitting 71km at the fastest point.

Once I had turned, within the first km Mark was on his way back up again so I knew I had to peddle hard, digging deep I pushed as hard as I could, I did get to the bottom before Mark but trust me, one more km and he would have caught me.

What an awesome experience, great fun to compete against someone really fast and strong and what amazed me was how quick the guy climbed this 10.5km hill.

We are in Paarl tonight at the Pontac Hotel, looking forward to the ride into Fishoek tomorrow hoping the weather will hold like today and be kind to us.

Don't push me........

Rui tried to push Kelly up the one of the hills today, this was mistake on his part, I learnt not to try and push Kelly the first year of Starfish and the response was the same as the response she gave Rui, unfortunately this is a family blog and I cannot repeat what was said!!!!

The good news is Mike didn't get lost today and rode the correct route the whole way.......everyone finished the whole ride and of course the racing snakes led by Kobus decided to cross a flooded river, just for fun.

The guys are here telling me that I need to spice up the story and say that they waded across a flooded bridge, bikes above their heads, the route was treacherous and was definitely life threatening.

The truth is the river came up just below their knees...........

We could not wait to get away from Ceres this morning, the Ceres Inn was not the most hospitable place and the owners need a lesson in customer service, if they don't change their way they will end up with no customers.......

The rain was still coming down when we left Ceres going out the same way we came in last night which started with a bit of a climb and then an awesome decent down Mitchells pass and left towards Worcester.

The ride was quick to start with until the main guys peeled off to cross the river, Deon, Liz and I returned to the main road and hooked up with Kelly, Rui and William and carried on to Rawsonville where we bumped into Jacqui, Keith, Sips, Cairen and then headed towards Worcester.

Deon and I spotted a Wimpy on the side of the main road of Worcester I was in the shop helmet off and ready to order when I felt alone and released Deon had gone, I was left alone in Worscester with no idea where the other guys were, luckily I bumped into Ciaren and then Luke and finally Steve who took us back to the group who were quite happily having lunch and a coffee.

Leaving the coffee shop, Andrew his girlfriend Liz my training partner Deon and I headed towards Villiersdorp, the cross winds were hectic blowing us all over the hard shoulder, Deon was strong and managed to get us through the next 20km before we all decided to kick back a little until we got to the bottom of the last climb where Deon shot off the front, not wanting to get beaten up the hill I battled to catch the mountain goat until about 20m from the top of the climb, we decided at this point to cruise into Villiersdorp.

Siphewe had a great ride today and got here ahead of the the team. We are having dinner (a braai for Heritage day) on a farm tonight before we head into the big climbs of tomorrow before we finish in Paarl.

Day 3 - the day I lost my sense of humour

Just to give you some idea of the weather we experienced today, Ingrid took this picture at the top of the first climb. At this point we had completed about 75km which left around another 35km until we reached the town of Ceres but I am going back to 0830 this morning to explain how our day went.

After an awesome nights sleep we got up to overcast skies, following a great breakfast the mood was still upbeat despite the the bad weather. Leaving Reibek West the weather started to take a serious turn for the worst, within 6km we were in the most horrific weather I have ever had the misfortune of riding in. Today topped last years first day from Plett to George where we also got soaked but nothing compared to today. For 111km we rode in freezing, driving, rain and sleet which was being pushed at us with ridiculously strong winds from all angles making riding very interesting to say the least.

We reached Wellington and stopped at a small coffee shop where the staff who were fantastic, rustled up Coffee, toast, muffins, scones and fudge, this stop was a welcome break from the nasty weather but in hindsight I think stopping was probably the worst thing to do, as getting back on the bike again took a lot of effort.

We left the coffee shop and started the big climb up Baines Kloof pass, if we had ridden this hill in normal weather it would have been great, it was a good climb on a good road but the weather being what it was made the climb hard, what came after was something I do not want to repeat in a rush.

