I am packing for our next Motorbike trip, starting tomorrow morning. Will blog from my new Samsung Tab4 if I get the chance and some wifi…
Meanwhile, two weeks ago we saw some amazing fun in the sea just of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa…
This is one of my favorite photos… I don’t know how to watermark yet….
Yes, the route was less than half the original. So it does not do to compare times with previous races. But it sounds good to me that I finally rode a Sub 3 hours official Argus race. Nearly broke 2 hours!
But the South Easter blew quite heavily up on Hospital Bend. Past Grootte Schuur Hospital, where Chris Barnard did the first ever successful human heart transplant so long ago. We also did not get any grace on the incline at Edinburgh Drive, also known as Whine Burg Road.
The route felt a bit crowded with a possible 35000 people entering the race. Yes, 35 Thousand!
I enjoyed my race today! No excuses, no regrets!
Will wait for the official time, my little cycling computer stated my time as 2 hours 7 minutes for the race.
My team manager also had a great day at the Victoria and Albert Waterfront in Cape Town, waiting for his star athlete to take him to beer and home…
What a day!
No, not my age anymore…
ON Sunday I will ride my 20th Argus. (Cape Town Pick ‘n Pay Argus Cycle Tour…)
BUT Table Mountain has been burning since last weekend. The fires has been conquered to a great extent. A great health threat still remains with possible flare-ups and soot.
SO the race organisers took the difficult decision to shorten the route to 47 km. It is usually a 109 km race around Table Mountain, now just 23.5 km out on one side and then an about turn back.
I am disappointed, as I have really tried to train hard for this race. But then: a lot of people lost so much in the fires. And the firefighters put up such a brave fight against nature’s power.
So- I really understand the decision and will try to do my first sub 3 hours Argus ever!
I am so grateful that the race was not cancelled altogether. I salute the race organizers and marshalls for still hosting the greatest one day cycle race.
Meanwhile- we are really enjoying the good times with our friends in the Cape. Having a great time with my son!
We just celebrated sunset over Robben Island at the Blue Peter Hotel, a very significant place in my life as that is where we celebrated our honeymoon, on the 31st of March, 25 years ago…
Today was a beautiful day in Cape Town, and in my life!
But the young man is starting to scribble his girl’s name in the sand…
One of the reasons for my silence the past two months was that I was training very hard. This coming Sunday it is the Pick ‘n Pay Argus Cycle Tour. I am aiming for my 20 th medal this year.
Yesterday morning my eldest son and I left home at 04:00. We are having a road trip to Cape Town.
Yesterday was a very long day- 1156 km from home to Beaufort West, where we arrived at 17:00.
This morning was fun- we drove through the scenic Meiringspoort…
A bit later through Oudtshoorn, the one time ostritch mecca of the world. We drove on Route 62 to Barrydale, and over Tredouxpass to Swellendam.
Tonight we are staying at the Cape Agulhas Backpackers Lodge ar Struisbaai. What a fun place to stay if you want to visit the Southern most tip of Africa. Which we did this afternoon.
We had a lot of fun so far, driving more than 1600 km in 2 days (1000 miles). Today was extremely hot, we measured about 41 degrees C in the car. We passed an Asian gentleman on a bicycle, geared for transcontinental travel. He looked in distress, and we stopped and asked if he was OK. He ran out of water, and we were glad to give him a litre of cold bottled water. He said his thermometer showed 48 degrees on the tarmac!
There is a serious heatwave
In the Cape Province, with some serious bush fires around our race route for Sunday. I am just praying and hoping for cooler weather, and that the fires will be doused before the weekend’s race.
But I am having a good time with my eldesr son!
HE is also enjoying his first ever Backpacker lodge experience. Now signing off, I am tired tonight!
.
I saw this Challenge at Nowathome’s blog, and it reminded me of a huge holiday we had in December 2006. This photos was taken at the rocks in front of the Blue Peter Hotel in Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa.
The Point of No Return was reached…
First my eldest, my daughter jumped into the rock pool.
Do you have any idea how cold the Atlantic is here at Bloubergstrand, coming up from the South Pole…?
