An amazing 2012 Wines2Whales race!

The Wines2Whales race is done and dusted! Thank you for your support and prayers! Andre and I had a super fun, safe, fast ride.

Both of us had a few small tumbles and hit some 'flat spots' along the three day route. But we had no major injuries, and our only technical issue was when the bottom came off Andre's shoe at the end of the portage at the Gantou pass on day 1.

The first day was so hot with a lot of climbing, but also such beautiful views and lots of new single track! Day 2 was fun, fun, fun! Although we raced quite hard on day 1, while we climbed in the seeding and started earlier we suffered at around 60km, but we made it home in a great time. Day 3 was awesome, fast and tough at the same time. Everyone underestimates the fact that the race only starts at around 45km when there is still about 1000m of climbing to go.

If you look at 2min49s on this youtube highlights video of day 3 you will see Andre and I climbing up to Rotary Drive

This picture shows Andre in front of me on the right and me at the back on the left. We saw the camera crew interviewing Songo from Song.info at the water stop (we were riding at the same pace as them for about 20km up to that point), then the camera crew passed us and set up on the top of the Hill.

All in all it was an amazing weekend of riding, amazing friends, beautiful scenery and some great fun and technical track!

Here is another picture of us at the end of the race.

Gearing up for the Wines2Whales Contego Mountainbike Race 2012

On Friday I will be setting off for my third Contego Wines2Whales  3 day stage race here in Cape Town.

This is one of the highlights of my year! I have been making lots of sacrifices to be fit and ready for the race (hiring bicycles while traveling, battling jet lag to keep fit while I have been in England, the US, Malaysia, Holland Uganda etc.), trying my best to eat well, and going out at 4.30 and 5am (long before my beautiful wife and kids wake up) on the weekends so that I can train and still be home when they are up and about.

But, it is worth it.  The scenery, single track, fun, and camaraderie on this race are such a blessing!  On Friday we will set off for day 1 of the race (I am a little bit like a diesel 'bakkie' (pickup truck for my American friends)).  I am not all that quick, but I can climb just about any hill and I can just keep going!  My partner Andre Swart and I are heading out in the second last batch of the morning (group I).  It is going to be great to ride with Andre!  I did my previous two Wines2Whales races with my good mate Greg Long.  Greg is living up in Johannesburg and so decided to give the race a miss this year.  I was first training with Steven Johnstone, but he had a nasty fall on a training ride we did in Stellenbosch and broke his wrist, so Andre very kindly stepped in!  Andre is about 10 years younger than me, much fitter and very strong!  So, I am blessed to be riding with him.  Day 1 is a tough day of riding.  We take off on Lourensford Wine farm (about 800 meters from my front door!) and ride across the beautiful farm, then across Vergelegen, and cross over into my regular training spot in Sir Lowry's Pass (Schapenberg Black Route), where we go over the old wagon trails and climb up to Grabouw on the other side of the pass.  It is a total of 2000 meters of climbing!  Once over we head to Oak Valley (also part of the ABSA Cape Epic route) and camp there for night 1.

On day 2 we head out from Oak Valley and do a great loop out towards Bot River and towards the coast.  Day 2 has some of the most amazing flowing single track in the world!  We ride Paul Cluver, Lebanon Forest and of course Oak Valley itself.  There are some seriously technical bits on this day’s riding (Puff Adder and Boom Slang!).  But, I always find day 2 quite fun.  Last year we had a good ride on day 2 (except for the fact that I broke my chain twice!)  Amazingly I also broke my chain on day 2 in 2010!  I hope that I will not do that again this year.  It is obviously poor great changing on my part that causes the problem.

On day 3 we do some amazingly fast riding down from Oak Valley to the town of Bot River, then past there we go through a valley and start climbing up towards the Hemel en Aarde side of Hermanus.  That last little sting in the tail is a killer! After three days of riding the legs get a little tired!  But the sight of the Atlantic Ocean the finish in Onrus is always a motivation!  To know that I will be seeing Megie, Courtney and Liam gives me that extra bit of energy to make it over the top and home.  In 2010 Greg and I made it onto SuperSport on day 3!  We were weaving through some single track when I looked up and the camera was in my face!  I also took a tumble on some sand, but fortunately they didn’t air that piece!

