Day 8 - Britstown to Beaufort Wes
Everybody was responsible to make their own breakfast before 04h00 as the day to Beaufort West. The early rise was way too early for the Hotel however the support team with Izanné in charge made sure that everything will be ready the evening before so we had no issues other than some very tired bodies moving rather slowly!
Everybody had to wear their reflector jackets as from today we will be joining the N1 to Cape Town, the main road between North and South. Lights on the bikes and then the start of the first 20 kilometer drag out of the town. Richard Wimmer broke a spoke close to Dagga Fontein which led to a few very funny comments! Graham borrowed Richard a wheel and in no time we were on our way.
Our first major stop was a Victoria West a beautiful Karoo town. The physios had their hands full working on aces and pains at the stop. Here first Shaun‘s wheel burst and there after Toni‘s however they were both fixed and we were on our way yet again. The climb out of the town was quite a challenge due to the earlier stop but once the peleton got going then there was trouble on the horizon as the pace was high. Graham decided to get off as he wanted to safe his legs for the Argus which obviously got him into hot water with the organizers.
The fast downhill towards Three Sisters and the promise of a stop and a hamburger fueled the peleton with David and Dewald setting a good pace and in no time we covered the distance. The day was hot and after a short rest period we were on the road again. The next 40 kilometers was hard with wind and building thunder clouds on the horizon.
With approximately 40 kilometers to go we ride slap bang into the storm. The Committee decided to pull everybody of the road due to the fact that the storm had a lot of thunder and lightning in it. This cause unhappiness with a number of riders which was a bit stretched due to last few days of little sleep, high heat and exhaustion however the committee was un-intimidated and remain with their decision.
It was only the second time in our 8 year history that this happened however with a major cloudburst and with all the other factors in consideration this definitely has been the right decision. Rainwater was bucketing down and in the end everybody was relieved to get a little discount on the ride.
We arrived early at the Hotel F1 and dinner was Kentucky Fried Chicken. In the afternoon the meeting was held and the following people receive the awards: The Polka dot shirt went to Ingo and the Pap Lepel to Tamara
Most riders took an early night whilst others went for a romantic dinner however the day was overshadowed by the death of 3 riders in Oudshoorn. The entire team was shocked and therefore the decision not to continue with the days ride when weather conditions were deteriorating was the right decision in the end. Our prayers and deepest sympathy goes out to all the family and friends involved with this accident.