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BURG TALK | 06-20210
In this Issue: From the Editor
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1 MTB News
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2 Ride Reports
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-5 Tour de France Tales
........................................................ 6 Ride
Roundup
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7
Judging from all the stunning photos of rides posted on the
groups last weekend, there were many happy Burg Wheelers out on
bikes on various routes. Let’s hope our training is not all in vain
and we also see some events and races confirmed soon. The Cape Town
Cycle Tour have confirmed they are organizing a virtual event this
year between 8-14 March (more details later in the BT). Another one
to diarise is the Classic Steel & Vintage Gravel Giro at
Glengarry from 7-9 May.
While we are all adhering strictly to the COVID protocols, it’s
clear that for many, the joy of riding lies in being out on our
roads or trails, with a group of like-minded friends. Our Club is
very fortunate to have experienced riders who are willing to share
their knowledge, skills, advice and company with others – not to
mention a lot of laughter and many cups of coffee.
Bunch riding is a skill that cyclists need to learn (especially
roadies), and for those of us who struggle with claustrophobia,
having your fellow cyclists riding in such close proximity is still
scary! So no – I am not unfriendly, yes – I do appreciate you
riding right next to me or just in front of me to “pull me along”.
But sometimes being in my little “bubble” of me, my bike and a
couple of metres of open road is my happy and safe space! Track
sessions with Jeff are helping me learn to ride closer to the bike
in front of me – so if like me, you are still learning join us on a
Wed morning at 5am. We only have a couple of submissions so far for
out Club Photo competition. Please take some
time to send in a photo that depicts the chosen theme “Loving My
Bike…” We will announce our winner in the first issue of March.
Entries close on Sunday 28 Feb and must be emailed in jpg formats
to [email protected] with Feb Photo Competition in your subject
line.
A special thanks to Mark, Bobby, Rich and Chris for this week’s
articles.
Stay safe and sane - Mustang
Pow
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By…
06
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1 CLUB MEMBERSHIP 2021
Please remember to renew your Club membership before end of
March 2021.
Membership forms can be downloaded from the club website.
Remember to use a meaningful reference
when making payments by EFT or into the Club account (NAME and
WHAT YOU ARE PAYING FOR, e.g. UPFOLD SUBS, or WILSON KIT, etc),
Email proof of payment to club secretary,
Moira Sherwood ([email protected]).
Photo: B Fourie
#HappySpaces
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]
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BURG TALK | 06-20210
Richard Krusekopf Ride Reports:
Despite the weather forecasts Saturday dawned and revealed a
perfect riding day, if just a little slippery in the pines.
Most of the A/B’s took to road riding again in preparation for
the much anticipated Maluti Double 90, while the C’s were guided
around Cedara by Mark (details in Marks report) and the D’s
ventured out onto the 18km time trail route at Grace, ably led by
Andre.
The D’s started out 11 strong but soon regained full strength
once Larry managed to catch up. They were still at full strength
which was made up of Andre, Liz, Rod, Andy, Gordon, Gareth &
son Jason, Jumbo & grandson Ben, Rhys, Paula and Larry. There
was apparently no need to glance backward again until arriving back
at Nino’s. Mysteriously the group had dwindled to four, who enjoyed
their Nino’s refreshments. (Above based on hearsay and has not been
verified)
Remember to use lights whenever riding on public roads. Give
motorists every chance to avoid
you.
Hilton Time Trial February TT Results: Week 1
The Supa Quick time trial has been in full swing since January
with the trails are bedding in really well so this is the time to
make the most of them.
Give the 8km or 18km a go and stand a chance to win the Supa
Quick monthly give away or even the Nino’s weekly lucky draw
prizes.
The first weeks lucky draw winner of a Nino’s breakfast and
coffee is Liz Booysen. Congratulations Liz. Contact me for your
Nino’s voucher.
Timber Harvesting: Harvesting of timber continues in the
Cedara
plantations (Thekwani Timbers), with a number of our regular
trails closed. Timber harvesting is also taking place in the
Cascades plantations and in Karkloof. Please respect their trail
and road closures during this period.
