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Edith and I recently returned from a successful four day trip to Green Point in Cape Town undertaken in order to participate in the 2019 41st staging of the Cape Town Cycle Tour. (aka The Argus) When we got back I posted some photographs and a brief synopsis of our experience on Facebook in order to share it with family and friends. As we have some family and friends who are not on Facebook, I subsequently decided to also post a blog relating to our trip. Ironically I made this decision on the first day I have ever been unable to reach Facebook. While I was aware that Facebook had experienced problems at the beginning of the weekend, we did not seem to be affected until now, the end of the same weekend.
So starting again: With me having already done the Argus three times, we were now in a good place with respect to making decisions regarding how we would get there, and where we would stay. So we returned to Green Point which is not that far from the city center and also the location of the start. Green point is also the home of the Cape Town Stadium, the site chosen for registration, the Expo, and the finish. Avery busy place.
The flat that we had rented was also well placed and had off-street parking, a big plus. Green point is an old suburb of Cape Town and the streets are narrow. It is also situated on the slopes of Signal Hill and so the and the terrain is steep in places. So are the many pathways, basically stairways that connected the main streets that run along contours on the side of Signal Hill.
Given what I have just described you would not think that Green Point would be a sought after suburb, but it is, and one of the priciest suburbs in South Africa, let alone cape Town. During our previous visit in 2016 we had a chat with on of the residents who had a home on High Level Road. When we asked her what she would get for her home if she sold it, she replied, "Not much for the house, but about R14,000,000 for the land." Also that the house would then be demolished to make way for two duplexes that would then be sold for R45,000,000.
After two rides (together with hundreds of other cyclists) along the foreshore on Friday evening, and then again on Saturday morning to test the wind, we headed for the stadium and registration. The place was packed and chaotic, and the vibe and uncertainty regarding what the wind would do the next day was almost tangible. After buying the obligatory T-shirt, we met up with Cathy and Keith Kenyon (the latter was also riding the CTCT) and retired to Hudson's for a bit of lunch.
The next day we did the Argus, and as they say, "The rest is history". Will we be back? Best ask the missus. On the Monday morning we left in pouring rain. Cannot begin to imagine what it would have been like if it had also rained heavily on the day of the race.
Postscript: The links (URLs) that follow the displayed photographs usually pertain to the subject that the blog is addressing. This blog is different in the sense that it was written to share our (Edith and myself) 2019 Cape Town Cycle Tour experience that was initially shared on Facebook with our German relatives who do not use Facebook. However the links go beyond that as they also refer to long distance cycling in the form of Randonneuring, Audax and/or Brevets. This has been done because besides being quite interesting, these links refer to material that also applies to the 100 km Cycle Tours that we ride here in South Africa. Finally there are some URLs that reference material relating to the Freedom Challenge, a cycling challenge that celebrates Nelson Mandela and the country itself. They also refer to accounts of one of South Africa's great ultra athletes namely Martin Dreyer, and his own experiences while participating in the challenge. They are all worth reading / watching.
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If you have any comments, corrections, suggestions or plain criticism, I would appreciate it if you would communicate the same to me.
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[email protected] |
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Google+ | www.robdempster.com |
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