Hi to you all from a very windy, but still sunny, Cape Town.

 The sun seems to set a little sooner every day and soon we will have cold and rain as the winter approaches.

The exciting prospect of this winter is that we will be hosting the Soccer World Cup in June, so there will not be much time to be concerned about the weather.

The Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour takes place in Cape Town every year.  The event is scheduled for the second Sunday in March and this year the 33rd cycle tour was staged on 14 March 2010.
 It is the biggest timed cycle race in the world!!
There are about 35 000 entries and this year 30500 turned up to do a race that takes them around the Cape Peninsula on a bicycle – 109km.

This year the cyclists, once again, had to endure wind speeds of up to 55kmh, but, and I quote:  “That’s the beauty of the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour.  You always come back for more!”

The city basically comes to a standstill because a lot of the roads are closed from 6am until late in the day. 
Thousands of spectators turn up to line the route and cheer on the brave cyclists.  There’s food, soft drinks, music and entertainment for everyone.  When fatigue sets in, the spectators are there with their braais, banners and cheers.  These people (of which I am one) basically stand there all day smiling, clapping, singing and cheering for every one of the cyclists.  The support is amazing and as one of the cyclists says:  “It drives us up the hills and through the wind.  You make the tour fun and if it wasn’t for you, I would never do it.”

We were able to rub shoulders with the legendary Lance Armstrong this year as he was a participant in the race.  It was good for our city to have a celebrity racing, cause it draws the crowds and it is also a good advertisement for Cape Town.  Well done Lance and thanks for coming to our beautiful city.

Until next time, keep smiling and have a great month.

THE EXTRA MILE TEAM