Yesterday was a sad day in Stellenbosch. Jo was out riding with Swedish pro road cyclist, Jennie Stenerhag and they suddenly found themselves surrounded by a raging fire as they climbed up Swanswyk road.Summer time in the Cape brings hot, dry and windy conditions and there is always a danger of fires breaking out. In fact, the Cape Town firefighters put out up to 80 fires a day, and that’s just around the Cape peninsula!
Fynbos is actually 'designed' to burn every few years so that this amazing and unique floral kingdom can propagate itself. This means that the Cape will always be at risk of fires but as mountain bikers riding in alien forests (pine, gum & poplar), it is in our best interests to make sure we report all fires and also to make sure we don't start any of these fires. Nobody knows exactly how these fires start but a large part of the blame must go to the smoking public who drop their cigarettes out of their windows. There is actually a number you can phone (021-4247715) to report these offenders and I believe that they are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. So please report these (mostly) ignorant people!
The terrible thing about yesterdays fire was that it burnt a lot of Coetzenberg, a world class sporting facility and also an awesome forest to ride your bike in. Coetzenberg is actually where I competed in my first provincial race and got on TV for the first time. Unfortunately it was for all the wrong reasons! I came screaming around a corner on the track, desperate to catch up to the field after having suffered a puncture. Suddenly there were crowds and we all know that crowds are only there to feed off your demise! Around the corner was a long set of big, eroded trail stairs and I was far too committed to do anything but attempt to ride them. I made it most of the way down until my flimsy (pre2000) forks buckled underneath me and I was hurled to the bottom of the stairs. Upon picking myself up, there was a big camera in my face and that clumsy, embarrassing fall was cut into the introduction of the show ‘Old Mutuals World of Endurance’ for that entire year!
Anyway, back to the fire. Jo followed the progress of the fire and the last report was that it was creeping up into Jonkershoek valley. If it hits Jonkershoek we are out of a lot of the best riding in the Cape and we can only trust that the superhero fire fighters are able to stop it in time. We will probably go out thee tomorrow and assess the damage.
On a way more positive note, I hear that Dirtopia is about to have a nice new bike park with huge drops and big jumps. I think it’s about time I get myself an appropriate bike for that! I'll get some photos up ASAP.
Dan
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