 

Well, I would like to ask for your prayers for ‘Team Transformation’ this weekend!  Please pray for our safety on the ride, also please pray for our health (I am nursing a knee niggle.  I broke my left leg badly in 2008 and have had a few knee and ankle hassles since.  Three weeks ago when I was in Holland I did two 80 km rides on a bike that was not set up quite correctly and my knee took a little bit of straing.  Please pray that it is perfectly well by Friday and that it remains strong, stable, and free of discomfort and pain).  Please also pray for our equipment.

You can follow my twitter feed @digitaldion for regular updates, or see my tumblr blog for pictures at http://digitaldion.tumblr.com

Old School is cool! My lovely old Raleigh DL vintage bicycle

Here is a picture of my lovely old Raleigh DL roadster vintage bicycle.  I picked her up for a steal at a local secondhand store.  The bike is in very good condition for its age! It rides like a dream.  The gearing is most certainly not suited to the hills and mountains of Somerset West!  It is best on a long flat road.  Because of the high gearing it takes a little bit of time and energy to get upto speed.  But once it is going it just cruises along.  I rode it to the skateboard ramp with my kids this weekend.  The young 'hipsters' thought my bike was awesome! A real, classic, singlespeed...  In South Africa these were (and in some areas still are!) the standard issue bicyles for postal workers.  They have very low maintenance and just go, and go, and go!

A last ride in Paradise before heading to the USA!

Yesterday I had an absolutely stunning mountain bike ride on Lourensford with the Cycle Addiction club. We are blessed with amazing riding here!

Tomorrow I head to the United States to participate in a significant Christian business conference (where the 8 Millennium Development Goals will be the central discussion points - so thankful that they have taken this important discussion on board!) The Church must learn to engage business if we are to be God's agents of renewal and transformation in the world.  We can halve global poverty by 2015 if we each just do our bit to witness, advocate and act on behalf of the poor.

In many cases Nation States are no longer the most influential and powerful regional influencers. This quote from Lesley Newbigin made sense in this regard:

[W]e may well be coming to the end of the era of the sovereign nation-state as we have known it for the past three centuries. Economic, financial, and technical forces have created a global system that is far more powerful than most existing states. The secular powers shaping human life are increasingly transnational If the Church is to speak the truth to Caesar, it is these powers that must be more and more in our sights.

— Leslie Newbigin, Truth to Tell: The Gospel as Public Truth p89

After Orlando I head to New York for some meetings regarding EXPOSED (see the EXPOSED2013 tab at the top for more information regarding this corruption and poverty project). I will be at the United Nations meeting some friends in the UNDP and also at the Salvation Army meeting Christine MacMillan, their general in charge of social justice initiatives. I will also be at Redeemer and a few other significant meetings.

Please pray for me (and for my family back home)! I get back on 3 May and then head off to Indonesia on the 12th of May. So it is a little hectic with travel at the moment. Skype is a wonderful blessing to stay in touch with Megie, Courtney and Liam.  But I always miss them so much!!! My goodness, these three people truly do occupy my life!  I am already filled with a little sadness at having to leave.

As for cycling - I will dream of the trails of Cape Town! But, keep an eye on my twitter and facebook feeds. You'll see me doing some running!

Please follow @EXPOSED2013 on twitter.com and on facebook at http://on.fb.me/exposed2013

God bless,

D

Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle tour 2012 - done and dusted!

The weather today was almost perfect! Except for a slight bit of wind out towards Simonstown (mainly on the blue route), and the extreme heat a little later in the day, it was perfect cycling weather!

I was fortunate to head out in Group J at 6.51AM and managed to complete the 110 km ride in 3h35mins (according to my Garmin 705 - official times are available tomorrow).

As always the scenery along the route was a real highlight.  Even though I live in Cape Town we seldom take the time to spend a few hours cruising around the coast.  What better way to do it than with 40 000 other cyclists!?

