In this Issue: From the Editor ...... 1

MTB News ...... 2 2021 - Ride Reports ...... 3-5

12 Tour Trivea ...... 6

7 Principles to Perform Better ...... 7

Ride Roundup ...... 8

Well done to our Burg Wheeler members for some outstanding recent accomplishments; Arthur Duncan won his age category of 85-90 at the SA Road Champs in Swellendam in both the road race and time trial events – an inspirational effort! Dr Enslin Uys completed the Race to Cradock section of the epic Freedom Challenge cycle.

You have just 6 days left to renew your Burg Remember to send in entries for our monthly Wheeler membership or join the Club officially Photo Competition. The winner will be announced by visiting our website and downloading the soon. For March – our theme is “March Madness“. y… application form. Failure to do so will mean you Please send in photos via email in jpg formats to B will cease to be a member of one of our happy [email protected] with March Photo chatty WhatsApp groups, enjoy the amazing Competition in your subject line. benefits of club rides and receive this informative A special thanks to Bobby, Rich, Mark, Gert, weekly newsletter among other things! Gordon, Cornel, Dale and Warwick for this week’s

articles. owered

Stay safe and sane - Mustang P

BURG TALK | 12-2021 Richard Krusekopf Ride Reports: The C’s, D’s and F’s all with somewhat reduced numbers rode the really good Hilton and Cedara trails.

Remember to use lights whenever riding on public roads. Give motorists every chance to avoid you.

BIG IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!! This week’s lucky draw winner of a CBT bike wash is Mark Rowland. Mark – please contact Callan for your free wash. Please congratulate Mark in person when you next meet and comment on his clean bike!

Hilton Time Trial TT Results: March Week 2 Timber Harvesting: The Supa Quick time trial is continuing through Harvesting of timber continues in the Cedara March. The trails are awesome as confirmed by the plantations (Thekwani Timbers) in November through to improving times. February. A number of our regular trails have been Give the 8km or 18km a go during March and stand closed. Timber harvesting is also taking place in the a chance to win the Supa Quick monthly give away or Cascades plantations with certain trails closed even the CBT weekly lucky draw prize. Harvesting operations are also taking place in Karkloof. Please respect their trail and road closures during this period. Keep a safe distance from these operations.

Club Rides: The Wednesday rides leave from X-ways at 15:30. This Saturday the C, D and F groups will be riding from Hilton Quarry Centre at 6:30. Saturday rides will change to the winter start time of 7:00 from 17th April. These group rides are also communicated on WhatsApp. Contact me if you would like to be added to the MTB groups.

