Wednesday, August 26, 2009

My Big Fat Italian Passenger

This whole gender issue with our South African 800metres WOMANS world champion, Caster Semenya, got outta hand. I had to stipulate that she is our woman’s world champion in the 800m, as we also have the men’s world champion, and not from that same race either. Poor girl, just because she is not aesthetically blessed with the most womanly features, isn’t strange for a woman athlete of this calibre. Maria Matola, more butch than most of the Blue Bulls players, and definitely more butch than all of the WP Rugby team, but she didn’t get this treatment. Most, if not all the former Soviet Block and Eastern European Athletes were far more manly than our petite Caster, but then again, they probably were men. All those genetic cattle modifier hormones, surreptitiously found their way into a human bloodstream..
I, on the other hand, had no such help when I rode this last weekend. ’Rode”, would actually be unkind to the effort my legs put out, “raced”, was more to the point. It all started very childishly, once again by Keith Milner and it became a stand- off between our RBS Team and an opposition Vets race team called Superwatt, and riding for them, Brett and Nico. Lots of fun, mainly at high intensity, race simulation type riding, lots of fun and great training. In the end we did 4 hours 50 with 129kms and 1515m of ascent. Good day out. This was mixed in with a coffee stop in Noordhoek at the farm village, a short and sweet celebration for one of our riding mates, Brit, who is shortly going to Ozzie to race Triathlon World Champs. Good luck Brit....stay clear of those gender tests, not that you would ever be mistaken.
A woman in Italy, who weighed 99kg, was told to buy two tickets on an Easy Jet flight as she was too fat. She was told to stand on the scale and pretty much faced public humiliation from the other passengers checking in and was told she was too heavy and needed two seats. The policy, according to an airline spokes person, was that if there was less than 43cm gap between seats, then a person would need to buy two tickets, for comfort sake. There cannot be any comfort if you’re so broad that you need to buy two tickets. Comfort and that person’s life do not deserve to be in the same sentence. Lose some weight and come back when you can fit into one seat you enormous rotund individual. No sympathy for people who cannot respect themselves, unless they are medically unwell and obese as a result. Massive sympathy then.
My mate Rich brought me down some chilli jam from Kwazulu Natal, delicious. I am a chilli nut, love it! Thanks to Jan, for making it so brilliantly, need to get hold of that recipe.
I went out to view the most marvellous property today. A development out on the Karwyderskraal Road near Bot Rivier. Simply gorgeous, but more about that as it developes into something more definate.
Other great news is that newly promoted Burnley are making a mockery of some top flight Premiership clubs, but the best result was the absolute thrashing of my not so favourite Manchester United. 1-0. Sorry Stuart, (a Man U fan, who also hasn’t ever been to Manchester, along with 90% of their other fans). Stu is a powerhouse on the bike, almost gender test material, but has bad taste when following football.
Brilliant that England re-took the Ashes, not that I care either way, but it’s good for the game, globally. Basically, just like last time, it was a South African at the Oval who helped win it back. Kenny was there, and must have loved watching his brother get a Test hundred on debut, well done Trotty. Now you’re stuffed though, you have to stay and play for England for a while and when England tour here at the end of the year, will get an absolute trouncing, and Trotty will soon have wished he was playing for the opposition. Freddy Flintoff can at least wave goodbye on a high from Test cricket, having been a steady servant (when he played), but fell miles short of the original label given to him years ago, of “The Next Botham”. He never drank or womanised nearly as much as Beefy, except for maybe during the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. That was the best Botham impression he ever did, capsizing the peddalow, pissed at 4 am before a match.
Finally, I hope our RBS training weekend this weekend in Wellington is a great team building experience. We should have good weather, awesome hill training, the opportunity to work with our manager Donnay and to get to know each other as cyclists and team mates a bit better before we start racing together on 20th September. If we have a quick ride, we may average 37.6km/h in a race, the very same average speed of Usain Bolt over 100 metres when he broke the world record and ran 9.58s. Ridiculous thought.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

