ChrisF

Thats nothing boet .... 1. The damn tandem beat me to the finish .... 2. I missed my 3:50:01 goal ... 3. Then proceeded 800m up the road, had a shower and waited almost 2 hours for a certain lady from Potch ... but we wont drop any names, nê @Scary Rider 4. Kyk, toe BRAAI ons !! best use Italics before I get an angry reply from a newly registered accunt ....

Tech hat on .... The SANS regulations that define a "motor vehicle" in SA, also has a section on what is NOT a motor vehicle, i.e.: - A bicycle - A pedal assisted electric bicycle with a motor of no more than 250W and the pedal assist limited to 25km/h Any other "electric bicycle", be it a larger motor or a higher pedal assist limit is a motorcycle, and must be registered as such. This is just a copy of the European regulations. Even Europe is struggling to enforce these rules.

Did you consider doing the virtual option, just to keep ticking on to the 21 ?

Glad you came back for the 22nd ride. Sounds like you had a good ride. Our 73 year young aunt from Potchefstroom did her 23rd ride. Managed 7:15, for an unofficial finish.

Comparing CTCT with the other road events, in terms of ebikes, CTCT put the following in place : 1. Despite your best seeding index, no ebiker gets seeded earlier than 3A. Thus they should not be able to influence the race results, i.e. tow a buddy in the race groups. Jip, those that do slip in at the front is a nightmare for the marchalls. 2. The 3:50 number is explained by CTCT .... and a few minutes to either side their reasoning does make sense. Is it a realistic number ? 871 ebikers doing the 109km. About 30 faster than 3.50. 29 gamed the system and came in 55 seconds later. 93% came in after 3.50. Not to bad at all this 3.50 calc. Heck yes, I would love to get in at 3:51. This is our sub-3 goal ... So, what do the other events do ? Tour de PPA ... ebikers start at the BACK ... Winelands .... each year a different approach. Serms now we start where seeded. Durbie Dash same as Winelands. 99er .... we start as seeded, BUT, they copied the 3:50 NUMBER ... for a shorter and flatter cource. A 3:50 CTCT pace gives you about a 3:15 to 3:20 time for the 99er. I have corresponded with them about this. For 2025 they put a ? mark behind the number, and did not enforce the 3:50. Point being, each organiser is grappling with how to deal with ebikes. Organisers such 99er actually talks with ebikers and are trying to find a win-win solution. For the 93% that co-operates, a small number is adding fuel to the fire..... as with most things in life.

Well said 👍 I also started in 3A, passed @Musashi near UCT. He was doing about 20 km/h up the slight incline. Weekend riders spread all over the road. A few not able to keep a straight line. And somebody does a sub-3 througb that ... This is exactly what the e.bike rules try to prevent, and it explains the intent of these rules clearly.

And not even Friday ...

You do realise I also ride an ebike 🤣 EDIT - Okay so you do 2:50 on an ebike .... IGNORING the rules, then want to get snotty on your first post .... Maybe read the rules before attacking others that actually stick to the rules. Then do some homework on WHY these rules are in place. It has hardly anything to do with "you", but everything to do with influencing race results. And if you think you passed so many SLOW weekend riders at such a speed without causing danger, you really need a wake up call !!! Page up a bit, read about the dad's daughter that was nearly taken out by a racer. NO, you wont get sympathy from me. YOU are bad for the future of ebikes in this sport !!!!

Checked the last four medals - year only on the ribbon. Outer rim on the last three exactly the same. You need to take a better look to see the differences. The 2022 one had a very different design. Would be interesting to see how this has changed if one of the long time riders have their collection ....

The tech zone gazebos are still Rotary branded 23 to 24 ... PnP drops of the medal 24 to 25 ... the Rotary inscription is gone and still all 3 look similar in all other aspects. 2022 looked very different

@Zebra

Any 2E group tandems on the Hub ? Nice little action between the tandems .... Unedited .... only a few might want to watch this .... https://youtu.be/GamzvhRq8AQ?feature=shared

Congrats on a race well run 👍 Pretty sure @Me rida my bicycle will take any assistance, just to finish. He has done the short route twice, with the buggy. This was his first long route. They are MTB'ers doing this just for the cause.

Search by your surname. Klick on your name, get all your stats

Less and less opportunities for upcountry riders to get seeding races.

