The Fast, BUT Wet One

The new year brought along a challenge to the first ride of the year. Rain! And lots of it. Buckets full, until the rivers were springing their banks, the mealie fields next to the road pouring muddy waters right onto our path and the roads, heaving with the load of water, breaking up into big, huge potholes. Did that deter us from taking part? Never! We were there, like many more cyclists, dressed up in the brightest colours of the rainbow.

Some of us were dressed in the latest fashion jacket which had no more sticky, scratchy velcro, but had smooth magnets to keep the jacket's bits and pieces together. Just remember to fasten your helmet properly before diving into the Fast One. Remember it is fast.

As this is an open-ended race, one is always stuck for transport back to the car, or, more difficult, find a driver that would be prepared to be dragged out of bed in the early hours of the morning just so we could satisfy our little habit. We found such angels in Bennie and Richard. Thank you guys for supporting us!

The angel in the middle is Marle

A big "well done" to the organisers and marshalls who braved the rain to give the cyclists a safe ride. There were marshalls more than ankle deep in watery potholes waving red flags to warn us of the danger. A lonely marshall underneath a red umbrella with a plastic crate covering a crate(r)-hehehe and bright red cones in many a deep pothole. With the rainwater filling the potholes it was very difficult to judge how deep a hole really was, so the marshalls did just such a splendid job. I told you it was going to be fun! We all made it to the end in one piece and sat around our beer table, reliving our ride.

Congratulations to Mario and Marle with excellent times. They had every reason to smile and smile big!

Now for the next competition at the gym. The next photo is showing off some of our men here at Bulla. Your task is to write a speech bubble above each head or just one, or whatever good or funny quip you can come up with. What is Ian, Rodney and Mario saying? You tell me!