It was a fairly uneventful ride for me.  I was a little less fit this year compared to last year (I was in England the week before the race).  And it showed in my time which was a few minutes slower than last year.  I had put in some distances in my training rides.  Yet, I still cramped going up Suikerbossie.  As I was climbing I decided to get out of the saddle and stand... That was when I felt my quadriceps twinge.  I made the top of the hill within the 3h30 split, but I just didn't have the legs to push it home for the last 15km's or so.  So, I ended up in a slightly slower bunch watching my right quad and enjoying the crowds into Sea Point and the finish.

The lead ladies (about 30 minutes ahead of me) had a serious crash in the final sprint! Wow, I watched it on television.  I believe someone shattered a pelvis and there was a person with a broken colarbone, and some very bad scrapes and cuts.  That is always the danger of high speed, super dense bunches, in the final sprint.

I was fortunate to be back at the finish, safe and sound, by about 10.20 (about 20 minutes after the last group of riders started the race! Yikes!) so I missed the heat of the day. When I got to my car about an hour and a bit later it was 35 degrees!  I can imagine that it got even hotter past 1 and 2pm.

I got my special green number for my 10th Argus, and also received a special medal at the end.  Super!

So, tomorrow it is back to work.  I'll take the day off cycling.  But on Tuesday morning I'll be back on my mountainbike!!!

I've added a few pictures from the race in this post.  They were taken with my GoPro HD camera mounted to my handlebars in 30 second stop motion throughout the race.

Tips for the Cape Argus Pick n Pay cycle tour

This Sunday I will be riding my 10th Argus (I think it is 10). I have been looking forward to it for ages! I love this race, it is one of the highlights of my cycling year, one of only 3 road rides that I do each year.

Last year I did my 'competitive' ride - I was 39 years old and wanted to do a fairly good time. I managed to do the 110km Argus cycle tour in under 3.30 hours. It was fairly tough since I was riding with a cracked rib, having done the Argus Mountainbike the week before. I left in group R, if I am not mistaken. There were a lot of serious cyclists around me! I felt quite inspired and a little competitive. This year I will be setting off at 6.51am in group J. I will be aiming for a comfortable 4 hour ride - no racing this year!

In part it is because I have just returned from a week in England where I did no riding (except for a short jaunt on a 'Boris Bike' from Waterloo along the South Bank of the Thames up past Tower Bridge). In part it is also because I just want to enjoy my 10th Argus and have fun among the riders, enjoying the scenery and the company. Riding a sub 3.30 means chasing the clock, not stopping to get extra water, and certainly not stopping to chat or admire the view.

But, regardless of planning a slower ride here are a few tips for this week leading up to the race:

- Taper down your training: I did a 25 km light ride this morning from 5-6am, just spinning out my legs. I'll do another one of these on Thursday morning and then rest my legs for Sunday.
- Rest well: If you plan to ride this week don't do anything strenuous after Wednesday. But, more than resting your legs also remember to sleep well this week - try for 7-8 hours a night. You'll be amazed how much it helps!
- Watch what you eat or drink: certainly don't drink too much alcohol. In fact, don't have any alcohol this week if you can help it. Also watch what you eat. You don't want to pick up unnecessary weight this week while you're training less.
- Don't try any new supplements: be sure to make use of trusted supplements this week, and also during the race! Avoid the temptation to pick up the newest fad supplement at the the Argus Expo - you may just end up with a sore stomach and no power in your legs!
- Test your bike, then don't mess with it: Make sure everything is OK on your bike by Tuesday. That way if you have a problem you still have time to get it fixed, even if you need to order a spare part. Once it is working don't mess with it!
- Drink lots of water: I would normally drink rehydrate once a day from Thursday to Saturday to make sure I am well hydrated for the race.
- Relax and don't stress about the ride: this is more important than you may realize! I know a few folks who jeopardize their chances for a good, fun, cycle by getting all panicked and stressed out. It is what it is, a fun ride! Go out to enjoy it!
- Pack your kit for race day on Saturday: yup, pack it, check it, then make sure you take it! The last thing you need is to arrive in the City and realize you've left your helmet or your cycling shoes back home.