I do not often get nervous or scared on a ride but, the decent from Baines Kloof was the single most outrageously cold, nasty part of any ride I have ever done. Deon, John and I came down the hill so slowly due to the amount of water on the road, add in the wind factor, the traffic and the fact we were so cold, made it unpleasant and almost brought on hypothermia in a number of the riders.

Getting over the decent we then hit a 10km stretch of road which also was not the most safe part of the ride, no hard shoulder, trucks, lots of wind and rain had a number of us making unexpected detours off the road into the sand while the trucks flew past us. Luckily the rest of the ride once we hit Mitchell's pass, was safe with a wide hard shoulder and the wind at our backs which brought the end to the ride and our arrival at Ceres.

I think I speak on behalf of all the team today that we all took strain, learnt some amazing new swear words and for most of us spent a lot of time today getting to know ourselves. We have all come out of this a lot stronger having completed the hardest day of riding I know I have ever done.

The weather report for tomorrow is slightly better with only a 30% chance of rain. Lets hold thumbs there is an improvement.

Day 3 begins

I have a decent connection at the hotel so thought I would get a quick entry in before we start the day.

Had an excellent dinner last night, the food once again was magnificent and the staff here at the Riebeck Valley Hotel certainly went the extra mile, must say the Lemon Cheesecake had to be the best part of the meal.......

We leave at 0830 for the first real challenge of our tour, we have about 6,3km (according to Steve - we have no faith in his distances :-) ) before the nonsense starts with a small but challenging climb towards Wellington, thereafter we turn towards Ceres and Worcester and up Baines Kloof Pass, we are planning lunch at the top of the pass at the Calabash Bush Pub and then cross the Breede river before hitting the second climb Mitchells Pass, we end off with about 110km in the town of Ceres.

Now I am not the best of climbers and today is looking a tad scary for me, so I think I will be at the back of the pack for the majority of the ride.

I will report back with the details of today's ride a little later on. To those of you at work enjoy your days.

Day 2.........the long one...

Leaving the Winderness we headed up the coast towards Langebaan and Saldhana Bay, the girls came and showed the boys a thing or two about riding today, Michelle, Michelle and Lizzie proved that there is no difference between genders.



We went passed a Wimpy at about 40km which would have been an awesome stop for us, but there was no Wimpy and just renovations so we pushed on. The weather was absolutely amazing today, no wind and 28deg, most of us a sun burnt and my pommie skin is pink and sore....that will teach me for not using enough sun cream.

Today was a long ride over flat and rolling hills with a few hills thrown in just for fun. One section was about 20km which seemed to go on for ever and ever, Steve said to us that we will stop at 70km for food - he lied the stop was at 89km.

The last 30 kms became difficult after the garlic pasta which brought with it some interesting smells from the bunches - we are all desperate for peanut butter so the team have sent Andy and Lizzie into the town to buy a few jars.....

Tomorrow we start to climb up a few climbs and drop into Ceres to finish off tomorrow.

We are in a town called Riebeck West, staying in a lovely hotel just below the mountain. The massages are over and sitting in the pub drinking a few cold ones and enjoying a few plates of slap chips.

Today's highlights had to be the view of the mountains which is not given justice in my photo's, what I can also add is how different people rode today to yesterday!

I just got told a story about Kobus.....we arrived at this great hotel in this tiny town, he walks in and tells the receptionist he ordered a seaview, the poor girl didnt know what to do.

Day One of riding - WOW what a day!!!!!!!

Is is always difficult to explain in words what you experience on a tour like this, for obvious reasons you "have to be here" to understand what it is all about but, I am going to try and give attempt to tell the story so you can feel like you are here.

We left our Dolphin Beach Hotel in CTN just after 8 heading up the coast on our way to Langebaan, as per usual the group started off together but soon starting to split into a number of groups depending on the ability of each rider. I don't think anyone will admit that this was the easiest of stages for us to ride, the roads are rough here in the Western Cape and the cross winds were definitely there causing the riding to be quite tough at times especially through Blaauwberg. The scenery here is just amazing, fields full of green crops, animals, rolling hills, just beautiful.