BURG TALK | 12-2021 Mark Rowland Despite the PMB municipality’s best efforts, the sun came up on Saturday morning at the correct time and place. Before someone stole the cables, Team Rowland kitted up and rushed to meet the Seedie faithful. As every BWCC group leader knows, it’s always a pleasant surprise to see who pitches on the day. Or is it just me? Today was no exception. Seedie faithful’s DisaPierre and Cross Chris were first there, followed a little later by newbie J-Lo, who is a sometime Forest Fairy and partner of the equally famous Rampies / Jaco, of a few weeks back. That looked like being that, until, at the last possible moment, there was the distant and familiar sound of protesting tyres, and Dylan the Delayed screeched into the parking lot in a cloud of dust and overheated brake linings. Good to see him again. support him with a chest reveal. We obliged, which Gert was taking the D’s, and Gordon the F’s. The cheered him up markedly. All of us except J-Lo, who long weekend had thinned all of the groups out a had some story about a missing zip. Chris’s reputation bit. His Larryness was in attendance for the D’s, and clearly precedes him. This lack of spangees was picked threw down the gauntlet to me, not once but twice. up by eagle-eyed Daan, as soon as the photo was Actually his riding glove, but work with me here. We posted on the group, and he registered a complaint with agreed to cold draughts at dusk, at a time and venue the authorities. still to be confirmed. Coming up the hill towards us was the D group, and The C’s were the first to leave, entering Cedara via a couple walking with two labs. We greeted the D’s, and Hillside Rd, doing a little trail clearance on our way down then realised that the walking couple was the to the vlei, and then slogging up the gravel road Pelsers. Willi had been knocked off his bike at the towards the nursery. We overhauled another large Rotunda last week, so we stopped to enquire after his group of cyclists, who we dispatched with cheery health. Which was good, thankfully. He showed us his aplomb. Cheery aplomb, for those of you who aren’t extensive bruising, in-between trying to stop one of his familiar, is a much underrated method of one- dogs from enthusiastically mounting the other one. I upmanship. We turned right just below the nursery so had a friend like that once. His wife eventually had him as to route across to the rockshox singletrack. There neutered. We looped around the back of the nursery, was another MTB group about 100m ahead of us, who and climbed up to the top contour road, turning sharp suddenly deviated off the path on either side. It turned left up the Rasta Tabernacle hill. Pierre and Chris shot out that they were riding around a large bog. There’s off the front of the group on the climb, leaving the rest never been any water there previously, but there is of us to plod along happily in their wake. I took the now. Be aware. We got safely across, took Rockshox up opportunity to catch up with Dylan, whose life, like most to the Nursery bend, and then singletracked to the right, of ours, has been upended by the accursed virus, but is down across the valley. My bike developed a strange settling down slowly. temporary mechanical, throwing the chain off the Chris and Pierre were waiting for us at the chainring at the most inconvenient time, and then didn’t singletrack, happily talking bike. I pulled rank / age, and do it again. I have come to believe that many of my jumped in front of them, rushing down to intersect with bike’s components are possessed by the spirit of a long- Alp d’huez. Where we found two things – the first being departed middle-tier civil servant. It’s the only the first group we passed earlier with cheery aplomb, explanation that makes any sense. After all, it can't and lots of tree branches across the trail. Good citizens possibly be me. that we are, we cleared the branches away, which gave On the plus side, J-Lo turns out to be much like her the other group a head start. We did the whole cheery husband, that is both a mean cyclist and good aplomb thing again, about which they were very company. She fitted right in. sporting. I stopped to see if they knew where they were, We stopped above the nursery for the obligatory or perhaps needed any needlepoint tips. They didn’t to photo. Chris had been agitating for the team to both questions, but said that they would work it

BURG TALK | 12-2021 out. We aplombed cheerily along the contour path, while Dylan attempted to broaden his client base by expertly Gert Roos probing to establish the origin of Chris’s With Monday being a public latent exhibitionism. These are murky holiday I didn't expect much of waters indeed, but Dylan’s best a turnout for Saturday's professional guess was that the behaviour ride. Mountain bikers are started at the cheap secondary school adventurous by nature and tend that Chris’s parents made him to take advantage of long attend. However fascinating this was, we weekends to endulge in still had singletrack to ride, and so we tore alternative entertainment. Larry ourselves away and focused on the road. Which and Tammy joined me for the ride. With perfect riding fortuitously took us down to the one and only Pack of conditions and only three very responsible participants Dogs. there were no incidents to report. A light cool tail wind This majestic singletrack is drying out steadily, on the hills on a hot day was a bonus. Distance: 30,29 getting better and better. J-Lo was under some time Km Time: 2:28 active time Average speed: 12,28 Km/h pressure, so we curtailed the usual banter and got on Ascent: 525m. with the riding. Down Omarz, past Nurses Dam, with the intention of taking Dead Tree Descent. Harvesting on the Nurses Dam road put an end to that plan, so we Gordon Borain took a short left down Blackjack Alley instead. Which is Jumbo, Jackie, Colleen and Gordon did a single now open again, although the small pines will need track/plantation road ride in the Cedara area. It looks some lopping at the next work party. Ditto Adrenaline, like we are losing members to the D Group or to down which we belted on the way to the lower sleeping in! 21km in 2h 19m with 417m elevation gain. dam. Lots of branches in the faces of the taller riders – i.e. me. Across the fence at the dam, and splashed through the spillway puddle, which is dropping little by little. Not low enough for Dylan however, whose chain Cornel van de Venter came off halfway across, forcing him to trudge through With many of the regulars away for the long the rest, about which he complained about loudly and weekend, we were pleasantly surprised by the good good-naturedly. All fixed, the group blasted down turnout. Five riders started from Coffee Box, and another Donkey Rd, with Pierre easily taking the line five from Crossways – destination: End of the Karkloof honours. From there it was a simple matter of crossing Road. We had Hayden, Willem and Craig from the A at the Rotunda and taking the short singletrack across Group helping us out with generous turns at the front, the old railway. J-Lo left us here – places to go and followed by supervising assistance over the group from people to see. the back. Everyone rode together beautifully, stretched Dylan was jovially pulling amps at this point, so Ali out a bit on the big hills, and regrouped again at the and I stayed with him and told him our dreams and fears summits and the scheduled stop at the Karkloof to keep his spirits up. I have more complexes than Conservancy. Vitamin B, apparently. DisaPierre did exactly what it The pace says on the tin, and was never seen again. We arrived was fairly back the Quarry a little ahead of schedule. This allowed relaxed for Chris to have a quick coffee with us and arrange a most of the follow-up appointment with Dylan. Gert and His route, with Larryness arrived shortly after that, and joviality broke plenty of out, to the extent that we just may do the whole damn sightseeing, thing again next weekend. banter and Garmin Stats: 33,3km, 14,9km/h average, 2h15 snacking riding time, 635m ascent, 12-22 degrees. along the way. Our objective was to exceed the magic 101 kilometre

