Môre Almal,

Felt much like a Sunday, the public holiday. SG to say the least. A few of us met up yesterday morning but didn’t get very far. Started bucketing down so we all went back to bed.

Pretty active weekend, what with the Monument to Monument in Paarl on Sat morning, and the Karoo to Coast on Sunday.

I was at both as a supporter mind u, and not a participant.

Took Ryan thru on Sat and begged him to finish the race if nothing else, with no additional costs to contend with. Quite delighted that he finished but it was pretty much a “Touch and Go” situation when they came into the finish. The route as u all know was very flat and also became very tactical, the result was that the finishing group was in the region of about 30/40 cyclists.

Quite a few from the Basin took part and I trust u all enjoyed it. Weather was good.

Made my way back home after the event, picked up Erna, and headed for Uniondale where Erna and many other Wannabee come Maverick and HCW cyclists were taking part.

Record entry I am told. Sunday morning turned out to be just what the doctor ordered, but alas we were to be tested again.

A “Comedy of Errors” to say the least.

Woke up at 5.00am and of course the normal ablution storie.
Started the last minute bike check.
MMMM!! Checked tyre pressure and guess what? The valve end broke off. Not a problem, we have a “spare” and I will find another spare to replace this one. Not So!! Reminds me of when I was at the start of the Medallion Mushroom race some time ago -- another time.
Spare tube valve thickness is not the same as the damaged one so is U.S. We have a nice new expensive “Soft Tail “ all ready to be tested on the race, but no tubes.
Run down the corridors shouting Help Help; open all the doors desperately looking for a spare tube or two -- No such luck! Comments following me -- who’s that idiot and what’s he doing? Comes to a race not prepared with no spare tubes! XZY@*^ idiot.
Eventually managed to make contact with a guy named NALAM aptly dubbed “The Miracle Man”. He had spare tubes for all makes of bikes and rims. Do not fear for I am near he says. Praise be to the bike man, he has saved the day! --- Well just about!!!
Meet up with the”Miracle Man” get tubes only to find out the the spindle nut has also decided to do a bunk -------- now what?
No problem says the Miracle Man, I have just the nut u are looking for Mr NUTCASE.

And so the day was saved and Erna finished the race problem free and very excited with the following comment.

“U know Erill the training program that we are following for the DC seems to be working. Remind me to thank the person responsible tomorrow.” Wat kan ‘n mens nou sê?.

Remember lasts weeks N. L. and the “Boy Scout” storie. Nou Ja!!!

I suppose the moral of the story is pretty obvious. Be Prepared and above all Stay Humble. You never know!

Congrats to all that took part in this great race, I envy u all.

This w/end is another DC training w/end. Going to be pretty laid back. Quite a few want to go MTbiking on Sat and most probably a Group ride of about 70ks on Sunday, weather permitting.

See u all soon,

ek

Hi There,

Another week has flitted by. For those that are still targeting the DC we only have10 weeks to go with two of the 10 being Taper weeks, scary, to say the least.

Wat ook al sy, vir daai mense wat die myle deur die Wintermaande ingesit het, die BASE is daar en niemand kan dit weg neem nie. Be comfortable with this fact. It’s crucial to get Base Mileage in whether it be for cycling, running or what ever, ask the experts there are plenty out there.

Possibly two longish rides left to do and then we will move into a 4 week or so “sharpening up” Polar program - hopefully we will have the morning light by then.

In Sats Die Burger I picked up an article on page 16, next to the adverts, about one of our Greatest Ultra runners passing away. Lindsay Weight a well known athlete, mother and academic in the field of sport, collapsed at home and died. Lindsay had accepted a post at Norwich University in the UK and they were due to leave in November, sad to say the least.

We were honoured to have the well known cyclist and multiple winner of events like the Rapport Tour (remember the good old days?), join the Wannabee Unplugged Team on their ride to Franschhoek. Alan has settled in Gordon’s Bay and hopes to give the ‘Old Manne’ in the Western Cape a go for their money.

The Boy Scouts as I suppose is the case with other such organizations are famous for the Motto of “BE PREPARED” In essence this is what life is about. Training for an event is no different—that’s why we train!!!. But there are other facets that are just as important and I suppose one can see it as getting the RECIPE right.

Using the DC as an example, one trains together for a variety of reasons and some of them are A. Get to know your partner. B. Learn to support your partner—we all have our ups and downs. C. Learn to know and accept the fact that if u don’t train with the group u are in fact putting the group in jeopardy—for obvious reasons—Think about them. D. One also becomes more disciplined knowing that one has to have a bike that is mechanically sound for the ride, so u check your bike out more frequently and LOVE it more. Something like a Horse, or what. E. Supplements, nutrition and and and! Lastly one must COMMINCATE. Is there a problem, am I turning back early obstacles in the road, punctures etc.