For MTB, worth checking if Vines & Views are still a CTCT seeding event.

Durby Dash in October DC ... could be said it is in a different class to the 100km rides... Winelands in January 99er early February Tour de PPA is your last chance.

Way toooo many words, not enough pics on this thread ....

Had a good start to the ride, happy reversal from the last few races this year. The 3A seeding worked well. Minor speed differences on the ups and downs with the normal bikes, but easy enough to negotiate the traffic. Missed @Me rida my bicycle and the trailers. Past Ladies Mile I was on the left yellow line, spinning 123 r.p.m. doing some 60km/h. Near oopsie near Muizenberg with the dog ... dropped my shoulders and pedalled away from the sound of freehubs behind me as got passed the dog. Simonstown my bike did not feel right going through the bends ... loose wheel ? Cant be, I checked the bike properly .... Looking down I could see the rear tyre had lost some pressure, but was still okay on the straight sections. Having seen spectators with floor pumps I kept going and searching for somebody with a floor pump .... I did not want to loose time playing with the mini-pump .... I pulled in at the tech-point on Smitswinkel. The staff was EXCELLENT !! BIG thank you !! I used this opportunity to change the ebike battery (31 seconds) and the 2 GoPro batteries (almost 4 minutes). Nothing like a dose of adrenaline to PUSH you up the rest of Smitswinkel ! Turn from the sea, and halfway up the climb a gent with a MTB is on the side of the road with a broken chain. 12 minutes later we realised the sram electronic derailure took some sort of a knock with the chain coming off. I suggested he walk that 1km back to the tech zone .... he was a CTCT first timer. I normally love that section after Smitswinkel ... nice time to spin up and enjoy the very slight downhill .... Not this time round .... Wind ? Or did I overcook the first bit ? Past the coke truck I got my rythm back, and had fun on the decent to Scarborough. Just kept that pace through Misty Cliffs, and rocked the bike up the hill. Okay, heavy traffic through the section leading to Noordhoek. Recognised @BMCfan bib, and gave CHASE .... damn ... he can move on those narrow wheels. Had a chat, and then it was Chappies. Expecting heavy and slow traffic I was making up time where possible .... with less than expected traffic that meant I was red lining it by the time we got to the Oakley stand. I slowed down a bit and took some photos along the decent into Houtbay. Time for my Seattle coffee. I stop, and ask the gent to start getting the coffee ready while I wait in line .... Lady with kids at the till. The boy asks about the race number ... "Yes, I am in the race, just a pitstop" ..... "But then you must make it QUICK !!" Some more fresh GoPro batteries while I wait the coffee. Suikerbossie .... I can tell you this much ... doing a "resonable speed" (19km/h) up Suikerbossie on a 250W ebike pushes me into Zone 5 .... Stares of Amish riders from the left ... and then a gent on a Trek ebike sitting down and idling past me like I am looking for parking ... In that moment I had a glimpse into the emotions of amish riders .... I kept on getting out the saddle and rocking it to get to the top. Still thinking I am on time to get to the Prominade at about 3:45, catch my breath, then finish in 3:51 .... Past Llundudno I realised that broken chain had eroded my buffer more than expected. I was not getting my 3:51 this time round .... I dropped my shoulders and gave it my ALL !! Before Sea Point I was feeling dizzy, sat up, some gummy-berry juice, and GO !!! Happy with my 3:54

She did well

That HURTS .... just watching it ....

Exactly .... so somebody agrieved by his/her 16 237th position should take Finish Time to task. He/she can move up a good few positions if Finish Time actually does their work they are paid to do.

It should be that easy. But as of 13:00 Monday, Finish Time has NOT updated the results to address this obvious flaw in their time keeping. In 2024 they applied this with a few races, Have not seen any early starters DQ'ed since then.

According to the rules they should get Dq'ed, results shows they were not. Same as no early starters were DQ'ed in any of the 2025 seeding events. So guess what is going to happen to the start groups when Finish Time dont fulfill their duty .... good luck to the real racers having to deal with the inevitable free-for-all ....

A long scroll through Finish Time, 109km riders ... ONE rider got DQ'ed, from the @ group. Similar scroll through the 109km e-bike group shows something like 29 DQ's. With the current technology this early start thing CAN be policed with the click of a key ....