Saturday was tough with Hoosain, Luke, Mike and I riding with the club plus more afterwards. Everyone was trigger happy on the day in 'putting zee hammer down' at every opportunity! Besides the pace it was the amount of climbing that took its toll: Wynberg Hill, Suikerbossie, Constantia Nek, Pagasvlei Rd, Southern Cross Dr, Ave Bordeaux, Alphen Hotel Hill. It was like systematically wearing the body down. Muscles straining, head pounding, heart rate beyond MAX and then there was always the next climb! Post-ride Saturday is still a blur of eating and resting.

So when this morning came along and the ever-punctual alarm woke me, I was very tempted to ignore it and hide under the blankets. After all, hadn't that Van Dam guy promised rain for today? I suppose a peek out the window to confirm this wouldn't hurt....well hurt it did! No rain. Now I had to get out of bed and check through the kitchen window just to make sure that the road surfaces were wet and dangerous for riding. Bone dry...inward groan! Okay I rationalized, so I would get up, dress, eat and ride up to Constantia Village to see no-one and then I could return home and climb back into bed - not so bad.

By the time I had made the 12min ride from Tokai to Constantia Village I was warming up nicely, except for my hands which were freezing (forgot the gloves at home). The wind was pumping, but it had been behind me all the way. I noticed an unidentified bogey approaching from the rear as I neared the traffic lights at the top of Ladies Mile. He was wearing all blue so it could not be a Club100 rider and was therefore a potential threat. Increasing my pace from an easy 28km/h to something nearing 40 (wind behind, remember?) I made sure that he didn't catch me.

Got to destination START and immediately noticed Marius getting ready. There were three other older riders in the parking lot with one wearing the distinctive Superwatt kit. Chatted to Marius for a few moments before Luke pulled up on his speed machine. And he was wearing, yes you guessed it - all blue! At least he managed a laugh!

We waited for some time before deciding to head out on the normal Sunday route through town up to Chappies and back home the same way. With low level clouds and strong winds, there was every possibility that Mr Van Dam would still be correct in his prediction. Putting all crazy thoughts of rain, wind and my warm bed out of my mind, the three of us set off. Oh yes, we did invite the old brigade to join us, but seems as if they weren't really there for the club ride and had their own agenda. So there we were, three lonely souls with a combined total power output in the region of 1500W vs Mother Nature with unlimited powers of destruction. Hardly a fair fight, but man must face adversity to attain his destiny. Not wanting to appear sexist: same can be said for women in general, but none were present in this epic battle, so we don't know how they would have fared! (and therein lies an invitation)

So, to cut a long story a little shorter: the wind blew, we attacked it, we suffered, there was no rain, the hills were hard because we made them hard, met Hoosain and Omar by La Med and they joined us on the way back to base, we stopped for a drink and muffin (I was starting to bonk) at Shell in Mouille Point, continued to fight the wind all the way back hiding behind Hoosain. I think I would have preferred to be behind Luke for two reasons: firstly, Luke was suffering somewhat but doing an amazing job of ‘hanging in there’, so being behind him may have brought the pace down a fraction and secondly, his shoulders span the width of at least one lane of traffic so I would not have felt any of the wind and could have cruised home conserving all my energy and then attacked at the last instance.

Those who know me know that I don’t ride like that, but there are a lot of people who do exactly that in races and also on training rides. Although there is nothing against this in any race manual and sometimes one has to do this in order to survive in the bunch I would like to encourage every rider to experience the thrill of pulling the peloton along at high speeds – there is not much to beat it. Besides the joy, it will make you stronger for your next ride!

We all made it home in one piece and can lay claim to the fact that we beat Mother Nature on this occasion! Oh sweet victory! My legs would likely disagree with my sentiments if they had the energy to do so at this stage…

Till next time, my fellow cyclists! Be safe and be joyful in your riding!

Charles Ekström