The Coronation Double Century came and went in the proverbial flash (albeit a windy one) last weekend.  It gave Team Pure Planet Racing another opportunity to expand our small troupe of green ambassadors into a larger team of twelve for this epic one-day cycle through the beautiful Western Cape.

The Double Century, or DC as it is commonly known, is a 202km road ride with teams of up to twelve riders, six of whom must finish together, that covers a hilly circular route from Swellendam through the Robertson wine region.  In the days leading up to the event, the region had been battered by heavy rains, which made certain parts of the route interesting (an off-road a la Roubaix-style dirt section was included due to the tar road being washed out).  However, it wasn’t the weather that threatened to derail the event at the last minute, but local farmworker strikes.  Nonetheless, come race day, the obstacles had been overcome and nothing was going to stop the race happening.  This included the gale-force winds that starting blowing early on race morning.

Thanks to focused planning and commitment from Raoul, aka Urban Ninja, Pure Planet had managed to put together a formidable team for this year’s event.  Although there was much downplaying, a definite air of anticipation and expectation existed.  Just for some context, there are 240 teams, of which a fair number are considered “competitive”, and some of the pro-level teams often import top riders for this event.

Team PPR still strong at 165km mark

Team Pure Planet went off 8^th last, indicating their high ranking, and hit the route hard, attacking the hills early on and powering through the wind. There were some “casualties” early on to the conditions, some of who managed to bounce back and others that had to unfortunately retreat to the support vehicle.  With lovely female support, this was probably a much more enjoyable experience than riding in the weather conditions.  The wind that had battered the Team head-on for 120kms, then became a intense tailwind after the halfway refueling stop.  Although you may expect this to be be easy going, there is nowhere to hide with a tailwind.  With the Team doing 60km/h plus on the flats, each rider had to push to their max not to cause a gap to open that they couldn’t close.

Much celebration for a job well done

Ultimately sheer determination combined with the riders playing to their individual riding strengths helped keep up the momentum, and spirit, right to the end.  Finishing at a flying pace with ten riders, in a time of 5h49 and 8^th place was an all-round brilliant result for Team Pure Planet Racing.  A very professional looking unit that again was working hard at growing the Pure Planet brand and awareness campaign.  Thanks again to the whole team, and Raoul for putting it together.

Photos credited to Jezebel Antonio

For me, the Double Century is a superb event. Combining strengths rather than saving for yourself, Double Century is about riding your own race while riding for others. If you get to 160km and you are still 12 together, that is considered the first win. The second win is getting to 160km in anything but tatters. It’s a big, long, heavy day out and there is no room in a team like ours for guys who do not contribute.

This weekend we will again attempt to cover the 202km as fast as humanly possible, while being mates, team mates and humans at the same time.

I will report back next week to let you know how it went.

Wines2Whales is an absolute beauty of a ride with a route that can only be described as breathtaking and the new single track is promised to be magnificent.

Many thanks to Rehidrat sport who sponsor one of the entries for the team so that we can auction it off in return for supporting the Songo project where we are building a tyre farm for the kids so that they can learn to feed themselves when economic times are tough. Wines2Whales is a special time for us because of this connection.

The compost is ready, the soil is there, tyres are being delivered and soon the garden will be a reality. It has taken much longer than anticipated but in the end, we’ll look back and smile because this is going to change people’s lives.

Recycling for your average suburban household in South Africa is a bit of a schlep: the infrastructure for collecting recyclable material isn’t really in place – yet. Households generally have to separate their rubbish and take the recyclables to a municipal drop-off centre or a buy-back centre because there’s not much in the way of kerbside collection. Many people just can’t be bothered. But, there are also many people out there who would recycle if they knew how to. This guide aims to help you get started.

How good is South Africa at recycling? The recovery rates for various materials are as follows:

• Cans: 69 percent
• Paper: 59 percent
• Glass: About 25 percent
• Plastic: About 17 percent

Informal recyclers recover much of this material from dustbins and landfill sites. This is not ideal, firstly from the point of view of the health and safety of the recyclers. But also because the recyclable material is contaminated with other waste. First prize would be if households sorted their waste, so that “uncontaminated” recyclable material could be collected.

