Thursday, March 12, 2009

2009 Cape Ar'gust'!

Beautiful was the weather....Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday..... Did I miss to mention Sunday"? All I can say is WIND WIND and more WIND!
Worst wind ever on Argus day. Only the pros managed to break 3 hours, that is about 140 riders out of 25,000 finishers! The news paper reports claimed that wind speeds of up to 130km/h were measured at some places!
At the start we stood amazed as the wind just pushed riders onto the tar as if they were plastic shopping bags. I could not believe what I saw happening around me!
But, it was fun. Great fun. I have never laughed so much during a race in my life. I rode with my friend, Warren, who did his maiden Cycle Tour. We did not go out to race hard, so for the first time ever I had time to enjoy the surroundings and 'taste' the Argus like a good wine. It was 4 hours of madness. 4 Hours of concentration NOT to be blown into the sea!! Every time the wind lifted my bike off the ground I just giggled and put more weight onto the front wheel.....what a marvelous day.

At the end of the day as we went to the car to leave, Warren's wife was blown right off her bike only suffering some minor bruises. The wind blew me onto the pavement and as I held my Cervelo in my right hand it was literally horizontal in the air one meter from the ground, flapping madly like a beach towel being shaken clean!

We enjoyed some beers afterwards and relived some of the crazy moments. The next morning I went for a jog and it was quiet, warm and windless.

Good old Cape Town, lovely.

This week I pick up the swimming and gym sessions. I am looking forward to this.

Talk again.
Ciao