Club Rides:
Wednesday rides leave from X-ways at 15:30. This Saturday the C
and D groups will be riding from Hilton Quarry Centre at 6:30.
Gordon Borain has kindly offered to initiate a DD group with the
intention of riding a little slower and doing around 20km. If this
is for you, please join him on Saturday at the Quarry Centre
parking lot – the usual place. The D group needs additional leaders
to help out on Saturday mornings. If you are a regular D group
rider, your help will be appreciated.
The A/B group rides are communicated on Whatsapp.
Rumour has it a few of our A & B group did a good ride in
the Loteni area this weekend and encountered a
some hills…
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BURG TALK | 06-20210
Mark Rowland After a bit of 3rd world week, Team Spider /
Fly
were rather looking forward to a soothing perambulation through
the local forests with friends. For once, the weather co-operated.
Grant G [rode up from Athlone], Sholto, Pierre, Chris G, Dave G,
Backflip vd Merwe and His Marvelousness The Kruppenfuhrer, clearly
also felt the same way, arriving bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at
the prescribed place. The parking lot filled up quickly with D’s,
word having spread that Andre would be leading them – always
entertaining. I sneaked a look at Lizzie’s seat while Andre was
otherwise distracted, and I’m pleased to report that it looked fine
to me. Pierre’s Dad, Gerrie, seems to be on the mend from his
Covid, and was able to drop Pierre off as usual. Another reminder
for us all to take care.
True to Andre’s word, at 06h29m59, the D’s streamed out towards
Grace. Leaving behind His Larryness, who was having a last-minute
ablute. We tried to stop the D’s, but Andre was having none of it,
and Larry had to work a little to catch them.
After a quick chat with Daan, who was riding with others [!?],
the C’s routed via the rainbow bridge and the Rotunda, into Cedara,
and up Donkey Rd. Dave G used the opportunity to give me a little
dual bird-spotting, this week focusing on red-shouldered widow
birds, which don’t seem to be widowed at all. This kind of thing
only strengthens my conviction that most birding involves large
quantities of recreational hallucinogenics. Anyhow, the front of
the group arrived at the top of Donkey Rd unscathed. Not so
Backflip, who had overdone the Pro-Nutro that morning, and popped a
spoke coming up the hill. Losing a spoke often leads to a loss of
pressure, sometimes even in the tyres themselves. We leapt into
action to help him. It was a circus. We had to fit a tube,
obviously. The first two tubes were so old that they wouldn’t hold
air. We eventually found one that worked, but in the process at
least two other MTB groups came past us, offering helpful advice
such as to take up golf rather. One of them was the Group That
Dares Not Say Its Name, which contains Paulie Bullock. She had,
just the previous week, seen and photographed a large python near
the Cedara Dam. We heard the whole story. Now, Alison dislikes
creatures without armpits, with pythons featuring very close to the
top of that list. There ensued some lobbying for helicopter
evacuation on compassionate grounds. Eventually we agreed that,
should we encounter said python, we would throw one of the older
members of the group at it.
Since Alison is so MUCH YOUNGER
than almost everyone else, she agree that this was a suitable
plan, and we pressed on. Thankfully the snake was nowhere to be
seen, obviously preoccupied with preparing its tender for the
forthcoming vaccine rollout.
After portaging bikes over the lower dam gate, we climbed up the
singletrack, coming out at the end of the old Blackjack Alley. I
had thought that we might be able to reconnect with Blackjack Alley
by going up the old jeeptrack. The Amazonian vegetation on the old
jeeptrack had other ideas, but, being true MTB’ers, we ploughed on.
Everyone seemed to make it through, but there was a lot of
whingeing from the rabble, which I ignored. Leadership 101. Also no
pythons.