The Greatest Of Them All

To Be Published Under The Changing Gears Blog On www.bicycling.co.za/blogs

Friday, August 21, 2009

The March Of The Cyclist

This week has been a week for putting in the scrapbook, for no other reason than to get it out of the way, not for looking back at and reminiscing on with fondness. I had a dodgy stomach after something I ate at Keith Milner's braai last weekend, (or it may have been the bottle and a half of cheap red wine I drank) which pretty much kept me in bed until Wednesday afternoon. I made a decent enough recovery to go to a casting (a type of employment I vowed to not revisit) and march around a hall like a soldier in front of the camera for 5 minutes. Hopefully the payment for the job ( if I get it), will spare me the blushes of having to use something the SADF taught me, something I never thought I would be grateful for. The amount of pain and suffering I had to endure to learn how to march, and even when I had, I still wasn't any good. I was however excellent on Wednesday, as was probably the oldest at the casting and nobody else knew how to march, what a giggle and totally ironic. When the lady in charge applauded my marching, I grinned and thought if only my old corporal could see me now.

The foul weather, plus the case of the bad gut, compelled me to not ride (which was the plan anyway), so hopefully after a short hour ride (and a drenching) today with my friend Mark Nel, my legs will be right for the long ride tomorrow, back around Cape Point with Stuart and Paul again. Don't hurt me Stu...

The Red Point Audi TT is on Sunday, but due to no TT bike, will not endevour to compete, as that would be farcical, about as farcical as the Australian batting effort. It's embarrassing.

Next weekend is our RBS Racing Team training weekend away, and am really looking forward to riding some serious k's with the team and discussing our team policies for the Spring League Racing season which starts on the 20th September. More about all of that soon...

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Kind Pirates Of Terror & The English Foreigners

Apparently, Somali pirates who captured some Egyptian Sailors and held them hostage for four months were rather "peeved" when the Egyptian sailors escaped captivity and in the process shot seven of their pirate gang in the process. Oops!
"We were upset when we found seven of our pirate crew floating dead in the sea", apparently one reported, from the pirate base somewhere. "We have always respected the Egyptian sailors and treated them well, but the next lot we capture, we will have our revenge on!"
So, let me get this right Mr. Pirate, you treated them kindly, by keeping them in captivity for 4 months and then feel slightly hard done by when they escape in a gun battle and shoot 7 of your esteemed colleagues? Right. Those inconsiderate Egyptians, at it again. They may have been slightly annoyed and missing home. Just a thought..

Jonathan Trott, half brother of my former Boland and Western Province Team mate, Kenny Jackson has been selected in the England squad for the final Ashes Test at the Oval. I'm sure he will start tomorrow and bat at no 4 for his adopted country, poor lad. Having played for SA U19, I'm sure Trott and all other members of foreign teams (Holland, New Zealand, incl) would far rather play in the green and gold of their native South Africa. Kevin Pietersen included. He, (KP) has made such a song and dance about disliking South Africa for various reasons, such as the inequality towards himself and his frail little ego, that we, as South Africans are quite happy that he left. He fits in perfectly, all tattoed and money conscious, like a real football chav.
One story about KP goes: when he arrived on a tour to South Africa, he got hold of the one friend he had left in Kwazulu Natal, Grant Rowley, and having not seen him for many years, the first thing he showed him and could talk about, was a picture he had in his wallet of his new sports car. Poor lad. No great loss, people like that, but he can bat. Trott joins the list of many non english born cricketers to play for England, and good luck to him. At least he will feel at home amoungst Pietersen, Strauss and Prior.

On another front (not too far away), the Zimbabwe cricket team rattled up enough runs to defeat the Bangladesh team in a ODI recently. They scored 300 odd. Bearing in mind that the ever improving Bangladesh team had just put the West Indies to the sword in a series away from home, makes this victory even better for our neighbours, who have had not had a great time of it recently, both on and off the field. Corruption, misplaced funds, ex-players burning down pavillions, etc A bit of a shambles.
Then, a bit of inspiration from nowhere to beat the high flying Tigers. Was it that Morgan Tsavangarai was semi saluted and shown a small amount of respect by 2 of Mugabe's generals, which has not been seen before? Perhaps this is the sign Zim have been waiting for to make thier political, economic and cricket turn around and take the world by storm? Pinky and The Brain beware..

