Sutherland Part 2

By Karen "I wouldn't mind an electric blanket" Swarts

Saturday saw some of us heading out to SALT: the South African Large
Telescope. The visitor’s centre houses a variety of old fashioned
scientific displays aimed at entertaining the more intellectually
advanced among the visitors. We mere mortals found posing next to
fake dinosaur skeletons much more stimulating…

Back at the farm, Johan had meanwhile cooked up a storm and delivered
once again his “legen…wait for it…dary” potjie. After the best meal
of the weekend the brave among us armed ourselves with flashlights,
beanies and a bottle of muskadel for the “ghost”walk of Sutherland.
Starting out as a walk/talk on the indigenous plants of the area, we
were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at a stone enclosure, fire
crackling and steaming…no wait…lukewarm sweet black coffee and
boereworsrolls awaiting the cold and now slightly tipsy travellers.
But the warm and friendly atmosphere in that little stone enclosure
will surely be remembered by us all.
On our way back (now walking in complete darkness) the “ghost” told us
interesting, if somewhat slightly untrue, tales of hauntings, death
and despair. Usually paralysed by the fear of scary things lurking in
the dark, I found myself mesmerised by the sky: a black canvas covered
with splatters of stars. A truly magnificent display: reminding me
why travellers flock to this little obscure Karoo town.

Sutherland

Brrrrrr, Its June, and its cold in Cape Town. So what would make 13 and a half people think it is a good idea to head to South Africa's coldest little dorpie in the middle of winter??

The stars?, an excuse to drink red wine?, somebodies birthday?, the cycling?, the locals?, a warm fire?, good mates? (Jurg's convincing self promo video?)

Well I suppose it was a little bit of all of the above (except for the video that is......)

After a bit of a party the night before (there were 13 empty bottles of wine next to the bin and I didn't even count the beer cans) we headed in a North Easterly direction up the N1 stopping briefly in Matjiesfontein, for some warming soup and sherry, before making the left hand turn to Sutherland.
The drive up was a spectacular one with rainbows and waterfalls a plenty. The Karoo was anything but dry on this trip and the rivers were pumping (which we would experience first hand a later in the weekend). Johan arrived at Rooikloof (www.roikloof.co.za) a little before us and welcomed us with a warming fire and a open bottle of red wine! The weekend had started!

The first night was not only cold but also wet, so braai'ing was cancelled and Johan came up with what I would describe as a Karoo Goulash that worked brilliantly. Supper, the long drive, the night before, the afternoon wine and an eventful game of 30 seconds sapped the energy and we were soon off to bed. All that and the shot of Akkedis Bult Witblits!!

Day 2 started slowly (not surprisingly) but eventually we jumped on our bikes and headed off on the Oubergpass road in search of the view form the top of the pass. The distance was a little underestimated and the one waterbottle we each took ended up being about 4 to little! but as with those nights where you head out for "just one beer" this ride turned out to be an Epic one and even included a knee deep river crossing in FREEEEZING water. The view was worth it though and next time when we don't have frozen toes we might try riding down and back up the pass! Those that didn't cycle enjoyed a somewhat more relaxed day in and around town.

Another good meal and Great red wine eased the aching body and I was energised enough for a quick trip to the Rooikat bar for slightly less potent shots than the previous evening!

We took advantage of my biggish car, it's offroad ability, an 80's CD and a sub woofer to take a crazy detour off the tar road and head off a bit deeper into the Karoo. There we were all out of the warmth of the car dancing in the middle of nowhere to Kaptein and Special Star. I think half of the Karoo heard us. ;-) We played a few dodgy tunes to throw the locals off our trail before heading back to the warmth (unless you were staying in Koesnaatjie!) of our accommodation.

Another great day in the coldest place in SA!!

Bouckaert Soenen League

Race report from the Bouckaert Soenen League and Funride.

This weekend was the Bouckaert Soenen League and Funride, the longest (126km) race on the Summer calender.

With temperatures the day before reaching the forties it was pleasant to wake up to coolish conditions.

The standings on the general classification had a big effect on the tactics employed by the 2 leading teams Daikin and and Cape Town Market.  Daikin wanted a break to go away, while Cape Town Market wanted it to come down to a bunch sprint to give Stefan Ihlenfeld, who is lying 2nd overall, a chance for his 3rd race win in a row.

There was only one major obstacle on the route and that was the climb of Botmanskloof pass that came at around the 50 km mark.  The bunch did split over this climb but with over 70km in the race remaining the pace in the front group slowed enough for the majority of the bunch to regroup.

It was then a case of attacks trying to get away but in each case being brought back by the large team of Cape Town market.  I managed to get away in a small group at the 100km mark which at stages looked promising but after about 10km's it too was brought back.

At just over 5 km to go a big attack was launched on the narrow Agter Paarl road.  Neil sensing that such an attack would be made had positioned himself perfectly near the front of the pack to be able to respond and went away with about 5 others.  They quickly opened up a gap and at some stages it looked to be a successful move.  Credit must go to Cape Town Market though who worked very hard to get things back together and brought them back with less than 2 km to go.

The finish was always going to be a fast one and getting a good position around the right hand turn off Paarl's main road was going to be crucial if a good position was to be achieved.   It took some risks to get near the front of the pack while bouncing along the manhole filled main road but luck was on my side and managed to go around the corner in the top 10.  With sprinting not being my strongest point it was a nice feeling when the legs responded and I managed to come past a couple of the riders before the line.

