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| Glory hour... Kathryn Torres, 10 minutes to go! |
Reflections on 110km of road.
A 5.30am start, to drop David, my husband, at the starting gate: this is the extent of my involvement up until 2012. I would go back to bed, and roll down the hill in Camps Bay at around 9.30am to get a blur of him flashing past.... until this year.
One late night, around September, I committed to doing the Pick n Pay Argus cycle tour. I figured that if we could galvanise 120 people to do the Argus for us, the least I could do was join the crew. Which I did.
What a day. From the city centre, up to Edinburgh Drive, down the Blue Route, up Boyes Drive, over to Simonstown, down to Misty Cliffs and beyond. The support for The Shine Centre was extra-ordinary, all the way around.People called out encouragement at every step.
I was given a few pieces of advice before the race: 'Be 'zen, be in the moment' said Maurita,' 'Just remember that if you fall off at 30 km or 50 km an hour, the damage is not very different...' said David, so I found myself hurtling at 55km an hour down Suikerbossie, after a tedious and arduous climb up. Wheeeeee!
The whole experience feels surreal now, almost dreamlike. I will probably do it again....secretly, I loved the challenge, and I have enjoyed learning that my body IS capable of physical excess. Huge thanks to Mike Baker who organised the whole event for us. I saw Mike on the day, going over Chapman's, and as I thanked him, and acknowledged the extent of the work that the race has generated, he brushed this aside, suggesting that we grow the event for next year. Some people are suckers for punishment! You are a marvel, Mike.A huge vote of thanks to all the Shiners, who 'RODE and SHONE' for us on Sunday. We salute you. We believe we have raised over R65,000, but final totals will be calculated later this week.
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| Kathryn and Mark Belcher |
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| Team Shine, all 120 of us! |
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| Anxious to get going |
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| Homeward stretch |
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| Nick Wiltshire, modelling the shine shirt for us |
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| Nick Wiltshire, one of our Prestwich volunteers and a spouse of Shine |
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| Team St Cyprians, some of our most avid school supporters |
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| Hannah White, one of our colleague's daughter. This is hannah's second time to ride the Argus. Seen here with another St Cyps girl, sarah Morrit-Smith |
