i rode from van to whis yesterday , started at the top of taylor way at 8.00 am . . . apparently there was some kind of mass participation event going on because by the time i got to lions bay there were more and more riders on the road .
by the time i got to the furry creek hill i could tell i was in the middle of something big . by that time i had passed a guy on a unicycle , a handcycler , a whole bunch of folks who were going to be on the road for a long time ( and knew it ) , and a bunch of people who were only just beginning to grasp the magnitude of what they had undertaken .
one of the first persons i passed was a woman stand up climbing out of lions bay , and not enjoying it . i advised her to get off the big ring , to which she replied " how do i do that ? " her english was not good , but i was able to get her to stop and get off the bike while i proceeded to give her a front / rear derailleur 101 . she was totally ignorant of the fundamentals of her own bike , which was a new entry level carbon framed trek .
a lot of the participants are out there doing something they might never have attempted before , and seeing the increased numbers of riders on the sea to sky shows the new growth of ( road ) cycling .
if they weren't so damn expensive i might even consider entering one , but as it is , i'll just enjoy riding along on a beautiful day with the thousands of others on a closed road . sure it'd be nice to get the pin , use the facilities along the way , and bask in the reflection of the ride with the others at the end in the beer garden , but it ain't 275 bux worth , at least to me .