Our first stop for the day took us to Darling (home of Evita Bezuidenhout) and the Darling Flower Show, we had some coffee at a local establishment, we were then told that we were in for a surprise, we were sent down to the Flower Show were we had lunch in the museum followed by a show which starred Evita (Pieter-Dirk Uys) and her unusual but hilariously funny rendition of South Africa history. We even were lucky enough for Evita to make special mention of our cause and got the audience to donate money which was absolutely amazing. Kevin Waterston was also invited back stage after the show and had a chat to Pieter at which time Pieter explained how proud he was of what we were doing, we would all like to thank Pieter for going out of his way to support us and thank him again for his personal contribution.

The last part of the ride was a short 40km ride from Darling to the West Coast Nature reserve. Not to self - MAKE SURE YOU LISTEN TO DIRECTIONS...........a small bunch of 8 riders, me, John, Michelle, Deon, Mark, Mike, Kobus managed to ignore instructions and took a small 16km detour which was completely stupid but was fun in the end with us doing the last 8km in record time with an awesome tailwind.

We stayed at the Duinepos Villas where we were treated to a fab meal out together by Di of Daytrippers, a massage and then off to bed for a well earned sleep.

Starfish of the day had to go to Michelle Harris for "leaving her Suitcase in reception of the first hotel" and expecting it to get into the vehicles on its own.....!!

Highlights of the day had to be how good we all looked in our Starfish Kit, the show at Darling, Siphiwe and his cramp and the first beer after the ride!!!!

We have arrived - ready for day one

We arrived at our hotel The Protea Dolphin beach not long after 2pm on Saturday, we could not have wished for a better day to settle in which, was capped off with dinner as a team at the Blowfish restaraunt.

We received our sponsored bottles from Investec Securities and our last set of Investec Startfish riding kit, decided on the colour Investec Starfish Kit to ride in today and finally setup the fines committee for the week. All the proceeds collected from the week will be added to our overall sponsorship total



Tomorrow morning day one we leave from the hotel and head towards Langebaan, Steve (Daytrippers) has told us to expect a nice clear road which we pretty much stay on until we detour to Darling for Lunch.

On the evening before

The nerves have set in, it is raining here in Durban and 11 deg, Kelly called me earlier today "just make sure you bring lots of warm clothes, arm warmers, leg warmers and long fingered gloves, we are expecting average temperatures of 13-15deg". Now for a seasoned fair weather Freddie Durban rider this is the worst thing I could have heard today! The last minute rush to finish up any problems at work took their toll on me, I ran out later than expected and really only got back into thinking about riding once I had hit my second Windhoek at dinner tonight.

Having said this I am sad to be leaving my family for a week but, excited to be taking on this adventure in the Cape. I said my farewells to all at work, I am packed and ready to jump on the plane in the morning. We are fetching Sips' on the way to the airport and should hit the mother city early afternoon.

I am chuffed with the support received at work in the last couple of days, many people have donated funds before pay day which goes to show you how good an event like this can be, I am excited to see the funds flowing in once everyone gets paid on Monday hint hint!

Starfish 07

Just a couple of images from last years ride, on the left the team outside the hotel on day 4 I think it was Barridale. The the picture on the right was of the team riding through the Karoo.

We leave on Saturday, big thanks to Kelly-anne for all her hard work and effort in getting the team to CTN for the ride.

Bike is packed - no turning back

My bike is packed in its BikeSafe box www.bikesafe.co.za - I am sure that this is the best way to travel with bikes. We have advised the airways and I personally checked with BA today and they except the box I will be using so I am chuffed.

Packing my bags is going to be another story, I have been summoned to JHB tomorrow from early morning to late in the evening so that takes tomorrow out and we have a function on Friday so could be interesting Saturday morning with me rushing to get my stuff packed.

We received our Starfish/Investec Private Bank kit today, it s magic, we are going to look cool when we start to ride. I will start uploading photos once we get there.

