After a fantastic weekend at the Coronation
Double Century, we had a very chilled training week, including a farewell ride
for Travis as he will be moving to Durban. The tired legs needed some rest in
preparation for the team’s last race of the year, the Stellenbosch Cycle Tour.

Travis, late, broken shoe, missing shirt, the usual. Legend

It was a perfect summer’s morning with no
wind to speak of. The usual start up Helshoogte on cold legs is always tough,
with the main aim being not to get dropped before the race has even started. Brendon
was ill during the week and sensibly decided to drop back a few bunches (and be soft) to
enjoy the ride with his folks.

$ Group (Donovan, Delano, Bernard and Kevin) 

As we went over Helshoogte, all still intact, the bunch regrouped
and we got a chance to catch our breath. Making a right turn at Boschendal, the
attacks started… and it was attack after attack all day long. Delano and
Donovan managed to get into two separate breakaways at one stage, but the main
bunch was very attentive and never let the breakaways build any sort of decent
gap.

Passing through Paarl, making a slight
detour due to road works and heading up towards Windmeul, the pace was steady. As
the road turned back towards Stellenbosch on the R 44, we were greeted with a
firm crosswind from the left which made things really tough for a while. Under
the N1 and onto the last few rollers into Stellenbosch, the pace lifted and it
shattered the group, hanging on for dear life, Delano, Bernard and Kevin made
it to the finish line in the main bunch. Well done to Nolan Hoffman for taking the win on the day and Anriëtte for clinching the ladies title.

% Group (Calvin and Travis) 

The guys
managed to sit in the bunch all day with Calvin making a break on the climb
just after the last water point. Soon he realized it was not so much fun being
out in front on his own and returned to the bunch, simultaneously receiving a
tongue lashing from Travis, which is quite normal when the hammer gets dropped.
Calvin and Travis finished well up in their group, 11^th and 29^th
respectively.

People keeping behind Canonball, smart move.

Hammered along until he ran out of puff in the
last 15km and solo’d in to finish a few minutes down on the bunch. Not sure how
the rest of Klyde’s race went as he was not very chatty after the race. I think he mentioned something about
Cannonballing off the front on Helshoogte, from a quick look at Strava, the last 5km were not fast, even one of the Savage ladies had a better time on final climb.



Rumour has it, possible recruit to replace Travis in 2016, on time, shoes work and kit almost matches.

The team got together after the ride to
enjoy a few cold ones to cap off a great year.

Remainder of team due to the heat!

Now for
a bit of ‘’rest’’ and family time over the festive season, but we’ll be back
early in January to hammer once more in preparation for the Tour of Good Hope.