The ARGUS:
This week has been an incredibly sad week for Cape Town. There have been the most awful fires, kilometres of beautiful fynbos have been burnt, and homes have been lost. Firefighters have been busy all week in order to try and get everything under control and we have watched the City of Cape Town support them, donating necessities and giving them time and help.
This is why the Cape Town Cycle tour was renamed the Solidarity Ride this year. Due to the fire damage, the various parts of the Cape Argus route were determined unsafe. This is why they changed the route completely, and drastically reduced the distance to 47km.
The circumstances of this shorter distance were very dire, with one fire popping up after another. When I found out that the Argus was reduced by such a large number, I felt hugely relieved. Before I was feeling very nervous for the race, but afterwards I started feeling very excited to participate- a much more sensible distance.
On Friday evening I started my "carbo-loading" with some Sushi and inherited a outfit for the big day on Sunday. On Saturday afternoon my dad prepped me, packing my snacks, checking my tyres, making sure everything was in working order. We went to a family friends' big pre-argus party, where the carbo-loading continued with a choice of 5 pastas! I had an early night and lay in bed in anticipation.
On Sunday we woke up at 5 and headed towards the CTICC. My dad surprised me, and decided he was not going to start at 7:30 and instead rather start his 12th Argus at 10:00 with me. I had an incredibly special day riding with my mum and dad - while my sister raced on ahead of us..
I was very surprised with how much easier the ride was compared to what I expected. I was very chuffed that all my spinning classes paid off and that I was still feeling fresh towards the end. I was a little disappointed that we didn't complete the 47km in under 2 hours, but I was satisfied with 2:10.