My Eldest son… Going
Going
nearly gone, gone has disappeared somehow…
My second son
My Friend’s son
So how could my youngest also not try?
This was one of the best days of my entire life! And my kids’ lives too!
http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/2014/08/24/sunday-stills-the-next-challenge-alcohol/
I ride the Argus Cycle race around Table Mountain every year, (missed this year’s race for the first time in 20 years!) And over the time I have developed some traditions of my own.
After finishing the 110 km race, I usually go to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront of CApe Town, where I usually park my car. On my way from the finish line to the parking lot, I stop at Ferrymans Tavern- one of the oldest buildings in Cape Town. A pub with some old history behind it…
I see I actually don’t have many photos of Ferrymans… I am usually so very tired after that Cycle race…
But one of my favorite beers in the world resides here. Ferryman’s belongs to Mitchells Breweries. And one of their brews is the Bosun’s Bitter. It only contains about 4% alcohol, but it is really a tasty, grainy beer…
There is another story behind the Bosun’s Bitter. I drink it as a toast to my dad.
We did not always have a great relationship. After I finished university, I had to go to the army as all white young men in South Africa had to do. When I finished Army, I had a temporary post at a congregation in the Free State. In that time my uncle was murdered in Durban. This uncle was a real mentor for me since a very young age. We met as a family in Durban, and went to my uncle’s funeral. That evening, my father and I went to a pub, just us two. We sat down in a pub, and had a beer or two together. Mitchell’s Bosun’s Bitter. And we talked like real men to each other, and we had a very constructive father and son experience. The next day we all went home- he and my mother to Newcastle, me and my 7 month pregnant wife to Kroonstad.
I never saw him alive again. Two weeks later he died of a massive heart attack at the age of 54.
Mitchell’s Bosun’s Bitter is a rare beer to find these days in South Africa. The Keg franchise of pubs kept it for years, but I don’t see it there anymore. In Cape Town, I find it at Ferryman’s and at my other favorite watering hole… the Blue Peter Hotel in Bloubergstrand (where I had my honeymoon 24 years ago…)
This is also a beautiful place to see the sun setting over Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, and over the Atlantic Ocean.
Each time I drink a Bosun’s Bitter, I think of my dad. Sometimes with great regrets. For now I am 7 years younger than he was when he died. I understand much better these days… and I try to connect with my sons in meaningful ways, that they may have memories of me one day to treasure. Hopefully more than one beer…
Related articles: https://mitchellsbreweryct.wordpress.com/tag/bosuns-bitter/
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/split-second-story
The old Bo Kaap is a traditional Cape Malay suburb in Cape Town, South Africa. It is known for it’s vibrant colours used to paint the 1800’s era houses.
This was Saturday morning in the old Bo Kaap…
At the moment my wife and I are in a cold and wet and windy Cape Town. But we love this place in any of its moods…
The Fishing harbour at Hout Bay- one of my favorite spots of the Cape, except when I am on my bicycle the 2nd Sunday of March each year…
A Beautiful view of Table Mountain today… er… the Mountain has been stolen!
Why did we fly to Cape Town in winter? Last night one of my best friends in life got married. So me and Mrs Rider dressed up a bit…
I looked forward so much to this evening… then I had another gall sludge attack. I only had 2 cups of soup and water last night… But the party was really good! We really enjoyed last night in the Protea hotel Fire & Ice… tonight we are staying at other good friends and tomorrow morning we are flying back home…
The Weekly Photo Challenge this week is “Monument” in any form.
What seems to be a more fitting Monument for German Motorcycle Engineering Prowess than this- an antique old Beemer on a Sunday Cruise…
No, I don’t have permission from the people on this photo. And I took a hasty photo on my mobile phone in the Streets of Melkbosstrand. I would love a slightly different angle on this one…
But this activity- I get! A dad driving around with his son on a vintage BMW. On one of the beautiful March days that the Cape sometimes have. I have no clue which model. It looks like one of the older smaller ones- a 25o cc? BMW fanatics, please help?
If this is you: Please may I use this photo for this purpose?
If you know this rider- please ask him?
And if you know the bike, share the info?
The Rider 