Archived entries for Rides
Misty Mountain 2
Here are a few more pics from the ride up Table Mountain a few weeks back. These were shot on 35mm black and white film.
The road, which has been closed off to cars because of rockfalls and collapses. Perfect for going super fast.
Tobie, doing just that on his single-speed.
Going, going, gone…
Ian, wowing one of the early morning geezers with a one handed wheelie
The mountain is super rad, hard to believe that there is an entire city below you when you’re up there
Ian and Georgie, from the UK, who got hold of us from through the site and joined in, riding the biggest gear of all! Yeah!
Just hanging around. All in all it was super good and really beautiful up there. Ian, Tobie, Georgie and Dave, big ups for going up! Hopefully next time we’ll get some more people to ride with!
Some Critical Mass Love
Thanks to Sean for coming along on last month’s Critical Mass, and also for giving a cool, if not slightly dry (towards us fixoid hipster posers) report on the ride.
And thanks for putting a sooper naf picture of yours truly right at the top of the bloody article. Ick!
Check it out over on Mahala
Riders in the Mist
On Saturday a handful of us got together for a long-overdue ride. The plan was to meet at the top of Kloof Nek and then cycle up along Table Mountain road, hopefully getting some nice shots with the city as a backdrop while we were up there.
The weather had been great for the whole week, but come 6am on Saturday morning, the mountain was almost completely obscured by cloud. Typical. After a couple of frantic phonecalls, we decided to go ahead with our original plan.
Admittedly, getting most people out of bed before 7am on weekends is a pretty big ask, so it wasn’t much of a surprise that only a handful of committed riders – me, Mike, Dave, Tobie and Georgina (representing London) – showed up.
From the top of Kloof Nek we tackled the steep climb up towards the Cable Station and then followed the undulating road towards Devil’s Peak. By the time we got to the first barrier, we were literally cycling in the clouds. So no photos of sweeping city vistas, but pretty cool nonetheless.
Having negotiated the barrier cyclocross style, we took a slow ride to the end of the road. Mother Nature was in the process of reclaiming the mountain, with patches of grass pushing their way through the tarmac and parts of the road subsiding altogether.
Having got the shots we were after, we headed down to &Union on Bree St for a much-needed flat white.
Thanks to everyone who made it! We’re planning another ride soon. Watch this space for details.
Critical Mass Cape Town
At a time when most Capetonians are wolfing down their cornflakes and steeling themselves for the mundanity of the morning rush hour, a motley crew of roadies, mountain bikers, BMXers and fixed gear fiends are weaving their way through town.
Suits and spandex are thrown together with baggy jeans and backpacks. To the uninitiated, it’s a strange, slightly incongruous sight. But for the cyclists concerned, it’s perfectly normal. Because at Critical Mass, anything goes.
Taking place on the last Friday morning of every month, cyclists converge on the southern suburbs before taking a leisurely roll towards Green Point. For some, the motivation to participate is socio-political: a means of raising awareness of the congestion and pollution caused by motor vehicles. Others are less idealistic: it’s simply an excuse to meet like-minded cyclists and get the weekend off to a good start.
Riders congregate at the Baxter Theatre at 06h45 before rolling through to the CTICC at 07h15. The ride finishes at Vida e Cafeé opposite the World Cup Stadium after which a small contingent make their way back to the southern suburbs.
So whether you’re looking for an excuse to log a couple of extra kms in preparation for the Argus, or fancy trading four wheels for two on your daily commute, come along for the ride. Your attendance is critical.
Wednesday night speed wobbles
Gavin! Genius. Just out of nowhere the dude decides to send out a mail inviting all of us to a race around the Bremner Building at the UCT Campus.
Yesterday was one of the hottest yet this summer, and as the sun set behind the mountain, the temperature dropped just enough to make it one of those balmy perfect summer evenings.
I met up with Flagg in Woodstock before the race, and we rode down to the campus together. Really nice long, straight roll along Main Road.
The turnout was really good, about 15 of us in all, 10 of us riding. It’s really fun to see more numbers at these little events. Keep it up, and who knows what might happen… 
So the Bremner Building is where all the boring admin happens at UCT. Perfect. Because the adminny folks are always the first to go home, so the building, situated on its own block of land, and completely circled by a wide tarmac road, becomes completely void of any human activity after 5pm. Except of course for the two freshmen learning how to parallel park in the back parking lot, and mister security dude, who is not quite sure what to make of a group of cyclists charging around in the dark on bikes with no brakes.
It was my first time racing, so as with my first experience during high school of running the u/15 800m, as I came around the first turn and realised I was in second, I figured I’d make a go of it.
The format for the race is 5mins around the building, and then one lap to decide the winner. 5 minutes may seem a short time, and peddling around an admin building might not seem such a big ask, but believe me, it BURNS.
Dave Mackay set off at a blinding pace. Toby was heading up the front pack on his BMX (Hard as nails!), which was a bit of a surprise, but that didn’t last much longer than the second corner. So it was Mackay, myself, and… well I wasn’t exactly keeping tabs on what was going on behind me.
As I said before, Dave was rocketing around the course, and I was torn between keeping up with him for the whole 5mins or hanging back with the rest of the pack and making a strong final sprint.
