Five weeks until Grahamstown’s serious (and not so serious) cyclists will be lining up bright and early for the start of the fifth Makana Brick Grocott’s Cycle Tour, organised by Grahamstown Round Table and Rhodes University Cycling Club.
Five weeks until Grahamstown’s serious (and not so serious) cyclists will be lining up bright and early for the start of the fifth Makana Brick Grocott’s Cycle Tour, organised by Grahamstown Round Table and Rhodes University Cycling Club.
Although the race has been moved to mid September in the hope that warmer weather will prevail, there is little the organisers can do to influence the weather on the day.
Training and preparation, however, is entirely up to us. For those of you following the seven week programme published in Grocott’s Mail, it is time to start lengthening the training rides, and to begin working on a little bit of top end speed and climbing skills.
Over the course of the next few weeks, we will also publish tips and tricks to make sure that you are completely prepared come race day, hopefully leaving you perfectly set up to perform to your very best!
We will also publish extra information regarding the race organisers and beneficiaries, as well as the facts and figures about the race history, prior winners and 2010 contender profiles.
This week we focus on the still newly formed Rhodes University Cycling Club (RUCC). The brainchild of a few dedicated cyclists tired of spending long hours on the road alone, the RUCC was established at the end of 2008 as a new Rhodes University sports club.
In its first year, the club’s greatest achievement was being able to send a team to compete in the USSA championships, pitting the best of the universities against some of the top cyclists from around the country.
On the other hand, the club also successfully took over as the host club for the Makana Brick Grocott’s Cycle Tour.
The club itself caters for both the student body at Rhodes University, as well as the broader Grahamstown community, and membership is open to all ability levels.
The RUCC is affiliated to the Eastern Province Cycling Association, meaning that the more serious cyclists in the club are able to apply for racing licenses.
The RUCC currently hosts training rides every Sunday at 7:30am, leaving from the Rhodes Health Suite parking lot.
In its second year as host club for the Makana Brick Grocott’s Cycle Tour, the RUCC committee would like to encourage anyone with a bicycle to take part in the event, and all those without to come along and support Grahamstowns own cycle tour.
For more information about the RUCC, contact Club Chairman Lee Stack at g0821483@campus.ru.ac.za. For more information regarding the race or the training programmes, email ghtcycle@gmail.com.
• Refer to Tuesday 3 August for explanation of the different zones.
