Cycle Tour...almost

It's been a week and a bit since we did the Cycle Tour. I'm only blogging now partly because life has been insane, but mostly because it was such an epic experience that it's taken me a while to process everything.

The Chaeli Campaign has a sort of lead-up event to the Cycle Tour - the Double and Again for Disability (cycling from Hermanus to Somerset West, then to the Clock Tower at the Waterfront over 2 days. The two days before the Cycle Tour). For a little extra training, Grant decided it would be a good idea to take Beastie with, and I would ride when the route was ok for us to. I needed some convincing, but I'm sort of becoming a cyclist...

We got to Hermanus and it was hideously windy - in terms of Beastie and wind resistance, etc. But the eighteen of us who were cycling, purposefully ignored that fact. We got on the road and we had a police escort out of Hermanus - pretty legit, I rate.

Then weather took a turn...for the worse. It started raining. Not too badly to begin with, but then.

Now, keep in mind, we have never trained with Beastie in the rain. Interessant.

I'm in the buggy behind Grant. It's raining. The road is now wet. Being in close proximity to a back wheel of a bicycle when it's raining, I discover, means that the water on the road, ends up on you. I really thought the weather was SO much worse than it was, because it rained on me twice! Once, when it actually fell from the sky, and once, from Grant's wheel. Fun times.

There are benefits though...

We now know that Beastie can also dominate in bad weather. We now know that Beastie does not fill up like a cup when it's raining. We now know that I can be hardcore and ride in the rain. We also now know that my 'waterproof' jacket is not so much and we need to invest in a more durable one. Valuable lessons.

We reached 42-ish kilometres of the 94 that were happening on day 1 and decided to stop. This turned out to be a good decision because the rain got worse. I would have drowned.

I got in the car, we put Beastie in the car, Grant carried on like a champion. I went back to my usual Double & Again duties of screaming "WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!" out the window. Much warmer.

We got to the hotel, got warm, and sat in the success of 94km of the route being finished.

What was really cool, was that Grant and I were being featured on The Dr Mol Show that Friday, so everybody got together and watched it. Good team bonding moment, right there.

Day 2...

Everyone was much more optimistic about the cycle that day...well, most of us (Graeme and Jamie...). Looking outside and seeing that it wasn't raining put a smile on everybody's face. Well, most of us (Jamie...)

I didn't go in Beastie for the first 24km because there were pretty hectic roadworks and traffic was insane. Both of us were stoked that I started in the car. Grant still had the buggy on his bike and it was really weird for me to watch it instead of being in it. Stressed me out.

When we got to Bottelary Road, all was clear, and it was time for Beastie domination.

There are a few hills to climb on day 2...but also some really nice downhills. We had some help going up though. Thanks to everybody who gave us a push. Grant's legs appreciated it.

We made it to the Waterfront and got excited that we were finished, took a couple of photos and then went home to prepare for Sunday and then pass out.