TABLE MOUNTAIN TRAILERS: RECENT SORTIES

Table Mountain Trailers: 

Feedback Sat 8th September: Silvermine South East

27  Runners turned up at Silvermine South East in a mild yet overcast Spring morning.  We split into the two groups with Julian leading the main group of 20 off on a steady run around to the amphitheater.  The Recovery group followed at a more modest pace. 

Add caption

Main Group at the marker Cairn in the Amphitheatre

Seems the Recovery Group are chuffed with finding the Marker Cairn where it should be!

No mishaps nor navigational errors experienced by either group.

Congratulations to Julian the main group leader, who completed his 25th sortie and thus becomes eligible to wear a Red Tee.

And to Angela Hutchinson who joins the Decurions by having done 10 sorties

Route Profile

Route followed by Main Group

Feedback: Sat 1sr September, Glencairn

After the wind and heavy rain on Friday evening Nine of us took a chance that the forecast of clearing weather would be right.   At what a glorious morning it turned out to be.    Julia led the main group around the route without any mishaps and only one small navigation error towards the end.   The recovery route followed them but took a short cut to shorten their route.   

All in all a really good outing that made up for the frustrations of the cancelled runs we have had these last few weeks.    The photos below tell it all

Group at Kleinplaas Dam

Route followed

Feedback-18 August Signal Hill Circuit

Dawn 

19 Turned out for what was a Cape Town mid winter Champagne Morning.  
We split into two groups with Julian leading the main faster group off over the full route and I led the recovery group over a shorter route at a slower pace.

The photographs explain why it is worth getting up early on a Saturday morning.

Congratulations to Sue Bourne who completed her tenth sortie and joins the decurions.

Sunrise

Sunrise catching the Twelve Apostles

The main Group

The Recovery group

Route followed by the main group

Run profile

Feedback Sat 4 August: Rhodes Memorial

It was an indifferent winter's morning with the possibility of rain but never the less 22 hardy souls turned up at the start including Mike who had broken out of his winter hibernation.    After the preliminaries Julian lead the main group off and Gaeleen reports as follows;  

As you will see from the distance – we did 14.48 km --- not it wasn’t you who miscalculated – at one of the hairpin bends, we went right instead of straight  (think Julian planned it to make sure we got in the extra mileage we ‘lost’ on our previous Silvermine route) – we then were heading towards town and ran all the way to the gate at the end of Tafelberg Road and were above Queen’s Blockhouse.  Luckily we had now done all the uphill (and there was a lot!) so the decision to go back wasn’t difficult.  This out and back bit added an extra 2 km to our run.  Very nice run, enjoyed by all and I am sure a lot of the ‘newbies’ will be back.

Congratulations to  Alan Hammond who completed his 25th Sortie and is eligible to wear the coveted Red Tee shirt  and to Theresa one of our more regular runners who completed her 10th sortie and joins the Decurions and is now eligible for the quick check in on the Register.

Feedback Sat 28 July

24 found their way to the start on Boyes Drive and after the usual preliminaries Julian lead the group up the steps towards the start of the long climb up Farmer Peck's Valley.   From all accounts this is a good and scenic route which we can add to our growing list.

Sunrise over the Cape Flats

On the lookout for sharks cruising in Muizenberg corrner

Starting down Spes Bona Valley

Main Group Photo

Recovery Group Photo

CapeTown's Secret Season-Mid Winter!

Profile of the main group's run

Feedback Sat 14 July; Silvermine SE

Despite many of our group being flooded out in Knysna and others enjoying the Bastille day festivities in Franschhoek 15 turned up for our sortie on a  crisp, clear and cold winter's morning.  The chilly south easterly wind saw us take off on time and the three latecomers had to hare after us and almost missed a crucial turn.

Julian led the main group with Gae as sweep whilst I followed Fay in her recovery group.  We had a glorious time despite the wind and a little rain but after about an hour or so we were somewhat surprised to hear familiar voices.  Never the less we could not actually see anyone but  for a small group of hikers some way away so assumed we were mistaken and kept on.   

By means of  my  meticulous planning I had intended that our recovery group should reach the cars about 15 minutes before the main group.  So imagine our surprise to find the parking area almost empty but for Gae and Julian snoozing in their car!   Not really sure what happened,mutters about missed the second path etc etc so they  ended up doing a shorter route than that planned.  Seems we did hear then as they passed ahead of us through the thick bush.

Thanks to Mike for the photo.

Knysna runners note the blue sky and sunshine!

Feedback Sat 30 July Misty Mountain

The heavy cloud covering the mountain necessitated the cancellation of the planned run up to the Saddle between Devil's Peak and Table Mountain and down Newlands Ravine as well as the Plan B [Bad Weather] route along the travese.     So a third alternative along Tafelberg Rd was proposed and eagerly taken up by 10 stalwarts.  

Dave Bywater with assistance from Tissa, led this group and reports:

I write this with mixed emotions……on the one hand, I’m sad and confused, having met some wonderful people who awoke in the early hours of Saturday morning, drove all the way through to Tafelberg Road, stood outside in the pouring rain, then decided to get back into their cars and return home? On the other hand, I’m so happy that some of us actually ventured out to do what had been planned for us. Well, not actually exactly what had been planned, as Platteklip looked a trifle slippery. So, having said our goodbyes to the “faders”, 10 of us hotfooted it along Tafelberg Road to the bench at the end. And then there were 9!!! Paul and Dave retraced their steps for about 500 metres in search of Randolf, but to no avail. Back to the group and a sensible  discussion ended with us agreeing that Randolf had probably turned back as he a) hadn’t passed us and b) is too experienced to get lost on Tafelberg Road.