WHY YOU SHOULD RECYCLE

Firstly, the Earth’s resources are not infinite so we shouldn’t waste them. And, you know that sign that reads “Leave this place in the same condition as you’d like to find it”? Well, the same applies to the planet. You’d rather see your grandchildren running through piles of fallen autumn leaves than piles of discarded rubbish (wouldn’t you?). More specifically, the government wants to reduce the amount of plastic, cans, paper and glass going to landfills by 70 percent in the next decade or so. To meet that target, households need to stop simply throwing away rubbish and start implementing the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.Reasons to recycle

WHAT CAN BE RECYCLED?

1. METAL

• Colddrink and beer cans
• Food tins
• Metal lids of glass jars
• Aluminium cans (eg, Red Bull),  foil and foil packaging
• Paint, oil and aerosol cans (leave labels on them so recyclers can see whether they contain hazardous material).
• Rusty cans can be recycled

Where to take metal for recycling

2. GLASS

• Beverage bottles
• Food jars such as tomato sauce, jam and mayonnaise bottles

The following CANNOT be recycled

• Drinking glasses
• Light bulbs  – ordinary and energy-saving compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) – and fluorescent tubes. NB CFLs and fluorescent tubes should not be thrown away with ordinary rubbish. They contain mercury, a toxin that can leach into the soil and groundwater if not disposed of properly. Take your old CFLs to the drop-off points at Pick n Pay and Woolworths stores where they will be disposed of safely. If you don’t have this option, place your old CFLs in a sealed plastic bag before you throw them in the bin.
• To dispose of standard fluorescent tubes you can either contact Don’t Waste Servicesif you have a lot of them. Also in JHB and surrounds in JHB/surrounds are :
  Brakpan: Computer scrap recycling – 011-7404330
  Kempton Park: Desco electric recyclers – 011-979-3017 

  Alternatively you can contact Ewasa (the E-Waste Association of SA) for other contacts.

Where to take glass for recycling

3. PAPER

• White office paper
• Magazines and books (as long as nothing is laminated)
• Newspaper
• Cardboard (boxes and cereal boxes).

The following CANNOT be recycled:

• Laminated or waxy paper
• Punch confetti
• Carbon paper
• Stickers

Where to take paper for recycling

4. PLASTICS
Plastics are made from oil, a non-renewable resource, and much of the plastic packaging we use every day is recyclable. Ice cream and milk containers, fabric softener bottles, plastic bags and even cling-wrap can all be recycled.

The easiest way to determine whether a plastic product is recyclable is by looking for its recycling logo. There are seven plastic recycling logos and most plastic packaging is imprinted with one of them. The logos tell you what type of plastic a container is made of. Each type has to be recycled separately. (Plastic recycling logos)

Where to take plastics for recycling

5. TETRAPAK
Fruit juice and milk containers look like they’re made out of paper, but they are lined with aluminium foil and plastic so they must be recycled separately. Tetra Pak has opened its first small-scale recycling facility in Germiston, Gauteng, where its packaging is recycled into roof tiles, furniture and stationery. The company has plans to open more recycling plants around South Africa. For more information about Tetrapak see www.tetrapak.co.za

6. BATTERIES
Disposable batteries are not recycled – this is apparently because the material recovery rate is too small to make recycling economically viable. But they should not be thrown away with ordinary household waste either, because they contain toxic chemicals that can leach into the soil and groundwater. Rechargeable batteries, on the other hand, are recyclable. Add to this the fact that they last a lot longer than ordinary batteries and you have a compelling argument to buy rechargeables from now on.

Where to take batteries for recycling or safe disposal

7. OTHER

You CANNOT recycle

• Pyrex
• Ceramics (plates).

A new week, a new opportunity and with this week, I am quite excited to bring you something amazing in the opportunity arena.

One of Pure Planet Racing’s fantastic partners, Rehidrat Sport, has the opportunity of a lifetime up for grabs. There are no entry forms to fill in (unless you win) or elaborate schemes and no, they will not spam you with information once you are eligible for the win.

