Labor Day - 4.00a: My alarm goes off. Actually I put it out and wake up one hour later. Damn, I should have been on the road by 5.00a. Anyway, I get up, drink my pre-race drink, get dressed and make my way outside. First heading: Brooklyn Bridge. What a fantastic view. Sunrise to the right, Manhattan straight ahead. From there to the West Side Highway, where I am the only person for around 30km. It’s chilly. I feel great! Up my way to George Washington Bridge and across to New Jersey. Away from the Gotham City. From here on, it’s even quieter, very suburban. 9W North - for what seems like forever. By go the little villages: Piermont, Grandview, Nyack, Stony Point, Tomkins Cove and eventually, I see it: Bear Mountain Bridge. 85km to here. I get off my bike - take a deep breath, chill for a couple of minutes and get back on. 85km back the same way. Climbing, climbing, climbing - it doesn’t seem to stop. I still feel great. My neck is a little stiff and my lower back hurts. The sun is hot now. I like it :) The climbing is done - there is George Washington Bridge. From here it’s around 30km home. Very flat and very busy with inline skaters, joggers and families. Nothing compared to being alone at the same spot only 5 hours earlier. Eventually, I reach Chambers Street and cut across to Brooklyn Bridge. Even busier here. Too many tourists, who don’t walk on the pedestrian side. But it is what it is. Only 2-3km and I will be home! Done.

Distance: 172.5km (=107 miles)
Elevation gain: 2800m (=9186 feet)
Average speed: 26.7km/h (16 mph)
Top speed: 72km/h (44 mph)

Almost 7 hours in the saddle. I’m so done, but feel fantastic.

Torsten

After “I don’t-know-how-many-months” without any cycling whatsoever, yesterday was the day. The alarm went off at 5.30a, in good old fashion and by 6.00a I was on my racing machine to ride through New York City. Oh, I forgot to mention that my old SAP gear is a bit tight (haha), so I became unfaithful and ordered some Discovery Channel gear - to be used until the SAP stuff fits properly again :-)

As I still don’t know my ways around in the small place, I opted for staying on the Brooklyn side of things I did a couple of laps in Prospect Park. Ultimately, I couldn’t resist, and on my way back home I rode over Brooklyn Bridge and back - just for the fun of it. All in all, I enjoyed it a lot and will try to make it a regular thing of my life again. Those were the days, when I did 300km and more per week…

Have a great week.
Torsten

What a great race concept. A relay on Kyalami’s F1 Race Track. With a team of 4, one rider that 6 laps, 2 do 4 laps each and one does 2 laps. One lap is somewhere around 4km long. And this is one hilly track. Over and above it was raining cats and dogs - but we had good fun.

The team consisted of Kevin, Fred, Jacques and myself.

Cheers,
Torsten

Aber was red’ ich. Unfaelle passieren nun mal. Fragt mal Joseba Beloki, wie er sich gefuehlt hat, als er bei der Tour 2003 mit 90 Sachen auf den Asphalt gekracht ist. Na, zum Glueck war ich ein kleines bisschen langsamer, was mein Ellbogen-Gelenk leider nicht davon abgehalten hat, zu brechen. Wie ein richtiger Mann (hihi) bin ich natuerlich erst zwei Tage spaeter zum Arzt gegangen. Der hat aber dann Naegel mit Koepfen gemacht und mich gleich mal operiert. Dabei hat er Loecher in meine Knochen gebohrt und Draehte durchgezogen um das Gelenk wieder zusammen zu ziehen. Und weil’s so schoen war (spielt wahrscheinlich gerne mit Metallen) hat er mich zugetackert. Fuehlt sich toll an ;-) Alles wird gut (hat Nina Ruge immer gesagt) und wenn alles wieder heile ist, geht das Training weiter. Oder sollte ich doch das Rad verkaufen und das Geld lieber in einen Swimming Pool investieren?

Torsten

“The roof of Africa” - that is what this tiny country is called. And I kid you not, we went all the up to that roof :) The race basically consists of 4 Category 1 climbs - according to the UCI regulations. Those climbs are between 10-14 km long - with an overall alitude gain of over 2000m, while covering a distance of roughly 90kms.

Tough like hell but what a great day - less for the fact that I crashed, but hey: “There are only two types of cyclists: Those who have fallen and those who will fall” . Those downhill hairpin turns can be tricky at speeds of 90km/h and light gravel on the road - let me tell ‘ya…

Bye now.
T.

After a pretty good 94.7 Cycle Challenge back in November last year, it was now time to race the “Mother of all South African races”: The Cape Argus. This race has probably the most beautiful route ever - of any cycling event in the universe. That’s not to say that it’s easy. Those winds can be quite challenging. Nevertheless, I crossed the finish line in just under 3 hours and 10 minutes - and that is for 105km (which is just over 65 miles, for the metric-system challenged among us). There’s room for improvement here, but so far so good.

Cycle safely out there!
Torsten

Our team attended the MS Team Launch in Bryanston today. We are co-sponsoring the outfit, so we were invited. Here are some pictures.

Torsten