Steve was right on my back wheel, so I decided to open up and catch up to Dave a bit. Somewhere in the last two laps, Steve and James both came flying past on the back straight like demons on a mission, and heading into the last lap, it was all between the two of them. I was still leading Mackay into the last lap, but he found some legs along the back straight again, and coming into the last turn I was pushing as hard as I could, but just couldn’t get my wheel ahead of his.
James had his ladyfriend there, so of course he had to impress, but a deserved winner nevertheless. I’ve got no idea how close it was between him and Steve, but the two of them had mad speed to pull away from us the way they did.
DFL goes to either Flagg or Toby (on his BMX, did I mention that?). Big up to Flagg anyway, she tuck it out against a bunch of mad boys and held her own!
Next we had a “very tightly contested” skid comp, between myself, James (I think) and a one-armed-Gavin. I only mention this, cos I managed to win the round (yippee for me) but I think under normal circumstances Gavin might’ve owned it, if he had full use of both arms. Anyway. We take our victories when they come. I won. Suck it up!
Drinks at Champs bar down the road was good fun and good chat. I really can’t wait for the next one, I’ve got a score to settle with you Mackay!
Mega thanks to Gavin for putting it all together and keeping time. And Mackay for the photos. (and some from my cam 
We’ve been bouncing around the idea of heading out to Belville for a proper little burn around the velodrome. Although I do think we’d get totally roasted by the local track riders, it could be a really fun day out. Watch this space for more…
Sunday Ride
UPDATE: SOME SHOTS FROM THE RIDE ADDED
Thanks to Flagg (for getting us all together), Mike, Edith and Ian for the ride yesterday. Had a real nice start, however the wind picked up by the time we hit the prominade. We found an awesome parking lot by the new stadium, complete with a little hardboard bank where Ian and I “attempted”… I don’t actually know what we were attempting, but it was fun.
Found another tarmac bank on the prominade that was a bit bigger and more subtle, and made for a few nice photo sequences.
Edith=Pure Rock n Roll! After totally flipping off a rather short tempered, hooting, screaming driver, she later stacked it (out of view from all of us) and re-appeared with some good roasties and tar-remnants on her helmet. And still a BIG smile!
Mike, If you got some good shots be sure to send them over.
Wednesday Night Fixie Meet
Title: Wednesday Night Fixie Meet
Location: Bremner Building at UCT
Description: We’re meeting Wednesday night up at the Bremner building at UCT for a gathering plus a few events. It’s at block J2 on this map.
Meet up at 8 (in the evening), first up is the 5 min plus 1 lap fixie race around the Bremner building followed by the Skid Comp.
10 bucks in the hat from everyone and the winners split it.
We’re gonna need booze but might have to disguise it so as to not get bust by rent-a-fuzz (again), after the meet we head down to Champs on Vic where the winners are responsible for the first round.
See ya all up there.
Start Time: 20:00
Date: 2010-01-13
Bombing Chappies – The Ride
After a whole week of blissful weather we could only hope that it would last till Sunday. If you have been around the blog, you would know that I’ve been up for getting a few riders out to Hout Bay to cycle up Chapmans Peak.
After being inspired by the post from FGS, the urge simply became too much to resist. We finally set a date, got a few interested names (more than expected tbh), and set out up the mountain. The weather did not in any way disappoint. It was a hot cloudless day, light breeze and the water was that amazing crystal blue like you see on postcards of places you’ll never get to.
We met at 9ish just outside Chapmans Peak hotel. Major props to Gavin and David who friggin cycled in from town. Fortunately I live in Hout Bay, so my legs and my Sunday lie-in where preserved. (smug!)
I’ve done this ride a few times before, and although it is quite a tough ride up, having 5 other riders to tackle it with kinda makes it a breeze. I was really surprised at how easy the assent was.
The stoke was instant – Mettie hollering “King of the world!” and the biggest dumbest grin ever on his face! Gavin was proving his super-legs again, racing up every incline and then laughing at us panting and cursing our way up behind him.
Great photo op at the Peak (see group shot) and then the speedy descent down the other side of the pass. The long smooth turns on the Hout Bay side of the pass become steep short bends with sheer cliff faces as you head down towards Noordhoek. I think because it was such a perfect day, there were a few more cars on the road, and although we did get a good few high-speed rolls in, it would’ve been more fun to have no worries of negotiating huge tour busses on a 5ft wide path carved out the side of the mountain.
Still one of the best things about living in this place is being able to drink water straight out the mountain streams. Catching a breather before heading back, we found a little stream. Purest water ever! Little things hey?
Major thanks to Dave Mackay for taking some awesome pics, and the 5 who made it out for the ride. To those who were mysteriously absent (Flagg, I’m looking at you!), or too hung-over (Malan!) You missed out. Get there next time!
I know Cammo Dave is up for some long distance rides around the peninsula, and I know Gavin will be in on that just to kill us all up the hills again, so watch this space!
Bombing Chappies
So, I’ve been going on about how beautiful it is cycling over Chapmans Peak for a while now. Finally Ian has relented and is going to make the trip out to Hout Bay so we can tackle it together.
Who else is in?
It is a bit a of a grueling ride up, but once you get to the top of the pass, it’s well worth it, and the ride down the other side to Noordhoek is pure adrenalin.
So get your asses over to Hout Bay on Sunday morning. We can meet on the promenade parking in front of the Chapmans Peak Hotel for 9am.
Would also make for a great photo sesh to compete with the likes of our Swiss compatriots.
the view