We headed for Pack of Dogs, aiming to go in via the lower
contour road. Backflip was very dubious about this route choice,
saying that it had a lot of grass in it. We all looked at him. He
explained that the grass has recently been cut, and was finding its
way into derailleur moving parts, thus stopping them from going
around. I put this to the group. Backflip’s profession, as some of
you may know, is risk management for large corporates, for which
they give him money. This was pointed out to me, and we reluctantly
agreed to reroute around the deadly grass, and use the top
singletrack entrance. This worked fine, as did the rest of Pack of
Dogs. Heartened by our success, we set course for Gavin’s Underwear
Section, going past what used to be Non-Stop Nurses. Pierre was
clearly overcome by the sight of all the logging where once there
was cycling, and shot off the front of the group. He went so far
ahead that we were forced to adjust the route to find him, which we
eventually did. Last singletrack of the day was Tessie’s. Still a
bit soggy, but with lots of areas covered with the Green Film of
Death. Care was taken, but we
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BURG TALK | 06-20210
still managed to somehow lose the Kruppenfuhrer. I knew that
this loss would be viewed with suspicion by the BWCC committee, so
some of the adults went back to find him. He found the group,
having taken a ‘wrong’ turning somewhere. While we were searching,
in the distance I saw [and heard] a splinter group of the famous
Forest Fairies go past. These are the girls who have put the ‘fair’
back into ‘Fairies’. I looked at Backflip worriedly. ‘After last
week, we’d better get back to the group’. I said. But we were too
late. The Fairies had arrived, and were socializing loudly, as
Fairies do. Chris had coincidentally ‘overheated’ and was once
again displaying his abdominal plumage, to mixed reviews. There’s a
pattern developing here. Alison herded everyone together for a
photo-op, which including the nearest fairest Fairy.
Having spent a considerable time out and about, what with the
puncture and route confusion, we were now well into breakfast time.
A long downhill section would surely cool Chris off. We bade the
Fairies farewell. DisaPierre did just that, and we did our best to
keep up. Breakfast was great. Garmin Stats. 31,5km, 2h05 riding
time, 15km/h, 540m of climbing, 16-26 degrees.
Bobby Nefdt Out in the Country!
Nine riders headed out from the Eye Hospital near Woodburn where
Enslin Uys kindly arranged with security for riders to leave their
vehicles. Heading out through Manor we encountered our first climb
riding up through Eastwood past Crafty Duck. Every time we climb
this hill, I have nightmares of riding the World Champs up there
with a heart of two beats below maximum, in a temperature of +40°C,
hanging onto the group for dear life. We climbed out of town at our
own pace to the cell phone tower at the top, just before Warren and
Cath Price’s Izimbali Coffee Café. (A must for coffee lovers). At
the T junction as we joined the Wartburg road we said farewell to
Kole who had to head back early. TT, Craig, Sean, Willem, Spha,
Marcel,
Doug and BN headed off to Wartburg, stopping to fill our water
bottles. Heading out of Wartburg we turned right towards Bruyns
Hill. We were now on the 2019 KZN Road Champs Circuit on our way to
Harburg with the long Bruyns Hill before us. By the time we passed
Harburg we could feel the temperature rising. We met up with Faizel
Rawat and a few friends again (second time in three weeks) as we
turned towards Wartburg, riding the rolling hills towards our water
stop. A quick refuel and we were back in the saddle. I made the
mistake of taking too long getting back on my bike and ended up
chasing for nearly 6km to catch up. Never allow Marcel to get more
than 10m on you along the flats and downhills because it takes a
superhuman effort to close that gap. The R614 climb from the Umgeni
River bridge, along the Table Mountain road is always a challenging
one and the cracks were beginning to show with the rising
temperatures. The group splintered up this 5km climb and regrouped
before dropping down into Eastwood. A solid ride for those wishing
to ride on routes that are a little more challenging.
Ride specs: Distance: 122km, Ave Speed: 26,2 km/h, Elev Gain: 1
730 m, Time: 4:39:40
Sally Upfold On Saturday, 12 CCs left the Ashburton Training
Centre under the experienced supervision of our group leader,
DS. For some of us, there was the goal of completing our February
Strava Gran Fondo – which we did!
Leaving ATC in the dark, it was a cool, misty pleasant start to
the ride despite have to dodge a jacknifed truck which took us
briefly off-road (horrors!) before we descended in decorum down
Little Polly’s and crossed the N3. We quickly sped out to the Lion
Park and back, passing the DDs en route with a friendly wave, and
then headed out on the Umbumbulo road. For those who haven’t
tackled this one recently – the road surface is very good and the
shoulder nice and wide – which is needed to get out of the way of
the numerous taxis and timber trucks. Despite taking you towards
the sea, this is not an easy downhill route. It is definitely
undulating, with an overall elevation gain of over 1270m.
