Day 3 - Thabazimbi to Sun City
We woke up at 5am and really enjoyed the few extra hours rest in this lovely place! We had breakfast in our own chalets and then hurried to meet the group for stretching just before 5:45am. The group was really excited about finished the first leg of the Challenge so back to Sun City as we headed off into the rolling hills around Thabazimbi at about 6am.
The road was really busy so we had to be very careful as we were traveling along the main route, we had some really bad traffic build up behind the group at one stage and had no choice but to let them through and get off the road for about 5 minutes. Shaun picked up a puncture which forced us to pull over for a relatively long stop and to our surprise Anton joined us. We left him behind! Most of the riders who took a rest day the previous day in order to recover from dehydration were back on their bikes however for some reason everybody thought that Toni joined Angelos in the bus, we were all so wrong when we saw Toni joining us when he arrived on his bike!
The ride, just over 100 kilometers in distance, was completed relatively quickly as we knew we had to meet the press and Miss South Africa at 10am on our arrival at Sun City. Outside of Mogwase we sang for Sarel as it was his birthday and we were also met by photographers the press, some of our fellow cyclists who will only join from later today.
We arrived with sirens and emergency vehicles just off the Mogwase road and they led us through to the Sun City property where the group was met by dignitaries, friends and family. Mr. Jo Kentgens had a few words to say at the arrival function and the group then went back to the Vacation Club units where they would be staying for the evening.
The riders completing the first leg, hand in their washing and went for lunch before getting ready for the afternoon program.
We all met at the Sun City Warehouse at 14h00 to start the process of packing the refrigerated truck sponsored by Super Rent for the Sun City to Table Bay tour. We were now joined by our celebrity riders, Terence and Johann and the rest of the team which also include our journalist Tamara. The fresh legs were all there and again the excitement in the air was tangible with everyone meeting again for the first time since the last training ride. The group quickly swept into action doing all the necessary and by about 15h15 the truck was packed. All the necessary administration was done in record time and the group started the daily routine of listening to the tale of the scale, the daily weigh in and medical evaluation session.
Once done we had our pre-tour meeting and went through most of itinerary for the next few days and what was expected of all (get to Cape Town or nothing but your bicycle!) the guys and girls left for the Vacation Club where everybody had to check and mark their kit.