,bu:leme'kaengke

Yeah, You can say that again!

Ok, here goes: ,bu:leme'kaengke

Bulla what, Bulla who?

Bullamakanka, the name of the spinning gym.

So many before you have asked and wanted to know the meaning of the word. It sounds very African. Well it's not. It's something you made up when you had a bad dream. The first words you spew out of your mouth when waking up after dragons have been chasing you. No it's not. It's bits and pieces of the names of your children all mixed up in a cauldron and spread out to dry in one looong word. No, it's not. Oh, your in Blue Bull country, so it must have something to do with the blue bulls. No it's not.

Do you give up? If you do, read further. If you would like to take another guess, don't read further.

I have a book at home. The title: The new Collins concise English dictionary. On page 143 I found this: Bullamakanka n. Austrl. an imaginary very remote place.

We might be remote in the sense that we are tucked away in the suburb of Erasmuskloof in Pretoria. We are not blazing lights on a busy street corner, but we are personal and not at all imaginary. All our instructors are Johnny G Spinning instructors, meaning they do have certificates to show for it. We started off very humbly with only 4 spinning bikes or was it 5? almost eight years ago. We do have now 13 spinning bikes and 9 balance balls and enough people in and out that makes it feel like a Christmas fleamarket. Except when they're all redfaced and sweaty you know it's not the market but the gym.

We plan outings and rides, breakfast rides and ride-together-rides. All the time we have fun, jokes, laughs and yet at the same time are very serious about our training, improving our lifestyle, getting fitter, getting thinner, training smarter. We compete against each other, but also encourage each other and beginners to take that step, start out, buy the bike, get the shoes, do one more class a week. And so, over the years we have reaped cyclists where there were none. We gained spinners who were former couch potatoes. We are all winners. We are Bulla for short.

You all feeling good? Ok, now then. I'm looking for people who are prepared to train hard and long, to do a gruelling 24 hr event, to ride as a team, to be an overcomer, a don't-give-upper, a go-to-the end-person. I would like to enter more than one team for the 24hr Baviaans Mountainbike race, from Willowmore to Jeffreys bay. Can I count you in? If so, plse speak to me urgently as I need to book accommodation asap.