Blog Day 8 Jen and Sir Lunga Duncan.

We woke up to a chilly morning at Umtali Country Lodge

After the usual rush and bustle of the morning routine, we enjoyed a hearty breakfast where Thys told us they had to call in a roofing specialist to check the roof tiles were still in place as the snoring had done some serious lifting during the night. Chanelle clearly has experience though as she seemed to have a copious supply of earplugs.

After the normal pre-departure photos, we set forth to the top of Penhoek and eventually Komani. One more stop to go.

Cycling out of Aliwal to a crisp 10 degrees, the road surface was excellent and the group well bunched. Some typical radio inter-change that the cyclists don’t hear “Medic-Medic, Come in for Control” “How are things at the back, How is the gap”?
In answer to Sigqibo’s check ins – “All good my brother!!” Medic also said he loved the view!!

Ale and Tony were leading the ‘parlotone’ Until 13km outside of Umtali, a 7km monster hill posed a challenge for everyone. At the top of the monster, we regrouped at one of the beautiful Eastern Cape Picnic spots.
Onwards and upwards!!!

Our guest cyclist was the first puncher of the day!! He proceeded to hug his bottle and watch whilst Sili did the honours and fixed his puncher. Evidence to prove this will be available on the blog. It was also time for Jan to catch up on her Whatsapps and for Edrich to shout the odds about an oncoming truck.
Lunch was an interesting arrangement of sandwiches, yoghurt, fruit and juice put together by Umtali. As we wrapped up lunch and started ‘Rolling’ – UP THE HILL thanks to the then current Support Driver – Ale decided this was a good time for her puncher – once again Chief Bike Technician, Siliziwe Mafika did the honours assisted by the Big Guy, while the rest of us got cold. During this break Phiwe was caught staring at his ‘dead’ bicycle on the side of the road and we have evidence to show this!!

From the Support Team, it is not an easy task to drive so slowly for so many kilometres – especially for Lord Duncan doing this for his first time – to adjust to how things are done and to blend in with so many personalities while keeping everyone safe.

We are not sure if the cyclists noticed but the magical sun that shone through the clouds on the Poplars (it was a magnificent kaleidoscope of colours) and on our parlotone made me realise again what a fabulous group this is.

Clouds threatened rain and snow up Penhoek Pass. The clouds did not disappoint. And as we neared the pinnacle of Penhoek, we were met by cold drizzle that added to the headwind we had all day and thick mist which made the prospect of riding down Penhoek quite scary. We decided to limit the speed down Penhoek and ride as a Parlotone. We were safe!!

The group had to split between Hazelmere Lodge and Bailey Country Lodge for the night. After the starter soup, the Legends awards were presented together with the Give It Horns Trophy; fines with Chief Justice Cynthia Tshele who did a fabulous job and has since been appointed the 1965Ride permanent Chief Justice Emeritu. Glenda’s usual delicious meal kept the bunch quiet. Finally the very interesting What Were The Stats with TaMorra and Glenda’s famous Malva Pudding ended a memorable evening.

It was wonderful to have the Principal of Girls High and the boss of the Queenstown Education Foundation (QEF) join us for the evening – Theo and Jacqueline.
Here we go – last lap to Komani!!