R.I.P. - Rui Ferreira - 1956-2011

On the 25th of October our friend Rui Justiniano Ferreira Bessa (or just Rui) and long-standing cyclist of the Clube de Ciclismo de Moçambique, passed away in Lisbon while undergoing treatment for an illness. His departure is our loss, as he was an active cyclist, and his ascerbic wit kept everyone on their toes. Lately he'd been off the bike more and more due to a back pain, but still showed up whenever he could to the training sessions around Mozal or along the 25th of September. He leaves behind a daughter, Irina, and his mother, both of whom live in Portugal, as well as other relatives. His body will be cremated and some of his ashes will later be brought to Mozambique.

A Church service is scheduled for next week WEDNESDAY 2nd of November at 18:00 at the São António do Polana Church (lemon squeezer).


No dia 25 de Outubro o nosso amigo Rui Rui Justiniano Ferreira Bessa (ou simplesmente Rui) e ciclista de longa data do Clube de Ciclismo de Moçambique faleceu em Lisboa, enquanto recebia tratamentos para uma doença. A sua ida é a nossa perda, enquanto era um ciclista activo, e o seu sentido de humor particular mantinha-nos em cuidado. Ultimamente tinha estado sempre menos na "bike" a causa de dores de costa, mas aparecia sempre que podia e fazia junto a nos os treinos á volta de Mozal ou na 25 de Setembro. Deixa uma filha, Irina, e a própria maie que moram em Portugal, alem de outros familiares. O corpo dele será cremado e algumas das cinzas mais tarde chegarão em Moçambique.

Uma cerimónia religiosa está agendada para próxima semana QUARTA FEIRA dia 2 de Novembro as 18:00 horas na igreja de São António de Polana.

Hell's Gate - Classica de Goba

Sunday 23rd of October.
Second last Copa Ciclismo Race
Classica de Goba
A climb into hell...

Today's race happened just as Mozambique finally decided to announce that summer had started, and we had 42 degrees of hot unrelenting heat coupled with a blistering wind. Add to this our most amazing turnout yet, with a huge Swazi presence. Thanks guys for making it, although as we'll find out, they may not have quite liked this race as much as they had hoped.

Their stars Thulani and Fana couldn't make the race, which meant that the Mozambique boys took top honours.. However before we even discuss results we have to report that sadly one of their number over-exerted himself on the Goba climb and was whisked away to a first-aid clinic. I got confirmation this morning that the rider in question is ok, and another rider that didn't show up at the finish line was find resting under a tree.

On top of this our (very recent) resident Triathlete cyclist, Mike, didn't take the turn-off to Goba town and ended up adding an extra 30 or so km to his ride.. However he finished the ride which means that the prize for the last cyclist to complete the race, which had gone to William Kelly, should actually have gone to him! No worries Mike, the prize, which was Breakfast for Two at the Southern Sun Hotel is on me. We hope to see you back at one of our races.. hopefully better organised that this.

The massive heat-wave coupled with the no-show of the support vehicle, meant that our resources were too stretched to give everyone the proper support that we've grown used to in the past.. lessons for the future, and a hopefully more professionally organised Copa Ciclismo 2012.

More than the organisational issues mentioned, I feel like it's a case of one step forward and two steps back, and I believe that we've done some damage both to the reputation of the Copa Ciclismo as well as in the alienation of certain cyclists.. I think people have come to expect a certain standard, or certainly a certain behaviour in the organisation of these events.. But the fact that cyclists were left out on the road after we'd finished, or that a rider with a problem didn't have ALL the riders stop and offer assistance means that some of us have begun to lose a sense of comraderie and fellowship, and mutual assistance, that should be a primal basis of our sport. To win, or get good results is great. But we cycle for fun, friendship and being together.. Today's race showed some serious cracks in our ability to host events with a large number of participants and was, I believe, a bit of a disaster, although certainly some bad luck and the elements played their part.

However the real issue isn't the organisational deficiencies - we've always had these, as these are amateur events organised by a few volunteers, sometimes even just a driver and a spectator taking pictures to work out the finishing order and times! But for this breakdown in mutual assistance. We seriously need to think about where we are going, what are the important parts of these races and how they fit into our lives, and whether we need to re-think our motivations. We are not racing the Tour de France. Being the second last race of the Copa calendar means that a certain competitive element exists, and we can accept this.. However this CANNOT come at the expense of safety or especially basic common decency... We are risking the soul of our sport for a few cheap medals and a name in some blog.. and in that spirit the results will NOT be shown here.

Again to the Swazis a big thanks for making it, and we'll really make an effort to welcome them back next year. To the club cyclists.. I hope we can bring back the fun into our cycling.