First couple of days weather report

Sunday 21 September
22º
Fine with the wind being a moderate northerly
10º
Monday 22 September
19º
Partly cloudy with the wind being a moderate north-westerly
10º
Tuesday 23 September
20º
Partly cloudy with the wind being a moderate northerly

Jast around the corner

The last minute rush to force in some training has left my legs a little sore, this is with just four days to go until we start riding. I finished off riding our normal Tuesday hill climbs with the M19 and Woodside which are two 5km and 1km "bumps", I suppose I should be grateful of the small hills when I think of what is coming in the Cape.

Will rest tomorrow and maybe do circuits or a spinning class on Thursday and then get ready to pack the bike up.

I will be shipping all the spares to CTN to Daytrippers www.daytrippers.co.za - Steve and Di the couple who run this tour and team building operation out of Cape Town will be packing the spares in the trucks ready for us on Sunday. If you ever want to do a tour like this these are the only guys who you should be talking to.

My sponsorship so far.

I am overwhelmed with the generosity of some people.

Orion Telecom - R15000.00

PKF - R2.50 per KM

Investec Cradle Project R3000.00

pilotfish R400.00

Shepstone and Wylie - TBA

I have also received R3470.00 on my Backabuddy website

My aim is to hit R40k so I am still a little short but will focus on getting more sponsors through the next 10 days.

Last week of heavy training

With less than two weeks to go this is my last week of training, I must be honest I am a little worried about my fitness going into the ride, despite this I know I will ride myself fit during the ride. My sponsorship donations are coming along quite nicely, remember if you would like to donate you can go to www.backabuddy.co.za/shunters to donate online.

This morning's "recovery ride" was at race pace with our average speed for the 50kms before our climb home, well over 35kmph. With the M19 and another 800m climb facing me before I reach my gates Luke, Andrew and I went up at a reasonable pace being dropped by the Hill2Hill pro's

I need to concentrate on organising things for my trip this week so I don't leave things to the last minute. Eish......getting nervous now.

16 Days to go

Slight setback in my training with a friend 40th followed by some mechanical issues for my Sunday ride which ruined 2 -3 hour jol through Giba Gorge. This was then followed by two days of stomach bug which kept me in bed away from work, away from my bike and away from my blog!!!!!
Having recovered I managed to get in a good 60km recovery ride with my mates this morning, a nice pace with the normal crowd. Is my nephew's birthday today, Sean turned 18 so we will be taking him out for a few beers tonight, this might put my plans to ride in the morning on hold........time will tell.
16 days to go before we leave, with the Durban team reduced to Siphewe and I we are not pushing our sponsors to start donating.......

Not much training time left.

Eish......with just a few weeks left there isn't much time for training. I should really be looking at a good long ride this weekend but have a friends 40th tonight, the recovery day tomorrow and then my son has a soccer tournament on Sunday so, I suppose I will be pushing to get a little more riding in next week.
To the riders who are coming along to starfish lets get our sponsorships going. Last night I picked up R2k from my good friend Richard and another R1k from the Westville Round Table thanks to my friend Kelly Winfield which is awesome.
Sadly I do have some good and bad news to share with everyone today, my friend Vicki is not going to be joining us on this year's ride which is sad news but, brings with it some awesome news that she is moving to America to start a new life with Tjaart. Vixen my girl I wish you the best of luck, I hope your dreams come true.......!

Thursday World Cup of Racing

Thursday morning brings the big crowds down to the Durban so called, SafeCycling Lane on the Durban beach front. This morning was no exception with at least 50 cyclists in our group and probably another 100 or so in other groups. The ride down for us this morning was gentle compared to other Thursday morning rides but this soon changed once we reached the circuit with speeds reaching 50kmph on the sprint section. We finished off with a 60km ride averaging out just over 31kmph. Nice training leading into a race weekend with the Gateway challenge on Sunday morning.
Tomorrow is coffee ride, a gentle meander around Westville followed by a large coffee at Wild Bean.
4 weeks to go before we leave for CTN!!!!!!

