Tag: Langebaan

After only getting to bed after 12 o’clock  I was not very happy when my alarm went off and we had to get up to start Day two of the Cycle tour. It was freezing cold outside and I really felt sorry for the cyclist.

After a cup of coffee and a yogurt everybody started getting ready to hit the road. We packed the trailers and the men checked the bicycles to make sure that everything is still in order.

Then we all got together in a big circle to start the day the correct way and we asked the Lord to keep us all safe and without harm. There was a bib made for the “twak maker” of the day and this was given to the cyclist or person on the support team who did something ” wrong” and he or she had to wear the bib the whole tour. When the “Twak Maker” was announced everyone had a  laugh. Then  we got serious again and Ronald discussed the days route and what  they can expect along the road. He also told the cyclist that they must stick to the rules of the road and on roads without shoulders they must please keep it single file.

We all left Darling golf estate around  8:30 for Yzerfontein.  The SAPS photographers joined us for the day somewhere between Darling and Yzerfontein.  I must say I got some lovely action shots on this route.  The scenery was just stunning and I thanked our Heavenly Father for giving us all the opportunity to spend the time outside and that we could all admire His work of art.  The cyclist did good and we arrived earlier than scheduled at Yzerfontein even with the rolling hills.  The group of cyclist that went on the tour stuck together and the stronger riders helped those who needed help. Some of these riders don’t even own a bicycle and they borrowed bicycles to go with on the tour to help raise funds for the SAPS Educational Trust fund.  When I saw the rolling hills I wondered what went through some of these cyclists minds when they looked in front of them and saw the hills going up and down up and down….

At Yzerfontein we all enjoyed a lovely breakfast at the Padstal. After breakfast it was photo time before we were on our way again to Langebaan.

Off we went to Langebaan. We had one or two pit stops along the route.  The road on the West Coast is tuff and sometimes it feels like you’re not getting any where… But even when times were difficult there was time for some jokes. Anton one of our most experienced riders really enjoyed playing tricks on the other riders. He was also one of the riders that went back and forth to and help the weaker riders. I wondered how many kilometers a day he did extra to help the other riders.

When we got to Langebaan we had to wait for the communication officer to show us were we where suppose to go.  Little did we know that she would take us through the town to the Yacht Club up a another hill… But the food made up for that extra few kilometers. We had a whole spread of food and we could all  fill up those empty tanks… Thank you Langebaan for the lovely food and the even lovelier view.

By the time we left for our next stop Saldanha the fog was coming inland fast and it became very cold all of the sudden. The road to Saldanha was also very busy and one of our cyclist had to get on the support vehicle due to his knee and we had to go back to fetch him. I could not really take allot of photo’s on the route. I  took some photo’s  through the front window of the bus. When we arrived at Saldanha we were welcomed by sirens and were escorted through the town to the Saldanha Police Station. I got goosebumps and I think the cyclist also got a boost for that last few kilometers. It was awesome. Saldanha went through allot of trouble to make the cyclist and their support team comfortable and they even made up some goody bags filled with sweets and fruit for the road ahead. The Station commander and a  retired police officer thanked the cyclist for their effort to raise money for their fellow police officers children’s future.  They handed us a cheque for R3620.  The medics had some massage work and bandaging work to do before we hit the road again to our last stop for the day Vredenburg.

After resting the tired legs we hit the road for the last few kilometers to Vredenburg. At Vredenburg all the cyclist except for the two strongest riders got in the different support vehicles and we headed back to Club Mykonos where we spend the night.

When we got to Club Mykonos we all went to our apartments to take a nice warm shower or bath. I had a mega migraine and wished I could get into bed and close my eyes for the night. But we had to go back to Vredenburg High School   for the concert and then we had to go to Boesmanland for dinner. At Boesmanland  we had some live entertainment  and lovely food and desert.  We then headed back to our rooms to turn in for the night.