Cape Argus Cycle Tour review 2009

“The Hardest Cape Argus CycleTour, Ever” was the headlines in the papers on the morning after the race.  The Cape Argus reported “They’ll be talking about this years’ Tour for years”.  And what caused this? - It was the Cape Doctor. The so-called strong southerly winds which are infamous for the sinking of many merchant ships off the coast of the Cape, are said to cleanse and cure the air surrounding Cape Town.  But on the morning of the race the Doctor was in a bad mood and gale force winds buffeted the some 25,000 riders who dared to show up at 6:15AM for the race.  Reportedly, some ten thousand fewer riders than last years’ event took the start line as signs were ripped from their fixings and fences blown over.

At 6:15AM the professional Giro del Capo riders kicked-off this years CycleTour followed by racing tandems and the invitational men’s group, in which I started.  Thereafter, some forty groups of all ages and cycle types left in five minute intervals until about 10am.

The first hour of racing was laborious into a solid gale force wind with no riders daring to take on a long solo breakaway.  Even as we passed through towns and villages as the sun rose, the streets were lined with spectators, armed with their cool-boxes, barbeques, horns and bells.  I showed my face off the front of the bunch as we passed through Wynberg to see how the legs were feeling and surprisingly they felt ok, as I had to get up at 5AM to take a breakfast of bananas, muesli bars and caffeine-loaded energy gel.  Not the most ideal breakfast for any rider – often you want to have a solid start to the day with porridge, fruit, maybe an egg or for the seasoned sportive rider, pasta bianco.  However, at that hour there was literally no where open!

As we took the first named climb of the day, Old Boyes Drive, which this year was a new addition to the route due to road works, the group was still together with the odd, lone attack going off the front but no one making any headroom at all.  After the short, steep descent into the small fishing village of Fish Hoek the racing started to open up and I jumped on the wheel of a solo attacker who had been strong so far.  Together we worked for five to ten minutes and passed through the Simons Town in the lead, greeted by the cheers and music from spectators lining both sides of the street, six deep in places.  The atmosphere was electric and the adrenaline was pumping.  The wind picked up a little and we conceded to drop back to the group having showed our faces.

At the most southerly tip of the course, came the second climb of the day at Smitswinkel.  It was a very gradual climb made slightly difficult due to the conditions.  The bunch strung out as the pressure was applied at the head but not enough to split the race.  After the descent we hit the flats of the west coast of the cape and a brisk tale wind.  The speed rose to 60kmph as we races through the large township of Ocean View.  The crowds were out in force and in some places they were ten deep on either side.

The race slowed up a little as the nerves and tactics started to come into play as the deciding climb of the day approached, Chapman’s Peak.  The controversial road had been closed for some nine months due to a rock slide and only opened for the race.  The spectacular coastal road is cut into the mountainside as it traverses up the 4km to the peak above the town of Hout Bay.  As we hit the climb the speed rose immediately and the bunch split into two.  Unfortunately I found myself in the second split and rode as hard as I could only to be unable to make the front split.  After the selection was made it was a case of hanging in to the top and recover down the wind-buffeted descent towards Hout Bay and the final climb of the day, Suikerbossie.
The group stayed together over the climb and enjoyed a nice tail wind up.  For the top the run in was blustery but spectacular as the road ran right up the coast to Cape Town.

The finish was flat and wide and everyone managed a laboured sprint to the line.  I was happy with 40th place and a time of 3hrs 6mins.  I picked up my medal and drinks vouchers and headed for the drinks stalls to cool off.  Then it was time for a well earned double cheese burger, a shower and bed as it had only just turned 11am!!