Easy Giving

Check out my sponsorship page for Starfish http://www.backabuddy.co.za/shunters here you can donate money online in a few quick steps.

Tuesday training

Once again we hit the hills of Durban North, I have had a few days rest since our incident so was keen to ride this morning and enjoyed the climbs. Rode quite easy with my two training buddies and managed to keep with the fast paced okes until the last climb up the M13. With just five weeks to go I am happy with the amount of riding I am doing but may need to put in a few more 100km rides before we leave for the cape.

Fundraising

I am blown away by the response so far with pledges from Orion Telecom, PKF, pilotfish and Shepstone and Wylie. I have set myself a high target of raising R40000.00 this year which I believe is achievable.

WE HAVE A RIGHT TO BE ON THE ROAD

We have had a number of incidents in KZN over the last couple of weeks, some very serious with prominent members of the cyclist community being injured. This morning my friend Nick was involved in a very unfortunate incident where a guy in an old VW Jetta decided it would be a nice gesture to drift from one side of the road to the other and hit my training partner. The driver had the cheek to drive off, had it not been for a set of red robots at a busy intersection there is no way this guy would have stopped!
What was even more surprising was the guy actually had the audacity to say to us that he couldn't see us and we didn't have the right to use the road. First of all we are lit up like Christmas trees with lights, all of us had reflective clothing on, secondly we have a backup vehicle to warn drivers we are on the road and lastly we have a right to use the road.
It has become necessary for us to train in the early hours of the morning to avoid traffic, it has become necessary for us to wear reflective clothing even in the daylight, it has become necessary for us to have one of us drive a car everyday to ensure our safety.
When is the government going to finally do something to protect us?

I can't say that the driver was drunk or whether he was under the influence of anything else, this we left up to the police but I can tell you that he was not fully aware of what had happened, he even admitted to not knowing "what he had hit, he just heard a thump".

I wonder what will happen to the driver, a small misdemeanor? a slap on the wrist? He will no doubt get back in his car, minus the side mirror, drive to work and forget everything that happened at 5:35 this morning.

To those of you reading this who are riders, guys it is time for us to stand together and finally do something for the safety of our family.

Tuesday training

Tuesday's are hill training days for us, we leave Westville and head down to the Durban North area where we ride up and down a road called Margaret Maythem two or three times, then we head back home and up the M13 which is also quite hilly. Finishing with about a 60km ride this is a good start to the week.
Yesterday we only managed 1 x MM and then we headed home at a leisurely pace, quite a change from recent Tuesday mad rides which normally are fast and furious.
The team agreed it was great to ride back at talk pace and not race pace! Thursday rides are the circuit rides and this means speed, speed and more speed with a few sprints thrown in just for fun!

Five and a bit weeks

With only 5 weeks and a few days to go I would hope the team are already training hard? This weekend we did a short but tricky - because of the wind mountain bike ride from Remos in Mt Edgecombe through the TH Cane. Was not a difficult ride but was a typical MTB ride with loads of technical issues, my poor mate Peter who is on a no carbs diet blew about 20kms into the ride and then we spent most of the return route fixing his slow puncture. Anyway we got back safely and finished with about a 2h45 ride, not really enough with the big distances less than six weeks away. I seriously need to lose a few more kgs if I am to enjoy the ride.

Back to the actual ride, seriously need to see some kind of sponsorship this year, the pressure will be on us to raise more than the total from last year so I am going to start tapping the corporates I deal with this week.

Facebook Group

Join my Facebook Group called Investec Starfish Challenge 2008.

Mechanical failure

This morning while I was riding, my pedal broke! Luckily I was going up-hill and not too quick either. The pedal sheared off, I manged to control the bike with only a bruise to my thigh which hit the handle bars. In my years of riding I have not seen a pedal break like this, let alone expensive Look Carbon pedals, so guess what the cycling shop where I bought them is going to get a call.
Managed a nice 45km ride this morning with my training partner Nick, tomorrow is a spinning class at Virgin Active.