Just a little something to think about. All really pretty obvious.


This w/end we have the Karoo to Coast taking place and quite a few will be there.

Enough said.

Have a great week. Need anything or want to help please feel free to contact me.

ek

Morning everyone,

Weather not quite knowing what it wants to do. Pretty warm then blustery and pretty nippy. Change of season I suppose. It won’t be too long now and I suppose I will be complaining about the heat and howling South Easter, not to mention the invasion from up north.

A good turnout once again this past w/end. Quite a few Wannabees did us proud at Worcester on Sat. Really thought we were going to be on the podium but alas Michel decided to SIT UP in the final sprint and not get involved in the finish rat race. This decision turned out to be quite sensible. A number took a tumble after the line. Well done to Wendy, Elsa, Annaline, Erna, Ehrich and Stephan who also did well. Pretty good turnout for the first PPA ride of the season.

NB. Before I forget. It would appear that there are still cyclists that are not receiving the mail (very few I think). Please, if u have not received a mail by Wednesday give me a call.

AND

The start times as announced last week are at 6.30am for both Sat and Sun until further notice.

With regards to the Kit and donation, for those that have ordered and contributed already MANY THANKS.

Pending additional orders Pieter would like to start the production run some time this week. So, should u need kit please contact Pieter ASAP.

This W/end will see the DC teams do another back to back. Most probably in the region of 100km per ride. Weather permitting.

Go well,
ek

Good evening,

Wat kan ‘n mens sê?. The turnout last night was fantastic to say the least. Many thanks to all of u for pitching and making a success of the meeting and cycling in general in the Basin. Thank u to Petie and Malan for being there as well.

Unity is Strength and that’s what it’s all about.

Much was discussed in a very short space of time, and as per the norm, I left out a couple of points, the most important one is about the juniors and what we should be doing about them. We need to be putting something in place so that we have continuity in the group. The younger generation needs to be addressed and promoted simply because they are the future as we all know. Three school going youngsters were present. Jurie Franken, Sean Butler and Wynand Cillie. Mooi so kêrels.

Volki gave us some GENUINE “Team Mobile” kit, to be raffled for funds at some stage or other, as well as batteries. Many thanks Volkie!

In a Nutshell:

1. The DC teams are on track and in place.
2. The Donation amount for the year is R200.00/family and or individual as per the floor.
Should you wish to do so electronically, herewith the bank details:
Account Name: ACAS
Bank: Standard Bank No: 07 233 4193
Branch: Helderberg No: 033012
3. A book/ spreadsheet will be kept of all expenses and vorderings and will be available for inspection/perusal at any time. We are a” non profit” setup. Damn!!
4. The two Committees namely the Safety and Steering were announced. Those that will be joining as new blood are Wendy, Mandy, Ina and Lourene from the fairer sex and Danie Morkel snr GP. Welcome.
Herman V Zyl is the new Chairman of the Safety comm. Congrats!
5. Samples of the new kit were available for sizing. Thanks to Pieter Schoeman. Many orders were placed. Those who did not try the kit on last night please contact Pieter directly.
Just remember that payment is due to Pieter when placing your order:
Pieter’s details are:
Cell: 082 658 0905
Account Name: Fabi
Bank: Standard Bank No: 07 233 1690
Branch: Helderberg No: 033012
Price of kit:
Tops : R170
Bibs: R270
Pants: R210

6. Mount Rozier was discussed and the opportunity it affords to ALL MTBikers in the Basin area. Awesome potential. I mooted the fact that I was of the opinion that we should make it a joint venture between the Wannabees, Maverick and HCW. The floor agreed. A meeting will be set up with the relevant parties shortly. Of the issues discussed were:
1. ID card 2. Indemnity form. 3. Fixed riding times etc.

The bigger picture being the acquiring of additional farm land that we can link on to Mount Rozier and make the cycling circuit much longer.

7. We still have the facility available at Unv of Stellenbosch Sport Science Institute to do the VO2Max testing at a discounted price.
Contact Louise Prins. Tel: (+27) (0)21 808 2818

Once again many thanks to a fantastic bunch of people.

Go well.
Ek.

ps. Don’t forget that u can enter for the Argus. Do so before it is too late.

pps. AS FROM THIS WEEKEND : 9/9/06 UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, ALL WEEKEND RIDES WILL START AT 6.30AM