Preparing For The Moonlight Mass Cape Town Ride

If you’re someone that is into cycling and you live in or want to visit Cape Town, you have options. Moonlight Mass Cape Town is something that started as a social media experiment, and now it’s one of the more popular rides in this area!

Moonlight

A ride like this is one where you’re with people and you will get to explore a little with them. It’s more of a social thing than it is a race. A casual night ride is what it’s all about, and it can be a nice way to chill if you’re visiting or if you live in the area. You need to look on their website to find out more in case anything has changed. But, for the most part, it’s a pretty straightforward ride where you start in one place and go to another during a full moon once a month.

Even though this is a casual ride, you don’t want to bring something that is too tiring to ride. There are some really small bikes that are hard to use for something like traveling. Ask around and see what others use in the area, and you may also be able to rent something if what you have won’t work. If all else fails, find a bike you can buy. Maybe you can find one locally so that you can have one to use during every ride you go on like this one!

We-made-it-to-the-finish-now-lets-go-for-a-drink-2000x1125

Figure out where the parking area is because you may not want to ride a bike all the way here and then all the way back to where you were. There’s a lot that holds people and you can also park near the end goal if you don’t want to have to go all the way back. It’s up to you, and you may find an option that works better for you if you look around. Just know that you don’t have to spend time biking there if you don’t want to and have a vehicle to use.

Why would you want to try to ride a bike around if you’re not competing? Well, some people like to just go out on a beautiful night and have a relaxing ride. When you have others with you, it’s a very nice way to connect without having to talk. You’ll all be enjoying the ride and you may make some friends when all is said and done. This can also be a good way to be a little more active. It shouldn’t be all you do each month, but it can give you exercise for the days it’s scheduled for.

Do you want to bring something with you so you have a drink. You may also want to bring other things with you, so make sure you have a pack that’s not too heavy. If you’re going to bring your vehicle, you can store items in there as long as you make sure you can lock them up. You can also leave things behind and only bring a drink or whatever is absolutely necessary. Just make sure it all doesn’t interfere with your ability to ride your bike since that can make the trip quite the disaster a lot of the time.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Rides will take some energy to get through. While this is a more casual and not a big workout, you should be fine in most cases. But, if you just had surgery or have another reason why you shouldn’t be active, make sure that’s out of the way before you join. If you can get a doctor’s okay if there is something you’re not sure about, that may make you feel better about going on this trip. The people that you’ll be riding with are helpful and if anything goes wrong you’ll be sure to get someone over to help out quickly.

Moonlight Mass Cape Town rides are something that anyone can enjoy. Just make sure you have the right equipment and that you know when it will happen. There are going to be others there so be sure you ask someone if you’re not sure about what the times are and where you’ll be going.

General Considerations On The Woodstock Cape Town Cycle Lane

Cape Town is a cyclist-friendly city. There are countless cycle lanes and bike friendly venues, so cyclists can commute to and from work without any problems. Nonetheless, there are some challenges that need careful thinking and firm actions, as you are going to see in a moment.

Cape-Town-City-Cycle-Tours-1231

Unfortunately, cycling lanes are sometimes used as kerbside parking by vehicle drivers who don’t care about the community they live in. Motorists are also hogging these lanes, leaving very little space for cyclists to use. Experienced cyclists may be find with that, but beginners are surely challenged whenever they encounter such obstacles on these lanes that were supposed to be used solely for cycling.

 

A few years ago, the Woodstock Cape Town cycle lane, as well as many others, have been painted in green. This initiative was intended to make the streets safer for the riders. Nonetheless, speeding taxi drivers took over these lanes, turning them into dangerous routes. Moreover, deliver vans appeared to find these green lanes to be the perfect spot to park for quick deliveries. This is how the skid resistant surface meant to offer cyclists increased safety turned out to be a paradise for all drivers who needed to go a bit faster than everybody else or for those who wanted to park their cars for a little. Although clearly marked, all these lanes were overrun by car drivers and motorists, thus becoming a real hazard for riders.

Cape Town has spent R300 million on non-motorised transport projects, including the cycle lanes which have been painted green with skid-resistant paint. Picture: Thomas Holder/Independent Media.As the Woodstock Cape Town cycle lane can contribute to improving the traffic flow inside the city, it surely deserves a better fate than becoming the fast lane of crazy drivers who can’t waste their time on the road like everyone else. Bicycle riders could report all such incidents and misbehavior, thus helping the police do a better job at finding these drivers and penalizing them. This cycling route deserves to become safer, but this is a hard to reach objective, as the officials are overwhelmed with many other problems that need to be addressed in order to maintain the safety of this city.

Luckily, Cape Town has a fairly large sport cycling scene. In addition, the growing number of biking commuters can contribute to the improvement of the actual situation. The hipster suburb of Woodstock is home to one of the largest cycling enthusiasts communities in the city. These people love their vintage bikes, with their refurbished frames and their classy looks. There’s even a cool workplace and coffee spot where these riders love to hang around. This place is Woodstock Cycle Works, and it is decorated with vintage bike frames and other similar elements. This is the favorite spot of bike lovers. Many of the m gather here for a coffee ride to start their weekend on the right foot.

IMG_9407

Woodstock Cycle Works is one one example, but the list could go on, as many other coffee shop and restaurant owners have decided to turn their places into biker-friendly spots. Under these circumstances, the need for safety and for protected bike lanes in more than obvious. Slowly but surely, such initiatives can turn Cape Town into a paradise of cycling commuters. This may entice some drivers to give up their cars and ride their bikes to and from work. It’s enough to think about the fact that back in the 1970s, Amsterdam was a city dominated by cars, to see the potential of Cape Town and of other similar cities. The only requirement for this to happen is to secure the safety of cyclists.

The new cycles lanes are welcome by local communities, as cycling is an inexpensive way of commuting. The design of new cycle lanes such as the ones running from Liesbeeck Parkway to Station Road, Woodstock, is meant to promote safety in traffic for cyclists, as well as a pleasurable ride. This trend is fascinating, as it can be the most effective solution to the global warming problem all countries of this planet have in common. The sooner we understand we have to put an end to this heavy pollution by adopting environment-friendly initiatives, the more chances we have to offer our children a beautiful planet to live on.