Today was also the protest ride organised by CycleSafe here in Durban, on Sunday my friend Anne Schooling and 3 other riders were hit buy a car on the R102 outside Durban, the driver of the car fled and left Anne critically injured, she requires surgery to ascertain the extent of the injuries to her spine, I hope she recovers quickly.

Sani Pass Weekend

Sometimes you just think you are bullet proof! You take on ridiculous challenges, this weekend was one such challenge I thought I was capable of doing but, I failed to make it through both days from beginning to end. Having said this I managed a first day of 75kms and a second day just short of 30kms, I made it half way up Sani Pass and then got in the car. MTB is a completely different story to riding on the road, the rugged terrain coupled with a different setup on the bike changes the way you ride, it is often said that for every 1km completed off road it is worth 2km on the road, this weekend proved that point, what made our ride so tough this weekend was the amount of climbing we had to do.

These pictures was taken from the top of Sani as we were about to descend back down the pass to SA on Sunday morning. This trip took us close on 3 Hours to complete.

We had the most awesome weekend riding and having fun and although it was tough it is a great experience.

Training this week

Have been working quite hard this week, started off with the most insane MTB race on Sunday.
The Mid Illovo Eston 75km Marathon was supposed to be the best MTB ride on the calendar, I have another opinion! We had been invited to ride the route a couple of weeks ago, even then we complained bitterly about the route and the amount of climbing and soft sand, the event organisers said they would consult other riders and then make a call, clearly they weren't interested in what we had to say!
So the team (Simon, Nick, Pete, Mark, Rich, Andy, Brett B, Ivor, Brett H and Clayton) headed off there early Sunday morning, the ride as I mentioned consisted of a LOT of climbing and lots of soft sand, even in the forest single track! We had a ridiculous number of mechanical issues from broken derailers to punctures, loose seats, twisted chain's and broken bearings, at the end of the race everyone except for Pete finished but our times were slow and all of us felt the pain of a long ride.
Monday was rest day.
Tuesday was a 55km hill climb come sprint across the Northway Bridge, and then today was a small spin session which turned into a very hard climbing and strength building class.
Tomorrow is a rest day for me as Friday the team leave to conquer the Sani Pass Road a small 130km on Friday from Notties and then 90km up and over the pass into Lesotho on Sat. I may have a few interesting stories on Monday.

Day 7 back to CTN on the Argus route

What a perfect way to finish off the tour finishing on the Argus route. Hopefully the weather will be on our side and we will glide around the Cape over Smitswinkel around Chapmans, past Hout Bay, up Suikerbossie and home into Cape Town.

When we reach the waterfront we would have completed over 900kms in the aid of charity, what an awesome acheivement.

So now you know what we are in for, time to dig deep into those pockets and start donating. Details of how to deposit money will follow in future blogs.

Day 6 - another mountain stage including Hellshoogte Pass

This ride is beginning to sound like the Tour. Another mountain pass, will Simon Hunter the tough and gritty sprinter from Durban make it through the tough mountain stages?

We head back for the cost and to Simonstown on this the penultimate day. The sight of the ocean will be a good motivator for the tired riders, with only one day to go.

Traditionally the last day means a big meal and a lots of talking about the tour, will it be the same this year?

Day 5 and more pain through the mountains.

The end of this day brings us to Paarl http://www.paarlonline.com/ My favourite wine farm Nederburg is here, it will take some self control not to get carried away drinking red wine when we get here.

We pass through the mountains including Franschoek Pass and up and down du Toits Kloof Pass this day could be the tough one even for the hardened cyclists.

Day 4

Welcome to the Overberg........and to Villiersdorp the stopover point for Day 4.

http://www.overberg.co.za/content/view/31/27/

A rewarding trip is over Mitchell's Pass, on a road originally built in 1846 by Andrew Bain and improved in more recent times, which runs through the Rex River Mountains (2,249m/7,379ft) to Wolseley (pop. 6,700), 18km/11mi from Ceres. I am a bit nervous about the climb which rivals some of the climbs seen recently on the tour de france.

