What it means to me.....

Last night we had a team meeting, which would probably be the last before the big day. Some of the guys arrived early which must really indicate their eagerness as they have traditionally being half an hour late for previous meeting.

We had the flat screen showing some cross country racing (running), During the day I had recorder some Paris-Nice footage, which showed Alberto Contador falling in a crash in the last few meters and we showed this to the team. We were able to look at how the bunch ride, see the merits and, with the crash, the dangers of group riding.

We got down to business and handed out lists of what needed to go with, what we would be doing, when we would do things and we moved onto the race. We chatted about the route, and as I explained the route and asked the team how familiar the route was it dawned on me the enormous privilege that has been bestowed on us as team leaders. Not one of these 7 riders have seen the Cape Peninsula! Some of the riders have never seen Cape Town, Table Mountain and still some of these people have never seen the sea. Yes, wow. For their first time we will be able to take these people to see what many of us have taken for granted.

I find it quite strange that these people have been through the school system and have never had these experiences. I do not mean that it is a short coming of the system, but it is also indicative of the area in which we live. It is poverty stricken and parents can not afford to send children on tours, I am not sure if the school still do tours? I know in our time at school we had a week tour where we were taken to the port of Durban and shown the workings of the port, shown the sea (which the majority of us had already seen) and experienced many things that we may otherwise never experienced.

For me it is a privilege and honor to be taking these dedicated individuals to Cape Town to experience what the never have. Thank you again to everyone who has helped us achieve this.