Domingo 23 de Outubro
A penúltima corrida da Copa
Classica da Goba
Uma subida até o inferno...

A corrida de hoje aconteceu no mesmo dia em que o verão Moçambicano decidiu iniciar, e tivemos 42 graus de calor infernal e um vento maluco. Adicionamos a isto o facto de que tivemos o maior número de ciclistas até hoje numa corrida copa, com uma grande afluencia de ciclistas Swazi. Obrigado a eles para terem aderido, mas como vamos ler em adiante, não devem ter gostado tanto quanto esperavam.

As estrelas deles, Thulani e Fana nao conseguiram vir á corrida, que deixou os lugares do pódio nas maos do clube Moçambicano.. Mas antes de discutir os resultados lamentavelmente relatar que um dos Swazis tive um problema na subida de Goba e foi levado até um posto médico. Recebi confirmação hoje que o ciclista ja está bem melhor e outro que nào apareceu na meta foi encontrado onte por baixo duma arvore a recuperar.

Além disto o nosso (muito recente) residente triatlista Mike nao virou na vila de Goba e adicionou mais 30 ou mais km á sua corrida... Mas acabou a corrida e quer dizer que o prémio para o último ciclistas a completar a prova, que tinha sido entregue á William Kelly, devia ser entregue ao Mike (que fez quase 5 horas)! Não ha problemas Mike, o prémio que era um pequenho almoço no Southern Sun de maputo fica a minha custa. Esperamos ver-te de volta ás corridas... e esperamos melhor organizada de que esta.

O calor terrível, acuplado com a falta da viatura de suporte criou uma situação em que os recursos da próva não chegaram a dar apoio apropriado, apoixo que ja tinhaos acostumado a receber... Liçoes para o futuro, que vão ajudar em que a Copa Ciclismo 2012 seja mais profissionalmente organisada.

Mas além das questoes organizacionais aludidas, sinto que fizemos um passo a frente e dois a traz, e que temos feito algum danno á reputação da Copa Ciclismo e afastamos até alguns ciclistas... Penso que os ciclistas ja requerem algum standard, ou pelomenos uma certa postura na organização destes eventos.. Mas o facto que algus ciclistas ficaram esquecidos no percurso, ou que um ciclista com um problema não tive o apoio de TODOS os ciclistas que passaram por ele quer dizer que començamos a perder um sentido de camaradismo e amizade, de ajuda mutua, que devia ser a base do nosso desporto. Ganhar e ter bons resultados é fantastico. Mas pedalamos para o gozo do desporto, amizade e esarmos juntos... A corrida de hoje mostrou os limites da nossa organização de gerir eventos com tantos participantes e na minha menera de ver foi um pequenho desastre (e incluo-me nessa organização), mas é tambem verdade que o hazar e o mau tempo contribuiram para esta situação..

Mas o factor chave não são as falhas organizaçionais - estes sempre tivemos, contando que são eventos amadoriais com apenas voluntários a gerir as corridas, e as vezes apenas um motorista e um spectador a triar fotografias para marcar os tempos! Mas por causa da falta de assistencia mutua. Temos que pensar seriamente de onde estamos a ir, o que é importante nas corridas e como se enquadram nas nossas vidas, e se temos que repensar as nossas motivaçoes. Não estamos a competir no Tour de France! Sendo que essa corrida era a penultima da Copa é claro que havia de existir um certo espirito competitivo, e podemos aceitar isto... Mas isto não pode vir á custa da segurança, e especialmente da decência comun... Estamos a arriscar a alma do nosso desporto para algumas medalhas de latão e um nome num blogue.. e nesta forma de pensar, os resultados não serão publicados aqui.

Aos Swazis, tenho que dizer um grande obrigado para terem aparecido, e penso que a organização da copa vai fazer um esforço para acolhe-lôs duma forma melhor para o ano. Aos ciclistas do Clube.. espero que podemos re-introduzir o elemento de gozo no nosso ciclismo.

MT

NB - The expression Hell's Gate came to me courtesy of Menzi Tsela, member of the Swaziland Cycling Association and who took part in this sunday's ride. I think it summarises the race perfectly!

Classica de Namaacha II - 80km

The Classica de Namaacha II race took place this last Sunday 16th October, starting in Pequenhos Libombos dam, up to Namaacha, and then back over the dam, finishing at the road boom gate. The 80km were tough, made even tougher by the 16km of climbing up to Namaacha and the 30km/hour head-wind on the way back. The course record of 2 hours 32 minutes and 45 seconds set by Tim Fair in 2007 remains intact, although Miguel Duarte's valiant attempt at breaking the record fell short by only 7 seconds... Sounds like that Yossou Ndour song may become his theme song! :-). All 12 starters finished the race, quite incredible considering the tough race conditions.