Taking comfort on and around the cannon, with Milnerton clearly visible in the background”, 

I mentioned  the “9” 

*Paul……Camera supplier, 7hr40min Comrades, sub 60min 15km……what on earth is he doing in this group? (more about Paul later)

Guy……Doberman (Vlakkenberg) owner, remember the cyclist on the road to the mast?

*Jean-Pierre……Belgian chocolatier, landed in Cape Town Friday, on the mountain on Saturday

Michiel  Faber; Quiet man, deep thinker, middle of the pack kind of guy, checking things out and taking things in

Tissa Fuchstoch First-time compression socks wearer, her non-stop chatter frightened the life out of the “newbies”

Allison Lamb  [Minus Greg]  paying a courtesy visit from the Longer Faster group who informed all who cared to listen that her legs hate uphills

*Gina……mentioned that she has 3 children, Eleven, Seven and Four……which we all felt are rather strange names for boys, or girls for that matter

*Melony……all the way from the West Coast, first time ever running on the mountain

* All Newbies 

Dave Bywater  chooser of the route (in consultation with the others), leader for a while, sweep for the remainder

“Guy the Belgian Blood Man,
celebrating with Jean-Pierre on his first day in Cape Town”

The rain had by now abated, so it was back to the bench and on to the jeep track and single track like gorillas in the mist. On and on to the turnstile, then up to the blockhouse for a regroup and the first set of photographs. We decided that we would drop down into Deer Park and take in some of the TMC, VWS and Celtics Trail routes, before the lung busting, quad busting, sprint up to Dead Man’s Tree. All rather tranquil, until the serenity of the morning was shattered by Guy doing a magnificent impression of a combined arabesque/pirouette and smashing his knee against a jagged rock, the blood initially oozing, the gushing out of his leg. Should thought ever be given to awarding such an injury, as is done by (Sir) Tim’s group, then there can be only one winner……the pictures tell the story.

Special thanks go to Paul for the use of his camera, and for jogging back to meet the group every now and again, after he’d hared off into the distance. On the subject of Paul, he lives in Tamboers Kloof, so ran 5km to the start, did the “sortie”, then went off to the top of Lions Head before winging it back home on foot. You reckon he’ll be back to join this group again?......I doubt it!!!  More like a candidate for Sir Tim's  Longer Faster group.

 “Done and Dusted……Paul the bionic man is 2^nd from the right”

Feedback: Saturday 23 June:Tokai Levels

Dave Bywater reports as follows:

Are they discussing cocktail recipes or the route?

Herewith the report from Saturday past……hopefully nobody will be offended

Some 24 of us gathered in the Tokai mountain bike car on a misty morning, wondering whether the rain would hold off for the duration of our sortie. Whilst waiting for the usual pep talk from the boss man, Alex and Julian were heard discussing what they considered to be a rather interesting topic, the use of the word “sortie”, which, according to Alex, according to Wikipedia, is “a term for deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops from a strongpoint. The sortie, whether by one or more aircraft or vessels, usually has a specific mission. Alex said that the  term has been adopted from the French past participle 3rd group verb, verbs ending in -ir, with the gerund ending in -ant, "sortir", "to leave" or "to go out" with a specific purpose.”……so now we know.

Wisely the group moved off the road to give him plenty of space

Peter then described the route that we were to take. One would have expected Julian to listen, because he was to be, as usual, our leader, and he was to be, as usual, taking the wrong route……this week sooner, rather than later. Be that as it may, the group split up, 19 of us chasing Julian and Alex to each regroup, with Peter and Fay (welcome back Fay) leading/sweeping the others. Having eventually reached Level 3, we were treated to words of wisdom by Jana, who informed those who cared to listen, that the best time to drink is “when you’re thirsty”!!!......a deathly silence followed, with a few of us thinking to ourselves “selves, but I only drink when I’m lonely”.
More uphill followed in the direction of the Elephants Eye cave (maybe we’ll go there next time?) and we eventually reached the Snake Trail, Cobra in brackets (which is a good place for a cobra), which we galloped across, without anyone giving so much as a thought to the cobras. A photo shoot followed, then we made our way along some single track, before hitting the jeep tracks back down to the parking area. It would be remiss of me not to mention Randolf covering the final 4km in a blistering 15 minutes 8 seconds flat, albeit downhill.
All in all, roughly 11kms in 2 hours. Some post-sortie chit chat followed, with the only “blood” being recorded by Gareth, who, when asked about his tumble, replied that he is a mathematician and had lived in the USA for the past eight years……we do have some strange people in our group. One of the men, who shall remain nameless, possibly because he wasn’t baptised, was heard to explain “I can’t wait to get home and rip my girlfriend’s knickers off”……apparently they were cutting into his thighs and were extremely uncomfortable on the downhill stretch just before the finish.

A mathematical unequal distribution of dirt and damage

Jackie spent a few minutes discussing her snapshots of the Leucadendron coniferum, otherwise known as dune yellowbush and the Erica viscaria, which will hopefully give the reader some insight into the intelligence within our group.
Lastly, I thought I’d mention that I couldn’t help noticing what I considered to be a rather amusing sign as I was on my way home past the Manor House. It reads “Horses Please Drive Carefully” and it conjured up thoughts, not only of horses that can drive, but can also read. A slow drive past a troop of baboons ended a glorious morning on the mountain with a good bunch of fellow runners.


With thanks to Jackie for the photos