Hey guys,

Hearewith a couple of pics taken by Volki.

Hi,

Sunday evening, just had a braai and a little bit inebriated on good old TVL wine and egte MIELIE PAP. Not joking.

Most good things come from the TVL and believe it or not, not from the Cape.

Much to comment on and let’s be positive and not negative.

Training:
Great turnouts for the Week day sessions and for the w/ends
Two weeks to go. This week start of the taper week and next week actual T/week
Time for u to a. Have your bike checked out by your favourite/preferred bike shop and b. start getting yourself sorted out mentally for the Argus. Visualization is the key word. Think about the route, plan the route mentally and trial run it mentally. Many in the club have done it and some are going for the great NO 10 (I think for e.g. Ina) and some are targeting the magic no 21 (and please forgive me I am relying on Kombuis talk) targeting NO 21 i.e. Lyle Ramanos (23!) Charles Nesbit (18/19) Hertzel Brad (19?) Erna Kemp (17 Consecutive?) and so on.

Whether it be your first or 21st enjoy it and relish the experience and the fact we are all blessed and privileged to be able to be part of a great event.

While on the training issue a number of important points.

1. Lights, lights and more lights. Dit word donker.
2. Callers are the KINGS. One can’t satisfy everyone on the called route for the day. It’s extremely difficult to satisfy everyone. Remember we are safety conscious and pride ourselves on the safety aspect of the ride. Not negotiable.
3. With regards to safety: I have had many calls over the last week or two complaining about riders that are NOT sticking to our basic riding rules. Hey everyone, it’s your responsibility to ensure that we adhere to the road rules.
4. Die Ystermanne/Dames. U want to ride in the group with Tri bars then u DON’T use them. WHY??? Simple really. When using the tri bars u are miles away from your brakes and there is no way that u can react fast enough to get to your brakes in and emergency situation. Should u wish to ride in the group and u want to use your tri bars then u ride at the back of the pack!!!!!

VOLKIES RIDE;

Last w/end Volkie did part of the Argus route with several Wannabees. Would appear that many more would like to do it again this w/end (SAT). Those interested please contact Volkie (refer fone no last week). Meeting Waterstone 6.00am Sat.

Sick Parade:

Michel de Clippel, well known to all of us has just had surgery at Vergelegen M/Clinic. Would appear that all is well and that he should be on his bike next year sometime. Get well Michel.

Lourene is also recovering from a back op and we trust that she is on the mend. Sterkte ons het nie van jou vergeet nie.

The Epic Yuppie Challenge;

Several of our group are once again preparing for this great holiday event. Amongst others, Jack, Thierry, Henri, Alwyn, Chris, Danie (gp), Paul, Jonathon and more. Good luck, strongs, enjoy the journey.

Mr. Price RT

Once again we had the lads competing against the best in the West. Sats ride being a flattish ride from Wellington via Riebeek Wes back into Wellington. A tough 80 odd ks. Pretty stiffish S/Easter put most of the guys in the GUTTER for pretty long stretches going back.
Our team once again came to the party. Managing to get RK away on a break with about 7 other elites with 20ks to go. They managed to stay away from the chase group. With about 300meters to go RK challenged the group but couldn’t manage to hold off the pack at the end. Bene en boude bietjie moeg. We finished off with a 5th place. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Once again a great team effort by, Hendrik, Werner, Ruan and Alex.

This week:

Mon 25/2 REST
Tues 26/2 YZ West rd plus 80% 7 x 3 min intervals
Wed 27/2 Recovery Ride 1 x hr Small Blade
Thurs 28/2 BZ Waterworks Rabbit runs
Friday 29/2 REST
Sat 1/3 Fun ride LSD 3hrs/Volki’s ride
Sun 2/3 “

Go Well

ek

Greetings all,

Day late apologies. Hectic last week or so and a PE trip this past w/end. Nearly back to normal.

So where are we at this point in time? Argus training going well. As stated this is a recovery/back off week. Intensity stays paramount but hrs and distance come off. Next week we will pick up the tempo again. Not long to go now.

