The Argus and support that was not

She only wished for two things, to finish the race and no wind. When she left home for the starting line at 7am the wind was already blowing. As a matter of fact, the wind started blowing the previous evening already. This after a wind absence of nearly a week....

I was lying on the couch watching the first women cross the finish line at around 9.20 when she started her race. These women were of course from the elite group; the ones that are invited to ride the Argus and not like the rest who has to pay to ride the Argus. Lying in front of the TV watching the Argus for the first time in my life, I felt a bit sorry for my wife. The air coverage of the race was stopped at times due to strong winds, so the helicopters could not even stay with the front peleton. When my wife called me just before her start to tell me that "there's no wind", instead of saying "you go girl" I foolishly told her about the helicopters and what was waiting around the corner. So much for my support.  Anyway, she was just being sarcasticly optimistic and I couldn't even support her in that. My plan was not to spend the rest of the day in front of the telly, I was about to leave to meet her somewhere along the road to encourage her. With the motorbike it would be a bit easier to get to certain points along the road, but we never had these points finalized when she left this morning. The idea was for her to give me frequent sms updates and then I would drive a litttle bit further and wait for her with some back-up water and other goodies.

My first stop was at Steenbeerg Road in Tokai. When I called my wife she told me that she had passed that road about ten minutes ago, so my effort to find a suitable waiting spot was all in vain. I packed up and left for the next best spot to wait, Fishhoek. Due to the road closures I could not take the shortest route to Fishhoek, but I eventually managed to cross Ou Kaapseweg and ended up in Fishoek a couple of minutes later. There I called her again but a little miscommunication caused me to wait for an hour in Fishhoek while she was already near Simons Town. By this time there were only little kids with oversized cycling helmets passing one by one every 5 minutes. I realized that this must be the last tailenders and that my wife was definitely passed Fishhoek too. I tried to call a few times more, but all I got was a no answer message. I assumed by that point that she must've been through there as well, so I packed up and headed for Noordhoek to hopefully catch her on the Atlantic side.

At Noordhoek I sat and I waited. I tried to call her again, but no answer. I was not sure if she was still on her way, or if she had passed there too. So eventually I gave up and decided that all I could do now is head home. From Noordhoek it would be very difficult to go to any other place along the route, so all I could think was that going home now is a better option that riding around the peninsula looking for my wife in between 35 000 other cyclists...which of course have by now been spread out over at least 80 kilometres. Hesitantly I packed up and went home.

At home I also called, but no answer. I waited and waited and started to understand the feeling when Apollo 13 lost communication with Earth around the moon in April 1970. I had no idea where my wife was, I had to go fetch her at some point...and there was no answer. Then at 3.20 there was a call. I did not even realize that it was from an unknown mobile number, but it was her. She was fine and she was calling to tell me her phone is not working. " No shit Sherlock!" I asked her if she was OK, but that was not needed, I could hear the excitement in her voice. She finished 20 minutes ago and was looking for a friend to see if he could bring her home. My wife did it, she finished the Argus in 5 hrs 40 mins, and she was about to ride the 25 kilometres homes if she couldn't find a lift....

Once she got home I could see that she had enough energy left to do another mini-Argus. A little bit sunburnt, but that was it. She was stoked. I think she already started filling in her apllication forms for next year. She is doing it again next year for sure. What am I going to do next year to make sure that I am there to support her? Leave earlier? Better planning? Clearer instructions? NO! I'm going to join her on that road next year. I am going to ride side by side until we both cross that finish line, like we've crossed so many finish lines before.

(Not that she needs my support I guess).

Well done girl, you've done me proud today! Next time when people "exagerate" about the Argus, all you have to do is smile ;-)