It’s rather simple.

Rehidrat are giving away an entry to the Wines2Whales Adventure, a fully booked event, from 2^nd to 4^thNovember 2012. It’s a 3 day MTB race based in Grabouw with some of the best scenery you have ever seen. Starting in Somerset West and climbing up, over and around the Hottentots Holland mountain towards the Elgin valley, then heading towards the Overstrand, variety is the keyword with the spectacular beauty of the area, offering riders a very different riding experience every day.

Spending three days cycling through this natural splendour will be one of the most rewarding things you could do with your mind, body and soul – and of course with your trusty mountain bike.

Read more about the race and its history on www.wines2whales.co.za

Rehidrat and Pure Planet Racing are giving away goodie bags to the winning team with hoodies, t-shirts, caps, backpacks, Rehidrat Sport and the like. The total value of the prize is R11 800.00 and this is the full board package including tents, meals & a W2W jacket.

Here is how to be eligible for the prize:

Follow @rehidrat on twitter by clicking HERE. That is it. Follow them and be in line for the prize.

While you`re at it, mention them in a tweet or if you have ever tried their amazing product, tell them so on twitter. They want to hear from you.

You have until 8 September to follow Rehidrat on twitter and stand in line to win. A winner will be drawn randomly from all the followers using a random number generator and the prize goes to the first number that gets randomly drawn.

Rehidrat will then contact the winners to get all their information, sizes and get them up and running for the amazing Wines2Whales race in November.

For a while we have been constructing this thing in the background. I am a big an of the Holstee manifesto. I used it as a base for the Pure Planet Racing Manifesto – which we are now happy to release to the market. I want to build an army of conscious athletes.

In my home, we recycle everything possible. This reduced what goes in a landfill by roughly 60 big plastic bags a year. It seems petty until we build a little army of say, a thousand athletes who sign this manifesto. 60 000 black bags in a pile suddenly makes a huge change. The recycled material gets used in community projects, benefiting others.

When you go to races, look at the sheer amount of cars that arrive. How many guys are arriving in a big car alone? I want to champion carpooling to training as well as to races for the following reasons:

- It’s cool, bro.
- It’s social.
- It’s good for the environment.
- It means there is a designated driver who drops you at home afterwards, should you decide to take a beer or two along for post-race carbohydrate replacement.
- It’s an opportunity to do less, catch up with mates and banter in the car.

Then lastly, I want to talk about the guys who throw their gel packets, energy bar wrappers and tubes into the grass when training and racing. Those guys / girls tweak my noggin, proper. That plastic remains there FOREVER. If you see someone doing that, I urge you to go Gordon Ramsay on them until they pick up said litter. If you come across litter training – be a star and pick it up, put it in your pocket and take it home to put in your recycling.

Recycling is easy. 2 bins, one to the recycling hub (in clear plastic bag rather than a black bag and wash your recycled plastic / glass before putting it in the bin) and the rest to the municipal bin, unless you want to go all the way and get a worm farm for your natural waste.

Carpooling is lank easy. It requires a little bit of co-ordination, but its possible, plausible and playable on most occasions. Pitch in together and get a bike rack. Put a message our on Facebook / Twitter that you are heading out to a race and see if someone wants to join you. People are inherently good and you’ll be amazed at the responses.

There are two ways to sign up. One and easiest is to fill out the form here:

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The other is to download it by CLICKING HERE.

Print it out, sign it, scan it and EMAIL IT TO ME HERE. You can also fax it to 086 599 4609 if you please.

You are a part of the solution. Commit to the cause.

Oh…and don’t be scared to share this. In fact, bring me 10 of these and I will buy you a beer / wine or coffee and we can solve the world’s problems, together.

Here is his race report:

I first heard about the Dodo Trail Race in Mauritius from the Ninja when he was invited to race the inaugural event last year, but he unfortunately could not get over to the Island. A well-timed work trip combined with a few days R&R seemed a great opportunity for me to tackle this challenge. When I told a few fellow athletes that I was doing a trail running race in Mauritius, many responded questioningly as to the extent of trails and mountains in Mauritius. Post-race, my short response to that is……hell yes!

