It’s the Cape Town Cycle Tour today (or it was when I typed this) and our cruising buddies Monique and Bastiaan from Red Max just whizzed across the finish line……along with around twenty four thousand other cycling enthusiasts. It’s usually over thirty thousand but Covid restrictions brought the numbers down. I’m really sure that made a difference.

Many months ago, the Max’s told us they were doing the Tour but we were too lazy to even contemplate riding a hundred kilometres. I mean, seriously? 100k, much of it uphill and all of it against Cape Town’s daily hurricane. We had nearly 100 horsepower to facilitate that so why on Earth would you want to pedal it?

However, standing at the finish line, I really did feel quite pathetic watching folk of all ages, sizes and shape, cross the finish line cheerfully waving at their welcoming parties.

There were mums, dads, children, grans and grandads. Some on tandems, a few on arm powered recliners - the horizontal bike type. Not the one I’ve been lounging around on while they’ve been out training. There were state of the art, all carbon road racing bikes. Some electric bikes and ageing mountain bikes, some of which wouldn’t have looked out of place with a wicker shopping basket on the front.

There were guys with beards the windage of which must have significantly compromised their finish time. Some built like whippets, some like they’d been training on a diet of Scotch pies and fish suppers for the last few months. Not quick uphill but downhill, clear the path and watch them go.

Yet, they did it. While I sat on our bike, getting a slightly sore wrist from twisting the throttle.

All in all, quite a spectacle and quite an achievement.

Maybe next year.