BURG TALK | 12-2021 milestone, which most of us did, and commemorate the session, and something to eat and drink, not to mention occasion with coffee and carrot cake at Greg Minnaar the delicious muffins Greg had for us, thanks Greg! Cycles afterwards (if there is a better recovery nutrition It was now time to tackle the Baynesfield hill down combination around, you can beat me severely about to the Richmond road and then back up, it seemed a lot the head and shoulders with it). steeper than the last time I did it! You keep climbing to We hope to increase the distance even further over the top, before reaching the main road to start the trip the next few weekends, and conclude our road riding back. Our return journey was very fast, turning at Murray season with a special ride and sense of occasion for and back down Hesketh to the Eye Hospital. those who have spent long hours in the saddle this After the 9 of us had done 67.44km and 1043m summer. climbing we decided that it was a very enjoyable ride, but an adventure not to be repeated, until the tarring of the Dardanelles’ and Richmond roads has been completed. The traffic on Saturday was also extremely Dale Southern busy which is a big safety concern when cycling on this route. To be able to do the Richmond ride again will be great, it was always one of my best rides, and to be able to use the Dards road again will also be great. A big thanks to Greg for keeping us safe on the ride. Ride safe, stay alert and stay alive.

Warwick Weedon Eight of us left ATC for the Hammarsdale Loop on a lovely cool morning at Having done three 100km rides over the last three 0500. It was meant to be a weekends, I wanted to do a shorter ride but something Tempo ride to prepare us different, so I decided to drive the route I had in mind for our 200km ride to on the Friday. The planned route was to ride from the Margate on 17 April. The Eye Hospital, up Hesketh Drive, along Murray, up Fox group largely stuck to the Hill to the turn off to the Dardanelles at Thornville, and brief until the climb out of then do the Baynesfield loop and back home, about the George Dale Valley. The 64km. On Friday, it was pretty simple as there was very road surface was not good little traffic, and from the car it looked like we could ride and we proceeded with on the section that had been tarred which was very caution. We had a quick regroup at the top and then short. proceeded to 1000 Hills Hotel. It was starting to get On Saturday, things were a little different. As we warm on the climb up Inchanga Hill and we had a fairly reached the Tekwani turnoff we had traffic coming long stop at the top to refuel. Sheila did a marvelous job down the road, so we had no option but to use the as backup and brought out the welcome cold water, newly tarred section with a number of obstacles in the muffins and bananas. Dustin stopped to say hello on his way, which we had to navigate around. Safely over way back to Hillcrest on his road bike. The intersection these, we headed for the next road block, where we at Cato Ridge was hectic with traffic and huge potholes. were going to turn and head back to do the Baynesfield We all negotiated these hazards with care and the rest loop. On the way we had to renegotiate the newly of the ride was uneventful. It was starting to get hot and tarred section, but by now we knew what to do - the we were happy to be only problem was that our backup vehicle got stuck at back to ATC all safe the stop and go for about 20 minutes, so we had to wait and sound. Fran for Greg to catch up. We turned towards Richmond provided the using a short section of newly tarred road, to get to the Cappaccino and the Baynesfield loop, and made our way to the end of the club the breakfast. A tarred road stopping at the Baynesfield club for a photo big thanks to Sheila for keeping us safe.