We are very fortunate to have a few experienced riders in our
group who are willing to advise and share their knowledge on a
ride, and even better, go out in front and “pull” the group up the
hills. Thank you guys – you know who you are! For the novices and
more inexperienced riders, this is hugely appreciated and so
valuable.
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BURG TALK | 06-20210
Another big plus of being a Burg Wheeler (if anyone still needs
to be convinced of the value of paying your membership, due by the
end of the month by the way! - Ed).
Eddie was our back up driver, ensuring our safety and looking
after us until we reached the turning point. He also provide us
with delicious muffins and much needed water refills. When it was
time to head back, Moira kindly took over the backup role while
Eddie joined us on the ride. It was a steady ride back, with the
ups and downs safely negotiated on what was becoming a very warm
day, before we climbed Little Polly’s and turned back to the
ATC.
Thank you all for a great ride. Let’s do it again soon! Group
leader stats - Dist: 103km, Ave: 22.7km/h,
Elevation gain: 1274m
Chris de Witt
8 of us, started at Ashburton Training Centre on Saturday 6th
Feb – nice cool start , heading out towards
Cato-Ridge where we did the Lion Park Loop and managed to see a
very nice running Zebra herd.
Then we continued along towards Umlaas Road where we joined the
Amashova route and continued along there until Drummond where we
turned off onto thousand Hills Drive for our return back – via
Hammersdale offramp, and up the big hill towards Harrison Flats. BY
this time is was very hot and turned out to be a struggle getting
back to Ashburton from there. We managed to do just over 90km with
1250m of climbing, a few of us battling a bit towards the end, as
we were not all not smart enough like some of the members to rotate
with the backup vehicle driver!
Thanks Kieron for backup – we really enjoyed the muffins!
Happy Burg Wheelers Client - Thank you Compendium. I have just
shifted my household, homeowners and vehicle insurance to
Compendium after 22 years with my previous insurers after hearing
about their unique offer to Burg Wheelers Cycling Club members.
Without reducing my cover, my premiums have dropped by 11% and my
road bike is insured at replacement value for R10/m. Perhaps I am
old fashioned, but when I have a problem, I prefer dealing
face-to-face with someone rather than deal with an impersonal
self-help line. Compendium have reopened their local office and
dealing with Kaydee has been an absolute pleasure.
Bobby Nefdt
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BURG TALK | 06-20210
Stories from ‘Viva le Tour’ by Nick Brownlee
Snippet #7 1909 Tour de France: First non-French rider to win.
Dates: 5 July- 1 Aug 1909, No. of stages: 14 Stages Distance: 4 497
km, Winner’s ave speed 28,7km/h
“A new record of 150 cyclists started the race. The previous
Tours had been successful, and similar races were initiated in
other countries (most notably the Tour of Belgium, which started in
1908
and the Giro d'Italia, which started in 1909). In 1909 Francois
Faber of Luxembourg not only became the first man to win five
consecutive stages, but was also the first non-French rider to win
the Tour. It was no mean achievement for a giant of a man who stood
183 cm tall and weighed a massive 91kg. Compare that to the modern
Tour rider, who would regard himself as overweight if he tipped the
scales at 75 kg. Despite being from Luxembourg, Faber was a great
hero amongst the French fans. More than 20,000 of them waited to
see him finish the stage into Lyon, and the Parc des Princes was
full as he arrived to claim his one and only tour win. As he
entered the stadium, his chain broke and Faber was forced to run
more than a kilometre to the finish line - the equivalent of a lap
of honour.”
Tour Trivia During the 1909 tour, Henri Alavoine of France
crashed in horrendous snow, hail and freezing rain and was
forced to carry his bike through freezing ankle-high water to the
stage finish some 10 kilometres away. In the previous Tours, the
Tour organisers had become embarrassed by cyclists urinating in
front of spectators, so at the check points obligatory bathrooms
were installed. François Faber was one of the youngest Tour de
France winners in history at only 22 years and 7 months; as of
2019, only Henri Cornet in 1904 was younger (19 years and 11
months).