Meanwhile, I'm still in bed, three day on, suffering with a stomach bug of sorts, while the weather outside is showing all and sundry, who is boss. Some horrendous rain and wind wouldn't have allowed for any cycling anyway and plus, I need the rest. I'll be better tomorrow and look forward to my flat ride out to Melkbos on Friday with my faithful companion, Gromit (aka Russell).

I'm busy with a book (Tour De France by Graeme Fife), which is an absolute must if you're a Tour De France fan, as I am. Fascinating detail about history, past winners, their fortune and mis fortune and how Desgrange, the father of the Tour, invented and applied the strictest of rules to make the course as tough as possible. It's comparitively easy now compared to the days of steel 12kg bikes and tubes around the shoulders and 300-450km stages. Can you imagine how the spruced up euro-racer type would react to news of a 350km stage every day. The 1926 tour, called "The Tour Of Suffering" was 5795 km long. You had to start and finish with the same items, same amount of tyres, shirts, jerseys, nothing could be discarded. Tough school back then. Arguably the greates cyclist of all times, Eddy Merckx, describes (in this book) entering the Tour and penetrating it's strange world as a quasi-religious experience: "The paradox of the test condems the champion, by definition, a public figure, to the life of a recluse for 20 days." Jacques Ancquitil, who always rode his bike for a living not due to his love thereof, commented, "A minor at the end of the day, does not love his pick." Both 5 time winners.

Monday, August 17, 2009

A Cracking Weekend & A Tragic Waste Of Life

About time the weather got slightly better, although not feeling great physically (and a bit anxious about the symptoms being that of the H1N1 strain...not!), I have at last been able to get out and do some riding. I'm sure there will be some folk out there who would refer to my riding as "training", and to a degree it can't be denied, but the reason, first and foremost that I do ride, is because I love it. Simple.

There is nothing better to me than getting on my bike on a crispy morning and heading out, wherever that may be. That’s the other great thing about Cape Town and the cycling here, is, that no matter where you decide to ride, it's gonna be pretty. Chapman's Peak has to be my favourite road to ride, especially now that it's closed to traffic...well, mostly, but the whole vibe of the place is awesome. Slightly challenging, which is a must and breathtaking views,something that never goes unappreciated.

The farce of pretending to have it re-opened by mid August is another thing which irks me non-stop. Entilini Projects, also known as Murray and Roberts, have a contract with government which states that they will get 5 Million ZAR per month in Toll fees, whether the road is open or closed, so hence, no great rush to finish repairing whatever it is they have to repair and re-open the road. It's a bloody joke and the government should apply more pressure for the "project" to finish a.s.a.p. Not only does it adversely affect businesses and commuters, it affects us cyclists too. In order to get to the other side and around to Cape Point, we have to ride over Constantia Neck, which is cyclist’s worst nightmare.

Every time I cycle up that hill I nearly get taken out by one vehicle or another and feel it is almost a matter of time before another cyclist gets killed on that stretch of road. The fact that Capetonians, and/or South Africans have squat respect for cyclist is part of the problem, and when taking ones driving test should have to ride a bicycle for 2 hours in peak traffic, to gauge some idea of what we have to deal with daily. Motorists often try and drive so close to you in order to almost show that they are teaching you a lesson. What lesson? That we shouldn't cycle, that we should try another sport? That the asphalt surface is for motorised traffic only? Which one, cos none are ever going to change my mind about cycling, and I think I speak for the majority.

My mate Paul recons it's ‘cos South Africa is an emerging culture, and a car is like a symbol of status and power. It doesn't help that the penalties incurred by motorists who knock cyclists over are rather pathetic, and one case of a motorist who killed a cyclist got a 3 year suspended sentence. So what? Big deal! I'm sure that's no example to other reckless drivers and certainly no consolation to that man's parents, loved ones and cycling mates. If I had my way, if you knocked a cyclist off his bike, it would become so financially crippling, that all you would have left at the end of the prosecution would be the shirt you were wearing when it happened. That’s how it works in Europe and that’s how it should be taught from a young age here.

