Back into road cycling season

The road cycling season has started again and everyone is trying to get fit as quickly as possible for the big 94.7 that is coming up in November. If you haven't got back into the swing of things, please do now. It is not too late to start a training programme.

Our official photographer is out of action at the moment, so you will have to bear a bare blog.

Etienne is forever cycling with his camera and taking pics when you least expect it. How he's doing it, we don't know. I mean, trying to stay in the bunch, take pics, drink from your bottle and not fall over , well...... All the best for the second op to his collar bone after the fall on the Baviaans Mountain Bike Marathon. Hope this time they get it right.

We started the season off with the Dome2Dome, which is quite a long and strenuous ride for the beginning of the season. I'm sure if the organisers could organise a later date in the season, we will see better times. Coming out of hibernation for most of us, it was quite a shock to the system. Although I must say, we had better weather than the year before. Our first time rider Phill, did a magnificent job on his first road ride. Never done any training on a road bike before and to jump in at the deep end speaks about courage. He did have a few chain episodes during the ride, but I understand he got the yank of it now.

The Outsurance ride was next on the list and what a surprise we got! Thinking it would be almost summer we woke up with a howling wind and temperatures of between 7 and 10 degrees. Not a pretty sight. The pretty sight was the Union buildings which we, on the 77km had to pass 6 times-hope I got it right. It was a pretty sight to see the city from there, although the city did look a bit wind swept, with dust, leaves and all sorts of debri flying all over. I must say it was the first ever ride that I finished with a cup of coffee and not a beer. It's just not the same. We prefer the pros to start first and then us novices.

A lot of rides are coming up so watch all these different sites for details:

http://www.cyclelab.co.za/

http://www.enteronline.co.za/

http://www.cyclingnews.co.za/

It is not all road rides, so if you are more interested in mountain biking, most of the big rides also do have a mountain bike ride on the other weekend day. A nice and fantastic ride to try is the Crater Cruise. The Saturday is a 100km event but the Sunday is only 56km and really great fun. It is all happening at our very own Paris- Parys.

A very big welcome to all the new faces at the gym. To mention a few, Ilse and another Ilse and Frik and Charles and Elzette and Rennie and Elsa. Hope you are having fun.

And for all the other guys still in hibernation....... come on..... get out....have fun.

By the way, the 94.7 is still open for entries till 30 September. I know you've been humming and hahing-how do you spell that-so come on , take the plunge and enter. It is just fun!

Hope to see you soon at the gym, if you are still coming out of Winter, or see you at one of the races.

Just do it!

Important Dates

Well as you all know, the two most important races on the cycling calendar are open for entries.
The 94.7 is only open till the 15th September. Don't delay! This is also your seeding race for the Argus Cycle Tour 2009.
Which is the other very important race to enter for now. Entries opened on the 1st September, but will only stay open till the first 35 000 entries have been received. And please remember after entering the Argus, also make sure about your accommodation as places to stay in the Cape are very limited-well of course there are places to stay but at our Gauteng budget there are only a few. Also if you are flying down, make sure about booking your ticket ASAP.

94.7 deadline: 15 September

Argus deadline : First 35000- they already had 10000 entries within the first 24hours of opening the site. Go to http://www.cycletour.co.za/ to enter.
We here at Bullamakanka are prepared to help any novices who would like to enter the Cape Argus Cycle Tour with advice and also a training programme to prepare you fully for this fantastic event. Please speak to us.

How to win a bike in 5 easy steps!

Yes! That's not difficult. If you want to win a bike follow these easy steps:

1. Well of course you have to be there, silly! It also helps when your mates are there to support you and help you draw lucky numbers.

2. You have to stay for the lucky draw. What's the lucky draw? Well after every race they have a lucky draw where you can win lots of prizes. Bikes, holidays and so on. But, YOU HAVE TO BE THERE. Not there? No prize!

3. You must be prepared to hang around (for quite some time) and drink a couple of beers while waiting for the lucky draw to take place. Not that you have to listen to anything going on at the stage because you know you weren't one of the fast ones and therefore will not get a money prize.

4. You have to be lucky! I mean sitting around drinking beers and waiting for others to win tubes and water bottles and lollipops but only at shop so-and -so means you have to be lucky. So feel lucky otherwise you're not going to win anything.

5. Win the bike! I won it! A brand new Merida Road Bike! It felt so good, except I do have a fantastic Trek already.

By the way, all of the above excitement happened at the Carousel Ride.

So, now that you have the recipe, be there, ride the race, have a couple of beers with your friends afterwards and wait for the lucky draw. Well, to be honest, that is what we have been doing all along and having terrific fun times together. Why are you waiting? I'm expecting your smiley face at the next ride....which bring me to ......important dates.