1910 Tour de France: Assassins! Dates: 3-31 July 1910; No. of
stages: 15 Stages Distance: 4 734 km, Ave speed: 28,68km/h “On a
warm July day Henry Desgrange received a
telegram from Alphonso Steines, one of his minions who had been
sent to check on the conditions at the top of the Col du Tourmalet
in the Pyrenees. ‘Have crossed the Tourmalet on foot Stop,’ it
read. ‘Road passable to vehicles Stop No snow Stop.’ Desgrange was
overjoyed. Sending the riders up the Pyrenean giant was a stunt he
had been considering for some time; one he knew would increase the
circulation of L’Auto. But Steines, no doubt terrified of incurring
the wrath of his boss, had lied. By the time the lead riders
reached the top of the mountain, they had been forced to trudge
through deep snowdrifts, mud and sub-zero temperatures. As Octave
Lapize, the eventual race winner, staggered to the summit of the
next mountain on the route, the Aubisque, he glared at the waiting
Tour officials and hissed the words ‘Vous êtes des assassins!’
Henri Desgrange went to some extraordinary lengths to ensure his
precious Tour was not open to cheating. One such step was to insist
that each rider's bike was taken to the offices of L’Auto in Paris,
where the pedals and fork-head were stamped with an official
hallmark. As if this wasn't enough, the bikes were also fitted with
an invisible stamp so they could not be changed during the
race.
The broom waggon - or la voiture balai - was first introduced in
1910. As its name suggests, the purpose of this vehicle is to sweep
up the riders at the back of the field who can no longer continue
or simply wish to retire from the race. Their numbers are
unceremoniously removed and they are bundled into the back. Star
riders rarely use the broom wagon, preferring the less inauspicious
option of climbing into back of their team cars.”
Tour Trivia Despite perilous descents, murderous stages and
bikes that had a tendency to fall apart, the first Tour fatality
occurred on a rest day. Adolf Hélière was bathing in the sea off
Nice when he suffered heart failure after being stung by a
jellyfish.
Octave Lapize - the first Tour rider to crest the Col du
Tourmalet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_of_Belgiumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_of_Belgiumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giro_d%27Italiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cornet
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BURG TALK | 06-20210
Cape Town Cycle Tour Goes Virtual
The Virtual Cape Town Cycle Tour, will utilize the FulGaz
Virtual Cycling platform, and will take place between March
8-14.
The race will be divided into three stages to make up the
traditional 109km route. Filmed on the actual route from a bicycle
it is the ideal way to experience the beauty of the Cape Peninsula
from the comfort of your own home!
To take part simply enter online from Monday, 8 February at
www.capetowncycletour.com and ride 109km or more during the month
of March ANYWHERE ANYTIME. We will use Strava to verify all
qualifying rides completed. Each participant will get a virtual
medal on completion of the challenge, while also and perhaps most
importantly, helping raise funds for the Cape Town Cycle Tour
Trust.
This is a festival of Classic cycling. Ride on classic steel
road bikes on gravel roads like the
heroes of the past did. Experience the fun and camaraderie of
riding with other classic bicycle enthusiasts while taking in the
beautiful
scenery of the Kamberg in the Natal Midlands. A classic bicycle
display will be held on the Saturday
evening along with a Concourse competition for the best classic
bicycle.
More at
https://classicsteelandvintage.co.za/product/gravel-giro-
glengarry-2021-classic-bike-ride-and-festival/
We are launching our monthly Club Photo Competition again,
with a theme for each month. Photos can be sent as jpg files by
email to [email protected].
By submitting a photo, you automatically give the Club
permission to publish it on our media platforms.
Entry is to paid up members only and you can submit up to 5
photo entries per month.
February’s theme being the month of romance is
“Loving my bike…”. Deadline for entries for February is Sunday
28 Feb.
http://www.capetowncycletour.com/mailto:[email protected]
