Tweeting on a tandem, Premier Helen Zille documented her first Cycle Tour, giving more insight into her gastric dilemmas than her ride.
Zille rode half of the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour on a tandem with Andrew Wheeldon from the Bicycle Empowerment Network on Sunday.
As soon as she was given a back seat, she announced: “Tweeting from a tandem”.
During her journey Zille said: “A bit of carboloading with @Atanticsteve in Simon’s Town. This is the LIFE.”
A short while later, she tweeted: “Just chillin’ in Simon’s Town. We had a great curry at Gauteng Congress yesterday – but today! New meaning to undercarriage add imodium!”
<&eh><&eh>Another tweet came later: “Just arrived at Misty Cliffs. Another imodium stop and what goes with it. Switching to tandem for a while now.”
Zille made it over the finish line in almost eight hours, saying the ride was “totally awesome” and she would be back next year.
Minister of Sport and Recreation Fikile Mbalula, who also rode for the first time, said it was “like a passage to manhood”.
He joined Andrew McLean from Cycle Lab on a tandem at the bottom of Edinburgh Drive.
McLean said Mbalula took about four hours and 13 minutes to complete the 110km route. “He was great, he didn’t moan or complain once,” he said.
– Cape Argus