It is that time of year when Cape Town is going cycling crazy, it is Argus time! The Argus is known for being a race of many crashes, not strange at all with around 35000 people cycling on the roads on the same day! And everyone remembered the big crash in the ladies bunch last year. Because of all this and the fact that Epic starts in a week’s time made me consider not racing. But my dad is here from Sweden and wanted to race, so I had to take him to the start in the morning so I thought to myself “I can’t just stand there and watch the race, let me just ride it and take it for what it is” it still is a fun event! It turned out to be the right decision and I have my dad to thank for that:-)

So since I don’t have a team or any back up at races I really looked like an amateur at the start with my training wheels, my saddle bag and my pump! I just did not want to risk getting stranded. 

We started with the men 30-39 and it was a fast race with a constant high speed. The first real attack came up Smitsvinkel and passed the Cape Point nature reserve entrance we were a smaller bunch with Ashleigh, Sharon, and me and some guys, but the bunch came back. I was away for a bit in a break with Ashleigh but nothing lasted. When I dropped on Chapmans Peak and fought hard on the way down in the head wind on my own and caught the bunch in Hout Bay, I realized that it was going to come down to a bunch sprint. So up Suikerbossie I did not give my all, came a bit behind and came back to the bunch on the way down. We were 6 girls in a bunch of about 20-30 guys coming in to sea point approaching the finish line.

With about 1km to go I heard a big crash, I did not see who went down, and tried to get passed what had just happened. I saw Anriette and Cherise passing quicker and also Cathrine, I gave it all to try to catch them and I came up next to Cathrine but not the other 2, and we were both fighting hard to the line, I managed to get in front to get a podium spot. I was thrilled about that!! That was far better than I could ever imagine that morning!!