The RT trekked up to PE to show there wares and worth. If u have got time an hour or so then I can run u through the two events which we took part in. Briefly Sat saw a crit on the beach road. Gale force wind and very few teams pitched. Controlled and won by Neotel and we were taken to the cleaners putting it mildly.
Sunday was the EP Herald classic over a 100ks or so. Conditions not too bad. Team felt pretty positive. About 12ks out RK had a blow out on his back wheel. Quick change of wheels and the chase was on. Tried in vain to get back, picked up a group of elites that had been kicked off in the first few ks and meandered in way off the pace of the winners. The other three team members managed to stay with the main bunch of elites but also finished several minutes off the pace.
Bottom line is that they all came in. Maar hard om te sluk. Ry 2000kilos en dan kry jy n pap wiel!!!!!. And yes I double checked the wheels the previous night. Now for plan b and that is sludge in the tyres of RK from now on. Slightly more weight but at least we will virtually negate the pap wiel problem. Jis ek was die bliks--- in en hy was bitter teleurgesteld maar wat kan jdy doen. Cowboys mos don’t cry.(baie gevloek)
Saw our two liefies on the side of the road also met n puncture on their tandem. I trust they were ok.

Volki would like to plan a trip. Refer below sounds great.

our sunday ride was marred by rain.
unfortunately no one was picking up my plan on the blog.
therefore i would like to ask you to put it either in your esteemed
newsletter tomorrow
or make a reference to the blog.

my plan is to do the argus route from kalk bay in a loop this coming sat,
leaving waterstone at 6
interested riders should contact me Volki@gem.co.za, so that we can organize transport
so far i have two guys interested in participating in arthur and shaun

will see you tue morning!
Volki

Well that’s it. Wed recovery ride small blade one hr, Thurs a couple of wworks hills, Volkies peninsula ride on Sat and a race/fun ride on Sunday.

Enjoy,

ek

ARGUSARGUSARGUSARGUSARGUSARGUS

Volki is trying out part of the Argus route this coming Sunday 10 Feb.Leaving waterstone by car at 6 am, travelling to Kalk Bay where we'll park the cars in Main Road and do a Peninsula-loop. Lets have coffee at Olympia Cafe after the 2 hour ride.Anyone interested and needing a lift? Phone Volki 021-8553535 or 083-4530057

Hi all,

What a great weeks’ cycling. Splendid turnouts for the midweek Polar program, a fantastic ride on Sat, and of course the Mushroom f/ride today.

Brilliant weather. Scattered Showers here and there (in die ou dae op Springbok Radio and even on the old LM Radio for the weather report they used to talk of “dit gaan plek plek reën vandag”) which made part of the course slippery and of course more than the usual punctures. But the race was in cool conditions with very little wind.

Falls there were a plenty with Lize coming down pretty hard, splitting her Kop Skerm in half and thank the stars for having one on otherwise it might have been nag. She appears to be ok.

Many Wannabees on the road and of course Anton on a tandem with his youngster and die twee liefies riding as well (Marelize and Carl).

Once again a nail biting finish in the Elites section with Daiken getting the nod on the line and a photo fish between RK and Allister Davies of Cosmotec. Still not sure who came second and third. Be that as it may C2H/Mr. Price were on the podium again and isn’t that just great.

An awesome time by 16year old BJ who finished in 2hrs 55min. Well done. Many other youngsters came thru with excellent times. Werner Oosthuizen 26th overall in the Elites in 2hrs 22min and young Dean Graham still a junior finishing in 2hrs 28min. Fantastic to say the least. All the results are on the web. Check them out.

Well this w/end we will see the RT disappearing into the mists on there way to PE to take part in the EP Herald race and locally we will have the 99iner. So, much to look forward to.

PP Week 3 of many 4/2/08

Mon 4/2 REST
Tues 5/2 YZ plus 80% West rd 8 x 3/min intervals
Wed 6/2 Recovery ride LSD Small Blade 1hr
Thur 7/2 BZ Waterworks/Rabbit Runs 5 x 6min Intervals Pumphouse
Frid 8/2 REST
Sat 9/2 3/4hrs LSD/Fun Ride
Sun 10/2 “

Have a great week. Don’t forget the blog. Anything u would like to place on the blog just forward it to Mr. M de Clippel

ek

Cape-bikepark365 Africa's First Lift Assisted Bike Park........

The New Mountain Bike Mecca Opens May 2008. We are creating a world class biking facility in the heart of the picturesque Somerset West Winelands region in the Cape Peninsular. We will host a variety of trails and internationally designed Downhill and Freeride tracks - to kiddies track, skills development area and dirt jump park, not forgetting South Africa's First 4-Cross track, nestled in the cool pine forests at the foot of the Helderberg Mountains.

More info at http://www.mountainbike-lifestyle.com/