Wide eyed and mystified – Welcome the Old Legs tour SA Edition

Wide eyed and mystified, is how we ended our inaugural SA Lockdown tour meeting to introduce Badger Bruce Fivaz, and Ryan (Mutare) Moss via Zoom to the Simpsons. Wide eyed as to the sheer scale of the adventure and mystified how we got ourselves in to it !

We have spent the last 2 months following the Zimbabwean lockdown tour, blog by beloved blog , sometimes green with envy at missing out due to the Covid clampdown, and often relieved to have missed out on the gruelling stories of riding sand, sand and more sand and rumbling railway lines. Thats how we got to contriving the SA tour, given Bruce (Badger) and I had been dutifully preparing thousands of Km’s of training only to be locked “down and out” of the Zimbabwean tour…… and still feeling we needed to ride and do our bit, having cajoled all we know for donations to the cause.

The SA Lockdown tour is a very different looking animal. Mostly UP is the worrying part, as we have routed via every mountain pass we can between Durban and Lamberts bay on the West Coast. Some 2400 km and 34000 metres of climbing by pedal stroke is daunting whomever you are, and a much covered topic of conversation at our meeting to widen our eyes.

It was clear from the start that we have some discipline issues, when covering the rules of the ride and finding David distracted and dissent full. Simple things like you need to obey cycle etiquette ( a word we used a lot at Prince Edward) and respect the traffic and not show them the bird, because that sort of thing can be the difference between life and death down here in the deep South. To hear that David was highly decorated as a schoolboy and received several DCM’s (Don’t come monday) came as little surprise and having completed his education at the most remote and unheard of school at Balla Balla (St Stephens) continued to be a misunderstood (his words) fellow for some years. Thankfully Deidre tamed him and after having 5 children, has resorted to trying to distance herself from him by swimming , running and riding as much and far as she can. David has dutifully followed (at his own pace) but hasn’t yet lost the scent. These 2 are real nutters, international triathlons in Germany and Austria in their mid 50’s/60’s and every race they find here in SA, they are constantly moving and super super fit. Bruce and I shall be following them !

Badger Fivaz, could slide through the eye of a needle already ! Training away since January has got him in mean condition. I on the other hand have managed considerable compensatory consumption in an effort to maintain my figure of 8, and will most definitely be the champion of weight loss by the end of the tour, simply because the rest of them have nothing left to lose.

As our due date draws nigh for our 3rd November start, there is much anticipation. David has consoled Deidre with a new bike, with custom paint job, and a special protective cover to stop it getting scratched. Badger is off to buy a lamp for his bike to enable possible night riding if it gets too far or too hot, and i am spending my money on physio’s and other such specialists to console burst knees !

Luckily i have been nominated ride Captain simply because i am the only one who knows the way, so they can’t leave without me.😂 We are still hoping Eric and some of the Zimbabwean team will join us for a little more punishment.

All of this, is for our beloved pensioners in Zimbabwe. Things are not getting better for them, rampant inflation is a massive problem. Every pedal stroke and cent of support is worth it, please help us to help them.

Funds raised by the South African Lockdown Tour will go to the Zimbabwe Pensioners Support Fund (ZPSF) https://www.zpsf.co.za , run by Hannes and Linda Botha who have given food, medicines, life support, love and hope to so many pensioners the length and breadth of Zimbabwe. Wide eyed and mystified, is how we ended our inaugural SA Lockdown tour meeting to introduce Badger Bruce Fivaz, and Ryan (Mutare) Moss via Zoom to the Simpsons. Wide eyed as to the sheer scale of the adventure and mystified how we got ourselves in to it !

We have spent the last 2 months following the Zimbabwean lockdown tour, blog by beloved blog , sometimes green with envy at missing out due to the Covid clampdown, and often relieved to have missed out on the gruelling stories of riding sand, sand and more sand and rumbling railway lines. Thats how we got to contriving the SA tour, given Bruce (Badger) and I had been dutifully preparing thousands of Km’s of training only to be locked “down and out” of the Zimbabwean tour…… and still feeling we needed to ride and do our bit, having cajoled all we know for donations to the cause.

The SA Lockdown tour is a very different looking animal. Mostly UP is the worrying part, as we have routed via every mountain pass we can between Durban and Lamberts bay on the West Coast. Some 2400 km and 34000 metres of climbing by pedal stroke is daunting whomever you are, and a much covered topic of conversation at our meeting to widen our eyes.

It was clear from the start that we have some discipline issues, when covering the rules of the ride and finding David distracted and dissent full. Simple things like you need to obey cycle etiquette ( a word we used a lot at Prince Edward) and respect the traffic and not show them the bird, because that sort of thing can be the difference between life and death down here in the deep South. To hear that David was highly decorated as a schoolboy and received several DCM’s (Don’t come monday) came as little surprise and having completed his education at the most remote and unheard of school at Balla Balla (St Stephens) continued to be a misunderstood (his words) fellow for some years. Thankfully Deidre tamed him and after having 5 children, has resorted to trying to distance herself from him by swimming , running and riding as much and far as she can. David has dutifully followed (at his own pace) but hasn’t yet lost the scent. These 2 are real nutters, international triathlons in Germany and Austria in their mid 50’s/60’s and every race they find here in SA, they are constantly moving and super super fit. Bruce and I shall be following them !

Badger Fivaz, could slide through the eye of a needle already ! Training away since January has got him in mean condition. I on the other hand have managed considerable compensatory consumption in an effort to maintain my figure of 8, and will most definitely be the champion of weight loss by the end of the tour, simply because the rest of them have nothing left to lose.

As our due date draws nigh for our 3rd November start, there is much anticipation. David has consoled Deidre with a new bike, with custom paint job, and a special protective cover to stop it getting scratched. Badger is off to buy a lamp for his bike to enable possible night riding if it gets too far or too hot, and i am spending my money on physio’s and other such specialists to console burst knees !

Luckily i have been nominated ride Captain simply because i am the only one who knows the way, so they can’t leave without me.😂 We are still hoping Eric and some of the Zimbabwean team will join us for a little more punishment.

All of this, is for our beloved pensioners in Zimbabwe. Things are not getting better for them, rampant inflation is a massive problem. Every pedal stroke and cent of support is worth it, please help us to help them.

Funds raised by the South African Lockdown Tour will go to the Zimbabwe Pensioner Support Fund (ZPSF) https://www.zpsf.co.za , run by Hannes and Linda Botha who have given food, medicines, life support, love and hope to so many pensioners the length and breadth of Zimbabwe.