http://connect.garmin.com/activity/1987435
I think that any 123 km (76.5 mile) ride is a good ride, but it is even better just before getting on an airplane for a long, long set of flights. Although longer than I had hoped for today, I have made it back to the hotel in time to get my business done, inhale some food and pack for the airport.
My plan for today was to ride, as close as possible, to the actual Cape Argus Classic route. The first third of the route is done on race day on closed highways, which made for some improvisation. Richard Sherman helped me with my navigation and said just to head through Woodstock and stay on Main Road, which runs through Mowbray, Wynberg and The Dell before joining up with the usual Argus route in Lakeside. 18 degrees at 0630, it climbed steadily through the 20s as I rode south through Muizenberg and Simon's Town. The picture above is shot looking north from around Murdoch Valley, up to Simon's Town. These are all places that I had ridden through at full blast during last year's Cape Argus Classic race, and had wished that I could stop, look around, take pictures and search the rocks for beached seals. This time, I did!
Several cyclists who I met along the ride warned me that the really spectacular route along the western coast through Chapman's Peak, which winds up high on the cliffs above the ocean, was closed. The only route north along the coast required a long detour with two sharp climbs.
While riding towards the northwest between the eastern shoreline and Scarborough, I met a South African rider, who gave me the detour instructions and said that this was probably going to be part of the detour route for the Argus in 2009 if "Chappy's" does not re-open in time for the Tour. As we were riding along, I saw what looked like a pile of brown boulders sitting on the roadside ahead. Remembering the Tacx Fortius RLV video for indoor training, there had been some simian looking animals that lumbered across the road during the filming. I asked the other rider what they were and he said that there were always baboons sitting by the road at this spot. Indeed, there was a whole troop of Cape Baboons sitting by the road, looking like they were waiting for a handout from passing cars. A little further up the road there was a sign:
It just seems very South African that they might put a Springbok on the sign, but label it "Baboons" since they probably didn't have any signs with baboons on them. It is a country of some glaring but unmentioned contradictions.
On the ride profile, you can see the two long climbs in the middle of the day. When I got to the Chapman's Peak turnoff, there was a big signed that warned, CLOSED. So, I went up and over Ou Kaapse Weg (Silvermine Road) and then went through Constantia before crossing back over the mountains to Hout Bay.
As on the day before, I stopped at a little roadside stand to get a Boerewors on a roll and a real Coke. This is the best South African fast food, particularly with a large dollop of Chutney spread across the top.
So, the totals for the day's ride were 5:24 total moving time, 1825 meters of vertical climbing over 123.07 km. Lots of stopping and starts, some lazy climbs in the head, with a temperature that went from 18 up to a high of 25 degrees.
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