BURG TALK | 12-2021 Buysse. There were no French stage winners in 1926, something which had never happened before and would never happen again for another 73 years. Henri Stories from ‘Viva le Tour’ by Nick Brownlee Pélissier describes the hardship of the Tour of France: “You have no idea what the is. It’s Snippet #13 Calvary. But do you want to see how we keep going? 1925 Tour de France: The End of an Era. Cocaine for our eyes and chloroform for our gums. Have Dates: 21 Jun-19 July 1925 you seen us in the bath at the finish? Take away the mud No. of stages: 18 Stages and we’re as white as shrouds. Diarrhea empties us. In Distance: 5 440 km the evenings, in our rooms, with dance a jig like St Vitus The 1925 tour marked the end of an era with the instead of sleeping. Think of what happens to our skin retirement of Eugène Christophe, nineteen years after and the nails of our toes. I've lost six out of 10. They fall he first competed in the event. It was also the last Tour off little by little every stage. for the three-times Belgian winner and, no ! doubt to Henri Desgrange’s great relief, the maverick Henri Pélissier. At the ripe old age of 32, Lucien Buysse of won the Tour of 1925. He did so despite the news that his daughter, one of four children, had died during the race. Buysse, distraught, was ready to abandon and go home. But his family urged him to continue, and continue he did, arriving in Paris a full 1 hour and 28 minutes ahead of Nicholas Frantz of Luxembourg. Weeping, he raised his hands to the heavens and exclaimed, “I thought of you during all the hardest hours of the race.”

1926 Tour de France: The Circle of Death. Dates: 20 June-18 July 192 No. of stages: 17 Stages Buysse on the 'Circle of Death' stage. Distance: 5 745km Ave Speed: 24,06 km/h The 1926 tour - the longest ever at 5 745 km was pretty much anybody's race until it was blown apart in the cataclysmic tenth stage between Bayonne and Luchon. This was a 323 km slog around the so-called ‘Circle of Death’, which included the Pyrenean monsters Osquich, Aubisque, Soulor, Tourmalet, Aspin and Peyresourde. In 1913, Philippe Thys had won the same stage and under fourteen hours. But that day the sun had been shining. Thirteen years later, the riders were faced with snow, rain, fog and bitter cold. At 6:00 o'clock in the evening, when Lucian Buysse eventually staggered over the line in first place, he had been in the saddle for over seventeen hours. An hour later, only ten more riders had appeared from the murk and by midnight there were a paltry 54. With 22 riders still unaccounted for, even Desgrange began to worry and dispatched rescue cars to find them. They were found sheltering in houses and bars all along the way back to Bayonne. Although they were subsequently transported back to Luchon, Desgrange deemed that they were all out of the race - which more or less gave victory to

BURG TALK | 12-2021 4. Take pride in your work Many athletes are self-deprecating about their own training and performance. They downplay the effort and By Chris Carmichael, commitment they’ve devoted to training because there Founder and Head Coach of CTS are other athletes who are doing more and performing better. There are times when you have to give yourself For everything that happens in life, our responses are credit for something because no one else will. There will heavily influenced by principles we establish based on always be someone faster and stronger than you, but our values and experiences. When it comes to don’t let their performance level diminish the pride you improving performance and outcomes in sport or life, I have in your accomplishments and the work you’ve recommend abiding by these seven principles. done.