The Dodo Trail Race consists of three events across varying distances and elevations – 14km (with 500m elevation gain), 28km (with 1500m elevation gain) and 52km (with 3,500m elevation gain), aptly titled Mini-Dodo, Ti-Dodo, and Extreme Dodo. The event takes place in the South of Mauritius from the beaches of La Morne to Flic-en-Flac. It’s the bit in the middle that is slightly less appealing; well, depending on your penchant for pain.

Trail running is a particular passion of mine, and I consider myself at an above-average level in terms of ability and fitness. Although my training had been consistent, extensive work travel over the last few weeks had me opt for the 28km event over the 52km. I was feeling a bit disappointed with myself for not entering the longer event, that was until I listened to the race briefing, and also discovered the longer event is a qualifier for Mont Blanc North Face Race, arguably the toughest trail race in the world (oh, and the 52km event had a 3.30am bus transfer to the start). That would explain the bevy of big-name foreign trail runners. The Dodo was, at least in my mind, taking a very different form. Last minute injuries also had me more nervous than normal, although legendary Cape Town chiro Lawrence Van Lingen had worked miracles. I also have to give a shout out to ex-pat Gina Philips from Philips Chiropractors in Grand Baie that solved a strained calf with dry needling the day before the race – I think one of the only people on the Island that does needling.

Race day started early-ish with a bus transfer at 6.30am to the forest reserve in Black River, where we were met with much joviality by dancing members of the Mauritius search and rescue teams. Just enough time for obligatory pre-race pleasantries and we were off into the forest. The pace was quite frenetic, but I held back a bit on the initial flat 2kms. Then it all started to unravel. We went up 600 metres in the next 6-7 kms, ran on the flat for a few kms then went straight down. And that was pretty much the agenda for the day. Any hope of getting into a nice running rhythm was not going to come to reality as this race was all about going up and down. And in no running rhythm, I mean over half the race was almost impossible to run as it involved uphills so steep that it was hands on knees stuff, and downhills so rocky and slippery that it often involved sliding sideways. I was very thankful I had chosen the Puma Trailfox shoes over my favourite Faas road shoes. They held about amazingly well. We proceeded to crest and fall over some of Mauritius’ highest peaks, often rock-climbing up and then abseiling down ropes on the way down – no harnesses or marshals in sight! The 52km event meets the 28km route at its start and it crossed my mind a few times that the longer event was double this agony. At about the 10km mark, the leader of the longer event came tearing past me on a treacherous decsent, and only two others passed me much later in my race.

By the time I hit the soft sand for the last 5kms on the beach I was so broken that even the crystal water had no calming influence. The finish line after 4 hours 30 minutes was joy epitomised. The organisers were going to have a long wait for the 500-odd competitors across the various events to finish.

Although there were more “you’ve got to be kidding” moments than I care to count, I don’t want to cast a completely negative cloud over this event. It was gnarly, extreme, painful, but at the same time spectacular both in terms of scenery and terrain. You were literally up in the air on a precipice looking down on total beauty – very pure planet. I had a huge smile on my dial the next day after completing what was easily my toughest running race ever. Although the event was environmentally considerate and well organised, by passionate people, I think they are more than aware of issues that need addressing in the future – more water-points, better marketing to would-be competitors as to the difficulty level, more marshals, race briefing in English etc. All learning pains of an event in its infancy. There were other Saffas who made the trip out for the event, as well as Mike Finch from Runners World. I’ll be interested to read his take on the event.

It’s now 3 days after the event and walking up and down stairs is still extremely painful. But the Dodo Trail Race will be emblazoned in my memory for a while, and I plan to bring some of my Pure Planet crew back next year for another crazy, hopefully improved, race (maybe even 52kms). You should seriously consider doing the same. Just make sure you train properly and expect some tears!

