And I thought the wind was bad on the golf course yesterday (so much so that at the end of the round I discovered my car had moved two parking spots over from where I left it...), but today was worse. In The Netherlands, cyclists refer to the pretty-well omnipresent wind as their "Dutch hills", but add some wind and some hills and you've got another thing altogether. That's what it was like today - and to make matters worse, it seemed no matter which direction I was headed, the wind was right in my teeth (good thing I had all that orthodontia done when I was a kid or else people would have heard the wind whistling through my front teeth and might have thought it was The Island's emergency evacuation siren...).
Heading out from The Island and along Morrison Road, the wind was already apparent. Into the village and up the old "Spar route" (now Pick n Pay, of course) up the category 3 and 4 climbs - more wind. Ah, what's a bit of wind, it'll be with on the way back, right? So, I decide to add a spur onto the usual route in order to hit the hill up and down to/from Cape Pine at Jonkersberg (yes, turns out it was into the wind), then back and out to Tramonto (into the wind).
Somewhere along here I managed to avoid a confrontation with a rather irate snorting, puffing and foot-stomping bull that had gotten loose and was on the road. I followed him carefully for about 300 meters before making a break for it. "Hey," I think to myself, "maybe this will help make my case for buying a faster bike!"
Turned right at Tramonto, again, into the wind (say what? I'm supposed to be with the wind now???), then all along past the blueberry fields & new Jonkersberg Gemeente (where the old church is) - yup, against the wind. Riding back towards Glentana (still on the other side of the N2) was hard work - by then the wind had picked up by another couple of knots. Even the descent down to Glentana by Sooikloof was into the wind. It just didn't stop. You get the picture. Boy was it oppressive! The dust from the occasional milk tanker or dump truck didn't help...
What else? Perfectly clear blue sky, amazing scenery, beautiful cows (including the occasional stray bull or calf) and horses, and as usual everybody I saw along the way readily returned a friendly smile and a wave (school was in, so no kids wanting to foot-race or give "high fives" on the way by). So, yeah, I'd do it all over again - in a heart-beat.
Heading out from The Island and along Morrison Road, the wind was already apparent. Into the village and up the old "Spar route" (now Pick n Pay, of course) up the category 3 and 4 climbs - more wind. Ah, what's a bit of wind, it'll be with on the way back, right? So, I decide to add a spur onto the usual route in order to hit the hill up and down to/from Cape Pine at Jonkersberg (yes, turns out it was into the wind), then back and out to Tramonto (into the wind).
Somewhere along here I managed to avoid a confrontation with a rather irate snorting, puffing and foot-stomping bull that had gotten loose and was on the road. I followed him carefully for about 300 meters before making a break for it. "Hey," I think to myself, "maybe this will help make my case for buying a faster bike!"
Turned right at Tramonto, again, into the wind (say what? I'm supposed to be with the wind now???), then all along past the blueberry fields & new Jonkersberg Gemeente (where the old church is) - yup, against the wind. Riding back towards Glentana (still on the other side of the N2) was hard work - by then the wind had picked up by another couple of knots. Even the descent down to Glentana by Sooikloof was into the wind. It just didn't stop. You get the picture. Boy was it oppressive! The dust from the occasional milk tanker or dump truck didn't help...
What else? Perfectly clear blue sky, amazing scenery, beautiful cows (including the occasional stray bull or calf) and horses, and as usual everybody I saw along the way readily returned a friendly smile and a wave (school was in, so no kids wanting to foot-race or give "high fives" on the way by). So, yeah, I'd do it all over again - in a heart-beat.
