Jozi Hussle
6 June, the first anniversary of the Jozi Hussle and my first attendance. A race through the city of Jo’burg. Through areas where the majority of Jo’burgers have never been. It was ecstatic fun. And although I was not part of the extremely fast front riders who do the 25 km in 42mins, I felt fast and racey and daring.
We were a group of about eight riders with our very own field marshal. We cycled through Ghandi square, passed Joubertpark, Fordsburg, the Vodacom tower, Newtown, Wemmerpan. The view crossing Mandela bridge to Braamfontein just awesome. 20km and 52 minutes later. Over too soon!
The smells: curry, smoke, sewerage, water; alcohol. The sounds: pumping pubs, people shouting encouragement, hooting taxis, traffic buzzing and voices of pedestrians. The night air on my skin, never did it feel cold. The darkness and the light. The silence and the noise. My breathing and the breathing of others. The laughter, the Marshall’s hand signs, the lonely riders waiting for us. The beautiful bikes and the not so beautiful ones, the variety - vintage, modern, single speed, with gears, mountain bike and road bikes.
I did take a photo of the map – a slight comfort to have it should I have been unable to keep up.
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