Day 3

Now that you are worrying about the amount of training I thought I would carry on with the route maps. Here is day three.

We finish in Ceres check out the Tourism blog http://www.ceres.org.za/tourism.htm.

More training

Sunday Aug 24th - rest
Monday Aug 25th - Interval ride 1.5 Hour
Tuesday Aug 26th - Easy Ride 4.5 Hour 60/70% of max heart rate
Wednesday Aug 27th - rest
Thursday Aug 28th - Uphill Intervals 1 Hour 40 min
Friday Aug 29th - Spinning intervals 3 Hour
Saturday Aug 30th - Long ride 6 Hour (make it 3 hour hard ride if you can't get in 6 Hours)
Sunday Aug 31st - rest
Monday Sep 1st - Interval ride 1.5 Hour
Tuesday Sep 2nd - Easy ride 5 Hour 60/70% of max heart rate
Wednesday Sep 3rd - rest
Thursday Sep 4th - Uphill intervals 3 Hours
Friday Sep 5th - Spinning intervals 4 hours
Saturday Sep 6th - Long ride 6h30 60/70% of max heart rate
Sunday Sep 7th - rest
Monday Sep 8th - Interval ride 1.5 Hour
Tuesday Sep 9th - Easy ride 5.5 Hour 60/70% of max heart rate
Wednesday Sep 10th - rest
Thursday Sep 11th - Uphill intervals 3 Hours
Friday Sep 12th - Spinning intervals
Saturday Sep 13th - Long ride 5 Hours 60/70% of max heart rate
Sunday Sep 14th - rest
Monday Sep 15th - Easy ride 4 Hours 60-70% of max heart rate
Tuesday Sep 16th - rest
Wednesday Sep 17th - Interval ride
Thursday Sep 18th - rest
Friday Sep 19th - Spinning intervals 40 minutes
Saturday Sep 20th - rest
Sunday Sep 21st - WE RIDE.

8 Weeks to go

We have 8 weeks to go before we leave for Cape Town and our next tour around the fair Cape. I really hope it is the fair Cape and not the windy Cape we experienced last year.

I thought I would try and get the team motivated by putting together a training programme, this doesn't have to be a strict schedule but if you try and stick to it you should be fit and ready to tackle the 900+km in September. If you have HRM this will really help you get your training right. Here is the first two weeks training programme

Monday Aug 11th - Easy ride 2 Hours - 60/70% of max heart rate
Tuesday Aug 12th - Medium ride 3 Hours - 60/70% of max heart rate
Wednesday Aug 13th - rest
Thursday Aug 14th - Uphill Intervals 1.5 Hours
Friday Aug 15th - Spinning Intervals 2 Hours
Saturday Aug 16th - Long ride 4 Hours 60/70% of max heart rate
Sunday Aug 17th - rest
Monday Aug 18th - Interval ride 1.1 Hour
Tuesday Aug 19th - Easy ride 3.5 Hour 60/70% of max heart rate
Wednesday Aug 20th - rest
Thursday Aug 21st - Uphill intervals 2 Hours
Friday Aug 22nd - Spinning intervals 3 Hours
Saturday Aug 23rd - Long ride 5 Hours 60/70%

Whats in store for us on day 2

Day 2.

This day is the day that you start to worry whether your legs will get you through the next 5 days, you are sore from riding too hard on day one, your butt is sore from sitting on your saddle and best of all you probably ate and drank too much for supper the night before trying to recharge for the next days ride (remember I like to carbo load with beer which is not always a good idea)

The route from Vrendenburg to Reibeek is a long day going inland from the sea.

The route - Day 1

Day 1: 120km Cape Town to Langebaan.

