Cape Argus Cycle Tour 2013

Have you ever heard of the Cape Argus? Neither had we before moving here but it's kind of a big deal! The Argus is the world's largest individually timed cycle race- with more than 35,000 cyclists who compete in the 109 km (about 68 miles) race from Cape Town down the Cape Peninsula and back. 

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We were up before the sun to head in to Cape Town before all the roads closed for the race. We joined the Helderberg Sunrise Rotary Club as marshalls for the race on Suikerbossie Hill. We were kept busy throughout the day keeping spectators and race enthusiasts clear of the race course and cheering on the cyclists as they passed by. All participating Rotary Clubs receive funds from the race organizers to be used for future service projects.

Suikerbossie Hill is not the largest hill but is considered the most dreaded hill of the route because by the time the cyclists had passed us, they had already been about 90ish kilometers. The first group of cyclists came up Suikerbossie Hill around 8:00 a.m. and the last rider on the hill passed by around 4:30 p.m. During that time, there was a steady stream of bikes with the young, the old, the fit, the not-so-fit, and many others that were out to finish this heck of a race!

We cheered on a fellow Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, groups riding for charities and also spotted Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Records, on the course.

Sir Richard Branson

Save the Rhino Group at the top of Suikerbossie

I am still amazed by each and every cyclist! 68 miles? 109 km? I don't even like to be in a car that long.. I can't imagine it on a bike!!  

David and I enjoyed our day at the Argus and congratulate all the cyclists on a job well done! 

Our Rotary Weekend

We started our weekend by visiting the Drakenstein Rotary Club in Northern Paarl on Thursday evening. As part of the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, David presents to different Rotary Clubs in the area about our life back in Texas and also a little about his studies and service projects we hope to get involved with here in South Africa. We enjoyed meeting all the members of Drakenstein Rotary and David's first presentation was a success!

Friday night we attended Helderberg Sunrise Rotary's Race Night at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West. The theme for the night was "Black and Bling" (none of which I brought with me) but thanks to my co-worker, Jean-Marie, I had a beautiful dress to wear and David looked as handsome as ever in his suit! The Race Night is a fundraiser for local charities in the area and this year the money went to support local animal services including Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha which provides the only permanent, on site veterinary services to the dogs and cats of the more than one million people who live in Khayelitsha.  

Sunday we were up dark and early to head in to Cape Town to help marshall for the Cape Argus Cycle Tour. Cape Argus is the world's largest individually timed cycle race- with more than 35,000 cyclists who compete in the 109 km race from Cape Town down the Cape Peninsula and back. We spent the day cheering on the cyclists (with just a little crowd control marshall work mixed in too).

Check back this week for more detailed posts about each event! Happy Monday!!