ChrisF

Dan I am still watching the race, short episodes in between life ... WOW !! You are one strong rider !! What if .... if your group of 6 stayed 4 or 5 for longer .... heck, along M3 you were struggling to get the guys to do their turn .... I know it is the nature of the sport at the sharp end of the field .... but it is riders like YOU that make it a spectacle worth watching. Nobody wants to a watch a 108km coffe ride then a sprint to the line ... good on you for keeping the teams working.

And a DIFFERNT view to the day ... A friend had the task of the cut-off controller at the end of the M3. He needed 8 traffic officers to assist, as some riders got aggressive about the cut off .... 🫣

8th to 13th split by 4 seconds .... Congrats to her.

Arno ons weet daar gaan altyd "daai een" wees. Van ons groep ebikers, 3B, was daar sekerlik nie sulke gedrag nie. Daar was later een op Chappies, maar dadelik nog n paar haastige ryers op gewone fietse wat begin skreeu het op die stadige bondel ... (as jy na 7:30 begin het, hoekom wil jy nou skreeu op iemand as jy 1 minuut gaan verloor op daai klim) Ek het skoon sleg gevoel vir die jong dame op haar eerste toer wat heel links sit toe die ou omie begin skreeu .... eerste kyk, nee, dis nie n e-bike nie .... tweede kyk, hy is in dieselfde charity se klere as ek - ek kon net my kop in skaamte laat sak ! Muizenberg tot Smitswinkel was daar n hoërskool seun. Mooi sterk getrap ... maar toe die bulte begin byt, toe begin het n paar meter links en regs beweeg, middel van n groot bondel .... niks lelik nie, maar kon gevaarlik wees. Gelukkig het die groep gesien, en net spasie geskep vir die jong man.

ebikes ... times ... rider behaviour ..... My limited experience on the day - I was fortunate to start in 3A, the first batch to accommodate e-bikes. Naturally we were eyeing each others bikes and tech .... the two ladies on the Bianchis looked good ! Another lady on a Specialized with a connected range extender. All of them drop bar bikes with small motors. A number of couple on matching ebikes. Point is a number of these bikes and/or rider kit was noticable. FOUR shot ahead .... two parked on the pavement in Seapoint just before the finish straight. two more actually entered the straight, then pulled to the left at an opening in the barriers. The lady with the white Spez was on the Seapoint stretch the same time as me. We were soft pedalling the last 500m along the sea front, then followed the flow to the finish line in 3:51. The two lovely Bianchis about 90 seconds later. Just the 4 that raced ahead, the rest of 3B just had a good consistent ride. Rider behaviour .... yes, after the Noordhoek battery stop the odd e-biker was fast up Chappies. Now in saying that, I was doing my normal 20 odd km/h up there, getting a few comments from others suffering up that first climb ... then getting blitzhed by the odd ebiker with a fresh battery. BUT .... now let's also be fair here .... there were many more non-e-bikes blasting up those hills and shouting at people to keep left (I happened to get behind a big slow group) .... even an "ou omie" (probably in his 70's) blasting up that climb to the Chappies lookout point, I had to look twice, he was not on an ebike, but incredibly fast and angry at one and all .... At the time I was next to a very young lady on her first tour .... I took a moment to re-assure her she is doing nothing wrong and this man was not shouting at her (we were both on the left) ..... As much I saw the one ebiker of the 3B group being a box, there were many others not setting a good example either .... Two bits of rider behaviour stands out to me .... that narrow section leading to Noordhoek, it was one thick bunch keeping a steady pace ... nothing to do but stay safe ... nope, this one sod kept on moving up and nudging his drop bars into my elbow, not sure if he wanted me to go onto the pavement or pull over, his front wheel was 5cm from the next guys rear wheel, but he kept on nudging .... thank goodness there ware now potholes or rocks, because he left me ZERO space to move. The other "bahaviour" ... from the toll booth down we were three bikes, my hugging the rock face (trying my best to stay out of the wind), the next on the middle line, third rider on the far left ... first turn fine second turn fine, then on the third turn they both just cut in hard .... I had to grab my brakes to avoid them chopping my front tyre .... None of this has anything to do with the type of bike .... some people just need to get out more and get some road skills.