Not quite sure what to expect this year, the West Coast Wind may be a factor on day one and I think I will need to start investigating weather patterns for this time of the year. Seriously don't want to repeat the lovely driving rain from Day 1 of last year.

Who's in the dream team for this years tour.......

Selection for the Dean Black / Simon Hunter dream team will be open once we have seen who has put their names forward.......hopefully we will be getting some more Investec Durban staff involved and I have been told that Vicki Nolan (aka the Queen of the Mountains) is a definite, Siphewe Morajane (aka - the PMB Flyer), Hans Pakendorf (Village Idiot or Mr Iron Man2), Deon Burger (I will value your property if you sponsor me), Anthony Church (I am Mr Iron Man), Andrew MacKenzie (I am new to cycling - ja right) are all up for the challenge. Haven't heard too much from the other regions however there is still time.............

Training has started

So I have been on holiday, carbo-loaded on bread, wine and lots of meals so I am ready to rock and roll. This last Saturday the training started with a 65km MTB ride on the coldest weekend. Properly under-dressed we finished our on-road, off-road adventure with freezing cold feet, hands and anything else exposed to the elements by dropping down into Giba-Gorge http://www.gibagorge.co.za . This excellent facility built in the old Stockville Quarry has been custom built as a MTB centre for beginners through to experts. Partnering with the local community this is the safe and fun way to get into MTB. Cycle Lab have recently opened a store there and run the bike hire service so there is no excuse for the whole family to give the sport a try. When you have finished riding the restaurant offers good value food and drinks, go check out the site for more information.
Back to the training, have ridden Tuesday with the hills climbs in Durban North followed by a wicked spinning class at Virgin Active on Wednesday and finished off today with a few circuits on the Durban Beach Front.

The training must start

We have 85 days until the start of this years Starfish Challenge, for those who have not started to to train best you get on the bike and quickly.

Luckily I have been training steadily for the last couple of months. In January myself and ten of my mates created the Ice Cream Challenge league which was designed to motivate us to ride together and challenge (in a friendly way) each other to eight races throughout the year. We have already had a number of races, some on road, some off road with some interesting results. This weekend we competed against each other in two teams of five in a time trial race, the A team made up of Andrew, Richie, Andre, Ivor and Clayton beat my team which included Mark, Luke, Pete and Nick. Ok they beat us be nearly two minutes but we all had fun.

So my training program will take a bit of a dive next week while I am away in the Transkei but hopefully I will be able to get in a run here and there. Once we are back it will be full on training for our next Ice Cream Challenge race on 27th July which is off road at the Illovo Eston Marathon.

If you are competitive in sport and it doesn't really matter which sport it is, you need the support of your family. I am lucky to have a very supportive family who understand and provide me with enough time to pursue and partake in my sporting activities. I was supposed to be on holiday with Lynda and Brad the same week that Starfish is on this year, luckily for me my family understand that completing the Starfish challenge is an awesome experience and can change the lives of other people. Lynda didn't hesitate to tell me to complete Starfish and change the dates for our holiday, how awesome is that!

Its official - we are doing it again

Following on from last years Starfish Challenge which took us from Plettenburg Bay to Cape Town via the garden route, the news from Jhb is we are doing it again but this year we are going to be riding out and back from the Mother City.


The proposed route and approximate distances for the 2008 ride is as follows:

Day 1: Tableview up the West Coast to Langebaan. ±120km
Day 2: Vredenberg to Riebeek West. ±130km
Day 3: Wellington to Ceres (optional assault on Gydo Pass and back to Ceres +40km). ±110km
Day 4: Mitchell’s Pass to Villiersdorp. ±140km
Day 5: Villiersdorp (including Franschoek Pass and up and down du Toits Kloof Pass) to Paarl, ending the day’s cycle at a wine farm between Paarl and Stellenbosch. ±110km
Day 6: Paarl (including Hellshoogte Pass) to Simonstown. ±100km
Day 7: Cape Argus cycle tour route starting in Simonstown. ±90kmTotal distance: ± 920km