Cycling for the love of life
‘n Dwaalgedagtes op ‘n Fiets (‘Wandering thoughts on a bicycle”) Onrus resident Pieter Loots describes his extraordinary experiences while travelling thousands of kilometres by bicycle, with only his own thoughts to keep him company.
The book gives not only a day-by-day account of his two epic journeys -one from Kimberley to Langebaan and a year later, from Windhoek to Hermanus – but is interspersed with reminiscences about his life, his family and his career. In a frank and open-hearted manner, he shares with the reader amusing anecdotes, philosophies, lessons learnt in the past, sage advice about old age, and poignant poems. Above all, it is about his love of life – and his love affair with cycling.
After an illustrious 37-year career in education, both in South Africa and the old South-West Africa – as a teacher, an inspector of schools and subject adviser – Pieter retired in 1993 and settled in Onrus with his wife, Ella. It’s hard to believe that his early retirement was due to health problems, as this 78-year-old is full of the joys of life and still cycles between 400 and 500 km every month.
He had always been a keen sportsman, taking part in rugby, athletics, tennis and squash, while Ella played provincial netball. While living in South-West Africa, Pieter also took up hang gliding and, never one to do things by halves, soon earned his Springbok colours. When the couple returned to South Africa with their three children in 1980, they settled in Kimberley. With no mountains in the area from which to hang glide, Pieter took up jogging to stay fit. Again, no half measures; soon he was running one marathon after another, including several Comrades and Two Oceans Marathons.
By 1985, now living in Wellington, Pieter was plagued by an old neck injury sustained during his rugby-playing years, and his health troubles became acute after he injured his back by lifting a trailer. Two operations followed to fuse his vertebrae in two places, which left him slightly less mobile than before. He was advised by his specialist to go on early retirement and take it easy. Clearly, he was talking to the wrong person!
By this time the Loots family had already been spending their holidays in Onrus for many years and retired to their holiday home. Pieter and Ella took up bowls and before long they were both playing at provincial level. In order to stay fit for bowls, Pieter decided to give cycling a go and found that by making a slight adjustment to the handlebars, he could cycle without aggravating his neck and back.
He not only started cycling every day but completed 15 Cape Town Cycle Tours. His children are also keen cyclists and often accompany Pieter on hiking and cycling tours; last year they completed the Fish River Canyon for the seventh time. “I only walk and ride with doctors; it’s very safe,” jokes Pieter, referring to his son, Sirk, an orthopaedic surgeon in Cape Town who is “either in theatre or on a bicycle”.
In 2015, despite further health problems that necessitated two hip replacements, Pieter decided to tackle an epic journey, riding his bicycle from Kimberley to Langebaan – a distance of approximately I 000 km, which he covered in an astonishing 11 days. Invigorated by the experience, which saw Ella following him in their motorhome and the couple camping out along the route, his adventurous spirit prompted another journey only a year later when Pieter was 76 years old. This time she rode from Windhoek to Hermanus, covering 1 500 km in only 15 days. Remarkably, he says he was none the worse for wear afterwards.
Back home, Pieter continues to cycle every day, often in the company of his friends and fellow-cyclists, Dirk Theron and Ferdie Marais. He says they would like to invite more cyclists to join them as there is safety in numbers. “We ride anything between 20 and 60 km at a calm pace of about 18 – 20 km/h,” he says. “The trick is to be able to persevere.”
Pieter says since his two epic journeys, he has experienced neck pain almost daily, and there are times when his hands go numb, making it difficult to change gears. But while on those long journeys when he rode an average of 100 km per day, often in extreme weather conditions, he experienced no aches and pains and felt wonderful. “Your strongest muscle is located between your two ears,” he says, emphasising the importance of a positive attitude to life.
“There are a lot of older people out there who are capable of doing what I have done – they just don’t know it,” he says with a big smile.