If the power of prayer works, then recognition for the fact that the authorities gave the all-clear yesterday for Chapman's Peak Drive to be open on March 8 must go to the Training Wheels recruits.
On Saturday, which was our final clinic, Gary, our Cycle Lab instructor, told us it was time for Survivor OKW - he was sending us over the tough Ou Kaapseweg, the alternative route if Chapman's Peak stayed shut. That night, after huffing, puffing and wheezing our way over the mountain, I'm pretty sure that most of the Wheelies got down on their knees and prayed for Chappies to be re-opened in time for Saddle Day. When I heard the good news I was a happy chappie.
Of course, there is a small matter of signing an indemnity should rocks come spewing down the mountain on us. We'll take our chances - just happy that we can chew on Chappies. Besides, as I have discovered over the last few months, rocks aren't a cyclist's enemy. No, cars are our real nemesis. Or rather the people behind the cars' steering wheels.
When the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust's Co-Director, Dave Bellairs, got up to address the Wheelie recruits at our first spinning session in November he told us that the Cycle Tour was, in fact, a spectacular failure. The tour was organised in 1978 to highlight the need for cycle paths in Cape Town. Thirty-one years later there are still no dedicated bicycle routes in the City and anyone who has ever cycled on the road can testify that Cape Town remains cyclist unfriendly. While cyclists are not blameless, motorists tend not to see cyclists. They drive too close and they don't slow down when they pass us on narrow roads. Eight days after Dave addressed us - and the day of our first clinic - experienced cyclist Creslin Attwood was knocked down and killed in what was described as a hit-and-run. Last week Morne Jones, the man allegedly behind the wheel, appeared in court. He is charged with culpable homicide and failing to render assistance.
If he were alive, Creslin would have lined up for his 20th Pick n Pay Cape Argus Cycle Tour in a row on March 8. He had more than 2 000km of Cycle Tour under his belt - and last year he completed the Cycle Tour in just over three hours.
I hope we have a boulder-free ride this year, but I also hope that motorists become more cautious and vigilant on the road - so more unnecessary deaths can be avoided.