Thursday, December 29, 2011

PLATTEKLIP 1 - COACH 0

Why did I think a little run up the mountain would be a good idea? Well let me tell you:

Who wouldn't want to go up there?
I love the mountain and it's not every day I have the chance to tackle it from this side, and it's been a year. I could go on to say there is no better way for me to test my fitness than to put the whole body through a 30min workout...

So I parked on Tafelberg Rd at 07h00, stretched a bit and then set off...
1/3 of the way 
Took the picture on the way down, I had no time to stop on the way up... Mr Garmin called it 2.4km with a climb of 644m! So it's a lot of hard work. SAN Parks says allow 2 hours I was wanting 30min!!! It was always going to be close, but with the wind blowing (cable car didn't start working till later) and a pack on, this fat, slow, white boy had his work cut out. The mountain was busy with 100+ tourists walking up and they all needed to be past (yes I'm making every excuse I know).

Those grey hairs didn't help
I was up in 30:24 a little slower than I had hoped for, but it's a start... 

From there I headed to:
The top
Maclear's Beacon...
Watching my step

Love single track
then Echo Valley, and back.

Before heading down:
Past those guys on my way up
Then it was home time...
look at that traffic!

Look at the Q for the Cable car
Good thing I didn't have to stand in that, I was going home, I had been to the top already...

4 comments:

  1. Wow, a very popular tourist attraction. No wonder you wanted to run it so quickly. You wanted to get outta their before the crowds descended.

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  2. What BEAUTIFUL country!!!! No wonder you love your mountain.

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  3. That is quite a climb!! It sounds like a great run though - I wish there were places around here that are that beautiful! I could use a change of scenery and that looks perfect!

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  4. Such beautiful scenery makes a run really pleasurable so I wouldn't bother about those 24 extra seconds it took you. It's not always about time!
    It reminds me of some of my (less crowded) Munro-bagging runs in the wilds of Scotland.

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