Those are my basic tips. What do you do in the week leading up to the Argus?

The first day of summer in Cape Town!

Today was the first summer's day that we've had in Cape Town! It is amazing that summer has come so late - last weekend the last day of the Wines2Whales ride was cancelled (much to my disappointment) because we had snow in Grabouw and they couldn't get the emergency personnel onto to the route from Grabouw to Hermanus!

However, I woke up at 5.30 this morning to glorious sunshine and joined some friends for an awesome ride on Lourensford farm. As I left my gate and rode up Lourensford road towards Erinvale it was quiet, cool and clear!

We only did about 25km - I'll confess it hardly felt like a worthwhile ride. But it was great to be on the trails, climbing the jeep tracks an whizzing down the single track. I didn't have a single fall in last week's race. Today, I took a gentle little tumble rounding a hairpin bend.

The picture a above was taken with my iPhone as we were climbing towards the first piece of single track (I think it is called Eagles View).

I love this place! I give thanks to God for the beauty, safety and opportunity to ride!

Bring on summer! Let the South Easter begin to blow... And it will!

Sunglasses found on the Wines2Whales race on 11 November 2011

I found a pair of expensive sunglasses on Day 1 of the Wines2Whales race on Lourensford Farm last Friday (11 November 2011).

They were not collected over the weekend. If you come across this post and are the person who lost them please drop me an email. I'll just ask that you identify the brand and style of glasses so that I can be sure they are yours. If you can identify them I'll be happy to help get them to you.

The Karoo to Coast 2011 Mountainbike race - an amazing ride!

Last Sunday we set out from Knynsa at just before 4am to drive to the small Karoo town of Uniondale for the Pennypinchers Karoo to Coast 100km mountainbike race.  My friend Greg and I have been looking forward to this race for the whole year!  Last year I couldn't ride since my daughter, Courtney, had just come out of hospital after her brain surgery.  Praise God that it was a year later and all is well!

Greg and I have not been doing as much training as we should.  I have had quite a bit of travel with work, and Greg is commuting between Somerset West and Johannesburg every week with work.  So, 'team telletubbies' was ready for the ride.

By some amazing accident I was seeded with the Elite Men's group (rider number 198!)  When I got into the shute I realised just what a mistake that was! I was the only guy with a body mass index over 4% and unshaved legs!  Ha ha! It soon became apparent that I was out of my league.

Still, I was donning my Power Group, Unashamedly Ethical kit and wanted a good day in the saddle.

It was a great ride - one of the best, most fun, rides that I have done in a very long time. I must confess that I was not well prepared at all.  In fact my legs reminded me of it when they decided to both start cramping at 75km into the race! At that stage I was poised for a fair ride - I had an hour to do the last 25 km's.  However, with cramps I ended up doing another 2 hours and 9 minutes for the last 25km! It has tough!  The heat was also a bit of a challenge.  But, as I say, it was a heck of a lot of fun.  Lots of climbing (1800 m in total), some of the most amazing scenery as you ride along farm roads and trails from Uniondale to Knysna.

Here's a picture of Greg and I at the finish line. It was a hot, dusty day in the saddle for both of us.  Greg has incredible technical skill.  He's the kind of guy that flies down those hills at over 60km an hour!  My fastest speed on the day was 64km an hour - frightening to think that one would go that fast on dirt!  But this ride is suited for fast riding.  Be warned, there are some dangerous corners, so pay close attention to the marshals and warning signs that are posted.

The race was exceptionally well organised.  There were plenty of water points, and even a food point along the road.  There was a lot of medical support and motorcyclists along the route to help anyone that got into trouble.

If you're interested in seeing the route you can download the *.kml file (for Google Earth) from here. I have a Garmin 705 cycling computer - it is great to keep track of all my rides and routes.