Anyway, here are some race pics to liven up your day.

Race photos by Miguel Duarte's sisters husband's brother..

PREPARATIONS

OUR SPONSORS (MRO / NOVA VIDA & ARA SUL)

FIRST K.O.M.

SECOND K.O.M.

RACE FINISH

POST-RACE ANALYSIS

NEXT RACE 23rd OCTOBER - CLASSICA DE GOBA - 80KM AND 36KM OPTIONS

Tour of Maputo - Stage 3 - Critérium dos Campeões

October 2nd was the third and final stage of the Tour of Maputo. The race coincided with the annual visit of the Joburg Cycling Club "Luso Africa", and their desire to revive an old criterium race together with our own race calendar meant the stage was set for an exciting combination. Add to that the fact that the large haul of trophies at the Goba-Siteki race the day before in Swaziland by the Maputo Cycling Club meant that the Swazis wanted some payback, as well as joining in on the fun.

Would Zeca be able to upstage Miguel in the criterium race and take 26 seconds and jump into the lead of the Tour? Would Calvin from Swaziland have fixed his chain in time to make a difference in the bunch sprint. Would Kinha, Mathieu, Patrick, or Mario take the 3rd spot on the podium, seeing as they were separated by mere seconds? Would Thulani manage to make it back-to-back victories? Would Simon lead the race for the first lap? Would the visiting tourists from Joburg be more serious than we've so far given them credit for!? Well, what I can say is that we saw a lot more cyclists popping out of the woodwork than we've come to expect at the Copa races, and we can only hope that this is the beginning of a real cycling revival!

Photos by Albena Todorova and Mario Traversi

Simon thinking of all the beer he should be making (or is that drinking?!)

Isaac "Biopace" Cossa, hand mended after a fall on one of the corners

Chico being paced by one of the young guns

1st place (on the right) Calvin Benelte of Luso Africa Cycling crossing the line, on a lone breakaway

3rd place finisher Kallen Williams with Miguel Duarte taking 4th place

5th and 6th place finishers coming up to the line

Thulani 7th, Mathieu 8th, Kinha 9th and Lars (62 years old) coming in 10th


Patrick taking 13th with Calvin from Swaziland in 14th place

Zeca in 15th, Grichone in 16th and Carlos in 18th spot

Carlos satisfied.. "I beat Mario!"

UCI pre-race safety check for the Juniors race. "Are wooden bikes allowed?!?"

Yanick, it's a bit early to celebrate!

Federico in a sprint to the line, showing good form and asking "Papá, do Cervelo's come in extra-small???"

Alex makes it to the line - note parent in background training to be a triathlete

Post-race recovery food

Our visiting Swaz's, from left - Menzi, Thulani, Calvin and William

Cervelo Fan Club

Adão, Imran's father, handing out Tour of Maputo medal to Sergio Grichone (7th place)

Lars, 6th place, on the podium (again?!?!) - Where is WADA when you need it

Patrick, 5th place, on the podium (again!). Hmm.. what's this Alps Tour stuff and can I get it in a bottle?

Mathieu in 4th place overall, and just 2 seconds behind Kinha!

"Zeca" da Cunha in 2nd place, and 2nd podium in two days

And the winner is... Miguel! Tour of Maputo Podium

More medals?! Carlos Sales, second visit to the podium in two days.

Jeanne, next time we want iPhones as prizes!

Ricky "long time no see" Pinho - Welcome back!

Malaia, our timekeeper, taking "time off" for once

Joao Rodrigues getting his medal

Ricky, the longest comeback story of the year

There were some complaints about lack of helmet, but the impact absorption capabilities of dreads is widely documented in Science Journals...

Betinho with a smile a mile wide


Sono un'italiano!

Yanick getting his medal - following in daddy's footsteps?

Alex getting his medal - is there chocolate in there?!


Podium of the juniors race

Seeing as I'm having trouble getting on the podium, I'm sending the kids up there instead

Blog author in dashing pose - picture by wife

Disclaimer - The race results are not final because someone forgot to bring a stopwatch, the timekeeper was in the race and, well, it was all quite a lot of fun and everyone got caught up in the excitement anyway. No, no, I'm just joking! The official results will be released soon by the race organisers. We hope that this memorial ride/race for Imran Akuji becomes an annual event, and that our cycling club and the Federation can grow from this. A big thank-you to Luso Africa Cycling Club for coming down and co-organising the event together with the Federação Moçambicana de Ciclismo. Their support with waterpoints, post-race snacks, prizes, commemorative medals and welcoming the younger generation of cyclists made the event fun for all the family.