Don’t let the smiling faces fool you. Simon and I had our lives flash before us on Day 1 of the BC Bike Race… more than usual. I crossed half the world to be here. So there was a lot riding on the fabled British Columbia trails living up to their hype. The good news is they delivered adrenaline by the bucketload.

Yesterday Simon and I spent the day talking the international language of bike, mingling with 502 fellow riders as we climbed on and off buses and ferries – crossing from Vancouver, on the mainland, to Vancouver Island and finally getting to Cumberland, our host village for the night. I discovered that Canadians are about the friendliest people alive. If aliens ever visit Earth, send them to Canada for an introduction to the human race. They really are the best we have to offer.

And if you like your mountain biking fast, technical and packed with moments that make you question your sanity, then you better get here too. Oh, and bring some mates to share the beers and campfire stories. The riding is insane. And I mean that in the old-fashioned sense.

Today’s 50-odd kilometre stage was one of the toughest days I’ve had on a bike in a while. It started with flowing singletrack early on, but the sheer speed and tight, serpentine looping trails meant you were concentrating so hard there was no opportunity to chill. The surface was muddy dark soil. And roots. Lots of them. The rain over the past week had added a slick sheen to each exposed root. They required a 90-degree angle of attack. If you hit them at anything less than perfectly square they’d send you slipping and sliding into oblivion in an instant.

When that assault on the senses abated we were sent up to Forbidden Plateau on a lung-busting open logging road. Simon was on fire, and dragged my jet-lagged legs to the top. Then the real fun began. Our first water station appeared – and our first Gravity Enduro section.

The Gravity Enduro concept is a race within a race, and involves one or two timed downhill sections each day. In addition to leaders’ jerseys handed out to the overall category leader after each stage, green number boards are awarded to the fastest riders within the timed gravity enduro sections.

We attacked the section with typical enthusiasm: fast and loose. Greasy Canadian rocks and roots spat us off the line regularly, but it was one particular near-vertical precipice that had Simon and I seeing our lives flash before us. Only the hand of God kept Simon upright as his front wheel grabbed the rock face and his rear wheel balanced overhead. I was only inches from his rear wheel as he disappeared down the face. When he came into focus again moments later he was trying his front-wheel circus trick.

Amazingly, both of us recovered and rode out without putting a foot (or face) down. But that was just the beginning. The arm-pump from the remaining singletrack was debilitating. Just as we were wondering whether we’d last the descent, it would pop out onto manicured flowing trail for some respite.

And it’s probably worth mentioning that this was a typical Lamond show. With any adventure my brother and I sign up for comes the essential drama. We started the day with a tyre that just wouldn’t seal. A last-minute trip to a local bike shop almost sorted it out… but I took a bike with a faint hiss to the start line. Somewhere deep in the Cumberland forest it sealed. Along the way we took numerous wrong turns. And with about 10km to go my seat realigned itself at a 45-degree angle, basically up my arse. This took a lot longer than we’d anticipated to fix as I had just picked up a brand-new Trek SuperFly 100, and they have a proprietary seat adjustment that isn’t obvious to fix for two adrenaline-fired riders on the side of the trail, with severe arm-pump.

But after a day of insane riding like we endured you couldn’t wipe the smile from our faces…

People

Who is making this product and how does the production impact their life?
Will this work to improve their own and their family’s quality of life?
Are they being fairly treated and compensated?

Planet

What raw materials are used and how are they sourced?
Is it designed for many uses? Is it designed to biodegrade?
How is it packaged and delivered? Does the packaging biodegrade?

Product

Is this product necessary?
Is there an existing solution that would allow me to avoid consuming it?
Is this a product I will be proud to pass to my children?
How can I reuse or recycle it once it has finished its purpose?
In its final state, how will it return to the earth?

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These are important considerations to make when looking at how you consume and how you package and how you go about your consumption levels. It goes beyond reuse / reduce / recycle and takes it down to the purchasing decision you make in the first place and eventually, a shift in mindset when it comes to consumption.

Important times, important decisions.

Lastly, enjoy this video. Its highly pertinent.

His 2nd place in the 3km is an oustanding achievement and we look forward to hearing about his adventures on the day. Congrats Phil!