Cycling Cape Town

Hey guys,

It’s been a while since most of you have heard from me. For the guys who don’t know me, I cycled with the team fall and winter this past year and I just got back from a quarter abroad in South Africa. I managed to do some riding while I was out there and figured I would update everybody on what it was like.

I actually didn’t go abroad with a bike. There were a lot of unknowns in terms of how safe the roads were and how my bike would fare over 10,000 miles of shipping. I just didn’t want to risk it. It took about a week of not riding and seeing the occasional cyclist on the roads for me to start actively looking for a bike. Bike rentals, even the long term ones, are really expensive. I found a decent used bike shop through a contractor doing some development work for our design project. Long story short I managed to get a decent Cannondale for not much money.

One downside of biking in Cape Town is the traffic. For the first few miles of any ride leaving from our neighborhood, you’re dealing with minibus taxis (which obey no traffic rules other than their own), full size trucks, tons of pedestrians, and cars parallel parked everywhere on the streets. You’ve got to pay attention and pray for no flats (high risk of getting mugged if you stop in some of the rougher areas). I wish I had pictures from this area of town, but I didn’t really want to pause and take any on a ride. It’s an amazing change when you make it to the waterfront though. The road gets better and there are other cyclists.

The picture to the right is along a ride I did pretty regularly. The mountains in the background are called the Twelve Apostles. The main road is excellent for riding with almost no potholes – a nice benefit of warm winters. It runs all the way to Cape Point, and is part of the Cape Argus Tour, a huge cycling race that happens every year in March. Tens of thousands attend. I road the 65 mile route once and it alone was worth the flight.

Another training ride I did on occasion was climbing Signal Hill. It’s a bit shorter than Table Mountain, but will make you want to puke your brains out about half way up (or maybe it was just me). At the top, the road settles out for a rolling couple of miles to an overlook where you can see the construction for the 2010 World Cup stadium.

There was another ride which I regret doing only once. Chapmans Peak is closed to cars because of the danger of falling rock from the hills above. This was a blessing in that there was no traffic once you made it to the pass. I went out there on a sunny mid-afternoon and I guess the lack of cars made the baboons a bit more courageous because I saw a couple walking alongside the road. Unfortunately I didn’t bring a camera, but if you ask google what it looks like, here’s what comes up.

I wish I had written this a bit sooner, but things are the same with the quarter system no matter where you are – it’s always crazy busy at the end. I ended up selling my bike through gumtree (a South African version of craigslist) and actually made some money off of it.

I’m back in Cincinnati now, working for GE Aircraft Engines and doing some riding most days after work. For anybody that might be in South Africa in the future, if you feel like you can manage heavy traffic (or figure out a way to avoid it), the rewards are tremendous.

I can’t wait to see you guys in the fall!

James