Stefan Ihlenfeldt managed to win his 3rd race in a row and with the bonus seconds moves closer to Ryan Kemp and the Pink Jersey.

Winning Time: 3:04:20

1. Stefan Ihlenfedt - Cape Town Market
2. Dean Hopf - Cycle Lab
3. Pierre Henri Olivier
4. Stuart Strang - CAPESTORM
5. Alex Heward - Olympic Cycles

Stuart

Orange River Day 1 & 2

What an awesome time!

 

15 of us (consisting mainly of cyclists) headed north to the Namibian border to test our upper body strength on the Orange River.  We actually did quite well, but that is mainly because bones don’t get stiff!

 

We left in convoy on Wednesday morning and managed to hit every Wimpy between Cape Town and The Namibian border.  I personally managed to get through a waffle and a half on the second stop.  (training has already started to try get rid of it!)  Luckily we all cruised up in luxury because the temperature at the Nam border must have been easily in the 40’s.  If you are posted there you must have done something seriously wrong somewhere along the line.

 

The Felix Unite camp was only a couple of k’s from the border and we were soon settled on the lawn setting up camp for the night and sampling the local brew.   The stars were, as expected, out in full force and it was great to fall asleep under them.

 

The next day we woke to an awesome sunrise.  There were a few clouds and that made the sky shine a very bright red, which was beautiful to look at but a sign of the weather (headwind) to come.  After a great breakfast of bacon and egg rolls we packed our buckets (kitchen, closet and linen cupboard) and were ready to roll.

 

The first morning was a tough one having to deal with a headwind but with a bit of a push we reached the lunch stop where we were treated to a good lunch and time to play a bit of Wabooba.  Soon enough though we were on our way and to encounter the first rapid of the day.  On this rapid Moolman and I managed to turn the boat and hit it backwards.  Somehow between the 2 of us we managed to control it and get through safely.  That is more than can be said for Nic the guide’s boat which ended up getting wrapped on a rock and being sunk.  It was amazing to see the power of water.  What looked like a fairly innocent patch of water quite easily took care of the boat.

 

The first night was spent on a piece of the bank that had been recently populated with bovines and was affectionately  nicknamed “cow pat island”.  Once all the pats had been flicked out the way the first papsak appeared and the evening started to get underway.  The headwind had taken its toll and by 10am there wasn’t a light to be seen at camp.

 

 

The best thing on day 2 was probably being served coffee in our sleeping bags by Nic and Hannes.  Looking at the faces of the group that first cup of coffee was actually more of a necessity than a luxury.  Again there was a good breakfast that got us on our way and to test out the damage the previous days efforts had done to our shoulders.

 

Day 2’s paddling was absolutely awesome.  It included the (in)famous Shambok rapid which we could preview when we walked up one of the hills over during the lunch break.  On the hill we were told to pick up fluoride pieces which when were later thrown into the fire glowed a bright blue before popping like fireworks.

 

Shambok rapid lived up to its reputation, even though due to the high level of the water was tamer than usual, and took the first victim of our group. The rest of us managed to make it through and I think Moolman, now paired up with Cathy, did most of this one backwards too.

 

I must admit I was lying when I said that the coffee in the morning was the best thing of the day, it was in fact the ice cream and chocolate sauce we had at the night stop.  Ice cream has never tasted so good!

 

There were plenty of fun and games that night, made even better with the help of a 2^nd papsak!  First up was a test of flexibility when you had to fold yourself inside out to get a paddle around from one side of your body to the other.  Next up was a game of Orange River Seconds.  A version of 30seconds OR style.  This of course ;-) was taken by the boys or team YUM YUM!

Even with a few sneaky moves from the girls!

 

Every night there was a fairly strong wind and some people who won’t be named decided to take advantage of it and hide Moolman’s and my mattresses! Making us believe they had been blown away.  Revenge will be had and oh yes, it will be sweet ;-) I can’t wait for the reunion and fines evening!!  It was on this night that Kasha claims a fine for  pumping up her bed after lights out!!

 

To be continued!

 

 

 

Me skiing!

iPhone update

Well this is another arb blog post to check if I can update my blog
through my newly aquired iPhone.

Let's see.....

Sent from my iPhone

Snow, snow,snow

I'M writing this as I lie in bed waiting for my alarm to go off. I can
feel I am stiff in almost every part of my body but hell it is worth
it. What an experience.

You see I spent yesterday skiing in Perisher, Australia. It was my
first time skiing and man what fun.
We got there at 8am so had about an hour before my Lesson starred. In
that time I managed to pick up enough to convince the instructors I
could handle level 3 which meant that pretty soon I was headed away
from the nursery slopes and onto some of the proper runs! During the
lessson we were taught to perfect the "snowplough" and handle some
turns and how to catch a Tbar and the other lifts.
By the end I could handle myself quite well. Today's Aim though is to
try a bit of more parallel skiing and less snowploughing!
Now to get out of bed and check the weather. Will post pics soon.

Sent from my iPhone

Easter Lion's Head Walk

<<Lion's Head.jpg>> What an evening!
It was an absolutely perfect evening on Friday when a couple of us
decided to tackle Lion's Head. The light in the distance in the photo
believe it or not is actually the Moon.

Thanks to everybody who came with!

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