Where I lived, in Holland (for four years), even if the cyclist was in the wrong and got hit by a car, it was still the motorists fault and had serious implications, so much so, that it's great to ride over there, cars just give you a properly wide berth, as they should. Holland also has a cycling culture, which helps.

So, I managed to get about 7 hours on my bike in thus far this week, but don't feel great. I will probably ride for 3-4 hours tomorrow, including a Time Trial on Chapman's Peak and a further 3 hours on Sunday, so should have done about 13 hours this week by the end of the weekend, which is about my 2009 weeks average training/riding time.

There are 5 weeks left until the start of the Spring League, so will still need to have 3 big weeks, one for time, one for hills and one for speed work and then taper off in the last two. All the guys in the RBS Wrx team are starting to get into some good shape, but we will all be working primarily for our main guy, Keith Milner, who is a good cyclist in his own right and extremely strong and focussed already. We are looking to be competitive in the team competition and hopefully will also have a crack at the overall GC, but that will be an added bonus to the team award.

It is now Monday. I have been in bed with a headache and a dodgy stomach most of the day, so don’t feel brilliant, but at least it’s not swine flu. The weekend may have taken it out of me slightly too. Saturday was wet from the minute I set out and by the time I had ridden 40km, was on my way home and I accidently bumped into my team mate Russell, who had wisely sought shelter in bed and outta the rain, whilst I was foolishly getting drenched. We then met Stuart and Brit and the four of us, with the weather ever improving, ended up riding another 65km.

Sunday was another 4hours 50 on the bike, all the way round Cape Point and over Red Hill from the back. A superb climb, not too tricky, but challenging enough. 2.7km at about 5.8%. The reward at the top is a breathtaking view over Simon’s Town and False Bay, how lucky we are. That ride eventually ended up being 130 odd km with 1450 metres of ascent. Throw in perfect conditions, great company and power-house Stuart Vorster to push the pace, we really did have a special ride.

The day culminated in a gathering of special friends at my favourite haunt in Camp’s Bay, The Sandbar for drinks and dinner and a memorable sunset, all together a fabulous day and an awesome weekend. I’m resting until Friday now, with no riding, and hope I am gonna shake this pseudo H1N1 disease I have grabbed hold of from somewhere.

At the point of uploading this, another South African cyclist was killed on the road on Sunday in Pretoria. A person over took a car and hit them head-on. Tragic! My condolences to his widowed wife, family and friends. Another shocking waste of life brought on by yet another unaware South African motorist. C’mon Government, do something about this mess.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The Swine Flu Debacle

The World Health Organization stats read that between 250 and 300, 000 people die of Influenza on a global scale each year, so far the apparant pandemic called H1N1 or "Swine" Flu has killed 814, go figure! A media hype, to keep people in suspended fear is what I think.

However if the weather hadn't been dog-shit this week and I hadn't felt the beginnings of swine flu coming on I would have been telling you about my cycling experiences instead of describing how torrential the rain has been in Cape Town and how massive the swell of the ocean has been. It has, both of them. Both been large, prominent and rubbish for both cycling and boating in that order of importance in my life.

Tomorrow is another day and I plan to be out on my bike, going for a ride, not going for a cycle as my dear friend put it. We don't go for a jog, we go for a run....same thing, different words. Get it! Got it? Good.

Forecast for Thurs, Friday and the weekend is all favourable for riding big miles. Awesome.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

A Brief Intro


I will publish this blog weekly on a Friday and it will follow the progress of my life on and off the bicycle, from training, thoughts on riding, about incidents while riding, competitors, races and my general life surrounding my time involved with sport, both past, present and future. I hope you enjoy this weekly in sharing my experiences and my time being a sponsored cyclist with Team RBS WRX.