5. Surround yourself with positive, motivated 1. Find your inspiration Inspired athletes always perform better. Whether people you’re extremely fit or just starting out, inspiration is The people we spend time with have a lot of what pushes your performance to the next level. When influence over our thoughts, feelings, and decisions. it comes down to it, I’ll put my money on the inspired Optimism is contagious, but so is pessimism. When you athlete with less fitness over the extremely fit athlete surround yourself with positive and motivated people, who is just going through the motions. they help lift you up when you need it and you have the same effect on them when they need it. In contrast, negative people, those who don’t believe in themselves 2. Stress then rest A significant amount of stress is required to cause a or blame everyone else for their failing, and those who training stimulus, and then an athlete has to take criticize or laugh at your goals and training, will adequate rest in order for the body to respond to the eventually drag you down to their level. Stay with the stress with positive adaptations. Many athletes get stuck people who lift you up and disconnect from the people in the middle, with training that is not stressful enough who only drag you down. coupled with too little rest. This happens in life outside During the pandemic, isolation has been a big of sport as well. You work hard, but not hard enough to problem for athletes, students, workers, and seniors really get ahead. You take vacations or try to enjoy the (and many other, probably). Even if you can’t physically weekend, but you don’t really disconnect enough for surround yourself with positive influences, it is those periods to be adequately restful. important to maintain connections with people who can We have been told multitasking is a good thing, but lift you up and inspire you to be better. often it just means being busy with things that don’t matter. When it comes to training, go out and do the [Luckily we have awesome BW MTB and Roadie work that matters, do it at intensities that are sufficient groups to ride with! – Ed] to cause meaningful adaptation, and then go home. You have to make it more on/off than kind of hard and kind 6. Remove barriers to performance of restful. At home, at work, and at play, when you’re on, A lot of people try to take half-measures when it you have to be on and engaged. When you’re off, be off. comes to things that are hurting their performance. They’ll cut back on beer, but not eliminate it. They’ll stop eating ice cream, as much… They’ll get a trainer to ride 3. Love what you’re doing as much as you love the outcome indoors, but never set it up. They’ll set an early-morning Whether they are good or bad, outcomes only come alarm and always hit snooze. Instead of reducing the around every once in a while. You might have 3-4 big barriers to performance, you have to remove them. goals in a year. Olympians spend four year working Having trouble sticking to a nutrition program? toward one outcome. In contrast, the training process is Remove the foods you don’t want to eat from your part of every day. The best athletes are those who love house entirely. Can’t find enough time to ride outdoors? the process of training, because they get to do Get a smart trainer and put it somewhere you can keep something they love every day. it set up all the time. Can’t get out of bed for early- morning workouts? Get a training buddy so having to be there on time helps with motivation. If you can’t physically meet your training buddy because of the pandemic, meeting for online group rides can work, or

BURG TALK | 12-2021 just setting up an accountability check-in before you each do your own workout. I have seen many athletes derail their training by getting pulled back into work tasks during the time they set aside for training or family. Be protective of your time and mental bandwidth. CLUB MEMBERSHIP 2021 Time is running out! 7. Keep it simple

Your biggest fitness gains come from your You have until the end of March 2021 for this – fundamental aerobic training, but people sometimes cut but please do it as soon as possible! back on the fundamentals to spend time chasing Membership forms can be downloaded from ‘marginal gains’. Over the long term, I’d say the the club website. fundamentals get you 90% of the way to your maximum Please use a meaningful reference when potential, and all the other activities combine for the making payments by EFT or into the Club other 10%. Don’t forego substantial gains in basic account (NAME and WHAT YOU ARE PAYING aerobic fitness from endurance rides, aerobic and FOR, e.g. UPFOLD SUBS, or WILSON KIT, etc), lactate threshold interval workouts, and speed work to chase a marginal gain from improving your left-right Email proof of payment to club secretary, pedal balance. There’s a time for optimizing pedal Moira Sherwood ([email protected]). balance, but if pursuing a 1% gain means foregoing a 5% gain you could have made from sticking to the fundamentals, then you would have been better off keeping it simple. These seven principles, along with others, have served me well and provide a structure that keeps me headed in the right direction.

BURG TALK | 12-2021