And then, just to prove that I wasn't going slow ALL the way here's one of the ActionPhoto pictures of me heading down a pass somewhere along the ride... At least I look fast (ish)!  ha ha.

I'm looking forward to a better ride next week!  This weekend I'll be riding the Spur Lourensford Classic 60km ride.  One of my favorite rides of the year, right in my back yard!

I have to keep my riding up for the Wines2Whales - Greg and I are riding that in the second week of November.  However, I leave for Malaysia and Hong Kong on Tuesday and will be away for 2 weeks without any riding (I'll take some kit along to ride in the gym or go for a few runs).

Do you believe in angels?

In this video I share a short story that leads me to ask the question:  Do you believe in angels?

Some may say that it is quite a strange thing for me to be asking this question.  However, since Psalm 91.11 and Luke 4.10 relate so clearly to the little story I recount in the video I thought I would ask you for your opinion.  So, do you believe in angels? And could you tell me why, or why not?  Also if you have any stories to tell of an encounter with angelic beings I'd love to hear about them.

When I posted this question on twitter I had three almost immediate responses from @hayesstw @gigglebug and @ursh13 to say that they all believe in angels.  Knowing the persons who left the comments, and their theological perspectives, I'm sure that their reasons for believing in angels would be quite different.  That's what most interests me - why do you believe in angels?

Schapenberg ride on Municipal election day in South Africa!

Every time that I return home from a long trip overseas I am reminded that I live in a beautiful place. Today is a public holiday in South Africa since it is the municipal elections across the country. It is critical that Christians should participate in selecting just, ethical and responsible persons to govern on their behalf.

Megan and I went to vote this afternoon. Since voting in the first democratic elections in South Africa on the 27th of April 1994 I am always filled with a great sense of gratitude for the opportunity, and freedom, that we have to participate in our democratic processes.

Past experience has however taught me that it is not a good idea to go to the polls first thing in the morning! Most people mistakenly think that if they go early they'll vote quickly.  Of course everyone who wants to make the most of the public holiday things the same thing and you end up standing in a line for hours to cast your vote!

Instead, we decided to use the morning wisely.  Megie, Courtney and Liam slept in a little while I went cycling with my friends.  We rode the black route of the new Schapenberg mountainbike trail here in Somerset West. It is such a beautiful, although taxing, ride!

Here are one or two pictures from the ride.

The picture above shows Ruan and Lyle.  The picture below shows the beautiful False Bay with Gordon's Bay on the slopes of the mountains.

Riding the new Schapenberg Mountainbike trail from Ongegund in Somerset West

Greg and I headed out to ride the new Schapenberg MTB trail ride this afternoon - it is just above Sir Lowrys pass in Somerset West.  We intended doing the red route.  But, when we arrived they were closing up and so Johan Kriegler (the guy who does the Wines2Whales trail) told us how to get in along the Knorhoek road.

We met up with a few friends along the way and started riding the route with them. They turned off onto the shorter yellow route and we decided to take the red route.  About 10 km into the ride we realised that we were at the cut off point of day one of the wines2whales!  We knew that with just a little climb we would link up with the most amazing single track (from Hans se Kop down into the valley). So, we braced ourselves and climbed the black route... Quite a climb to the top, but some beautiful views and incredible single track on the way to the top!  It was worth doing the black route!

At the top we made the turn and hit the road down.  Greg was in fine form flying down the technical stuff!  I was a little... shall we say ‘sensible’ about my descent? Just when we thought it was over the route took us into a tunnel of trees and a whole new section of single track!  At the end of that we climbed next to the railway for a few km’s only to be taken into another section of incredible downhill single track – some of it quite steep like on our Helderberg ride.  Super stuff.

This is certainly a route worth riding.  Because we came in from the side (since the Ongegund office was closed) we probably missed the first 18km of the trail.  But, the last 23km we did ride was absolutely amazing!

Blessings,

Dion

PS.  If you have google earth installed on your computer just click on the attached file for a ‘fly through’ of the route.  If you don’t have it installed download google earth from here:

http://www.google.co.za/earth/