Some stats, from what I see on the app ... 109km : - 21 564 entered - 17 941 finished in less than 7 hours - 850 DNF, i.e. 5,9% - It seems some 2 773 entered, paid and never started the race, about 12,9% 109 e-bike: - 1 275 entered - 1051 finished in 7 hours - another 16 finished up to 8:10 (would need to check the rules, but I thought 7 hours was the cut off) either way, that is one long ass time in the saddle ! - 29 shown as DNF, i.e. 2,2% - 179 entered but did not start, i.e. 14% Now here is an interesting twist to the plot ... previous years the sub3:50 crowd had the dubious "honour" of having their times listed and a DQ ..... not seeing any DQ's this year. No more bragging rights for not playing by the rules.

Each of has a particular experience from Sunday .... @SilverRider @Scary Rider and myself started at different times. The tandem first .... they noted it being chilly in a few spots .... I was not that far behind the tandem ... never cool, if anthing getting hot through Chappies and Suikerbossie, though Garmin suggests mid to high 20's ... 90 minutes later it was significantly hotter along Chappies .... Strange sitting around a table and sharing such varing experiences from the same ride. Then again, as locals we know how the weather changes along this route on any given day. As to your point .... a lot hotter today !!! Would have been a much tougher ride for the riders starting later

MANY parents with kids on tandems Oooops, GoPro flipped to video ... no more pics ... went through the motions of nice pics along Chappies, to get dark videos in my pocket.

Thank you for all the water points. The music and support is appreciated. The drop into Scarborough was dampened by a an accident of a gent and a lady into the ditch just after the first bend at the top, by the time we passed it the ambulance was not there yet ... And then the realisation that there is a large number of fast riders behind ... focus and GO ....

I got swomped in the run up to Smitswinkel ... tried to get to the front .... nope ... HEAVY traffic for the full climb .... nice group

A moment to enjoy the vibe .... the odd cyclist enjoyed a reprieve from the wind .... then Dixies ...

This section is always super special ...

This is how the youngsters idle down to the start .... PERFECT conditions at the start Then the shoot starts moving forward ... Ouch, was tricky into that rising sun .... And then the wind ...

Lots of internal conversations .... brutal 3.50 vs just stopping for coffee at Seattle .... Tough day fir PB's ...

Ouch, that sucks Water point, 90 degree turn, then that sharp downhill to Scarborough .... nasty crash, high up, just after the first turn ... lady and a gent in the ditch, bikes flung higher up .... still waiting for the ambulance as we passed it ...

I planned and trained for that 3:50 ... even a 44 ring to maximize a couple of spots ... Then the wind .... I was going through my batteries faster than ever .... same with my energy bars and juice. Quickest I have ever finished my juice .... had to stop at a waterpoint for more juice, first time ever. I was digging deep .... hugging the mountain side in the hope of a bit of reprieve from the wind. But the 3.50 was still doable ... so I just kept on pushing as hard as possible. I know it is supposed to be gun to mat .... but I was not going to gamble a DQ on that .... so I started my Garmin after the turn at the first mat. Finshed in 3:50:09 on my Garmin ... 8th to 12th in 3 seconds ... lost 3 spots in the last 20m PS . Yes, it is gun to mat ! PPS ... this is just the maths ... will do a ride review once I have sorted out my photos

SO MANY tandems with kids on the back ....

The vibe along the route is excellent ....

At least all, well most, going in the same direction today ....😋

Burnt through my energy bars and my gummyberrie-juice ... had to stop at Houtbay waterstation ... except traffic was a mess and dangerous .... stopped at the Suikerbossie station for a top up ... Nearly cramped up trying to get going on that incline .... 😬

Enjoy the vibe ... May you have a good ride.

LOTS of riders out and about this morning ....

Which was first .... the pinning or the wisky ....

A couple of riders out along the coast ....

That was some good riding of him