sport
The cycle tour is just three days away
On Sunday, I will be cycling in my 5th Pick n Pay Cape Argus Cycle Tour, or just the Argus as everybody knows it as. The tour, which is 109 km long, winds itself around Cape Town. Approximately 38000 people will be riding in the race, which to my knowledge is the longest timed cycle event in the world, and probably the only cycling event to span two oceans.
It is an amazing event to be part of, the roads are closed, thousands of people arrive to support us on, and you get to cycle on the most beautiful scenery in the world. These are a few pictures taken over the past few years, some while watching, and some while participating in the event itself. I hope it gives you a feel for the event.
Start line
Main Road (before permanent road-works caused the Boyes Drive detour)
My Friend Zilani, the hand cyclist
A large bunch coming past
The Bar One Girls cheer you on and hand out free chocolates
One of the many refueling stops
There are many physios on duty to help the tired legs
A few extra hills here, thanks to the previously mentioned road works.
If you are in Cape Town, I hope you will either be on a bike, or supporting us as we come past. Good luck to all the cyclists, ride safe and I will see you on the road on Sunday.
On the water
I spotted these early morning paddlers while driving to work, so I grabbed my phone and took the shot. I like the way the duck appears to be watching the paddlers.
Kitesurfing in Muizenberg
On the same day that I took the windsurfing shots, I went down to the beach to watch the kite surfers. Now if you think that the windsurfers go fast, they are like a child with training wheels on a new bicycle compared to the crazy kite surfers.
If you put skydiving, water skiing, windsurfing and surfing into a giant bowl and mixed, you would get something resembling kite surfing. This is the only water-sport I know where wearing a helmet is (or at least should be) considered good form.
I don’t know how high they jump, but it looks like it can easily be over 5 meters. Sometimes you can see the beginners practise on Zandvlei (where the wind surfers usually are), and it takes a lot of practise and skill to get as good as this guy.
Buy wow, it looks like fun, maybe I will try it someday.
Windsurfing on Zandvlei
While my blog has been a little quiet over the past few days, it is not because I have had nothing to post, but rather because I have been to busy shooting over the last few days. The glorious days in Cape Town over the Christmas period provided me with plenty of opportunity for some outdoor shooting. I will post some of the results over the next few days.
Firstly, windsurfing on Zandvlei.
When the South-Easter blows, it blows through False bay and straight across Zandvlei, which makes it a bit of a Mecca for windsurfers. In summer you are guaranteed to see a few windsurfers zipping up and down the vlei at high speeds. They surf at spectacular speeds,and of course they crash spectacularly as well.
When the nose dips like that, you know you are going to do down.
When I moved to the area I tried it out for several months, but alas my balance is just not good enough for this sport. So I have to content myself with shooting (with a camera) the windsurfers. They only come out when the wind blows, but at this time of year that is almost all the time.
Cycling to Cape Point
After all the wonderful meals I ate yesterday, some exercise was much needed, so I took the opportunity of a relatively cool and wind-free day to go for a morning cycle.
I went from home to the entrance of the Cape Point Nature Reserve, and the roads were surprisingly quiet. This was not the case on the return cycle; by then Cape Town was awake and about a million people were headed off to the beaches along my route.
Anyway, I cycled for 56km so I am ready for tonight’s dinner out :-)
