Interesting email -
IMPORTANT INFORMATION IN RESPECT OF E-BIKES AT THE CAPE TOWN CYCLE TOUR 109 KM IN 2024
· NO E-BIKES ARE PERMITTED IN ANY START GROUP STARTING EARLIER THAN GROUP 3A.
· ALL E-BIKE PARTICIPANTS TO ENSURE THAT THEY HAVE ENTERED AS RIDING ON AN E-BIKE AND THAT THEIR REAR RACE NUMBERS ARE MARKED WITH AN ORANGE STICKER. THIS STICKER WILL ALREADY BE ON YOUR RACE NUMBER PROVIDED YOU DID INDICATE THAT YOU WERE PARTICIPATING ON AN E-BIKE WHEN ENTERING.
· SHOULD YOUR RACE NUMBER NOT HAVE AN ORANGE STICKER THIS CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE QUERIES COUNTER AT REGISTRATION.
· NO E-BIKE PARTICIPANT MAY COMPLETE THE COURSE IN A TIME FASTER THAN 3hrs 50min.
· THERE WILL BE E-BIKE MARSHALLS WITHIN THE START PRECINCT TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE.
We encourage everyone to read the following in respect of e-bike inclusion and participation.
Since its inception in 1978, the Cape Town Cycle Tour has embraced inclusion for all riders and all types of bicycle. The early years were rich in space-age recumbent machines that would often beat the professional riders by many minutes. We have welcomed trikes, unicycles, even a pair of penny-farthings. And in the halcyon years of tandem racing, in the late 90s, more than 1 000 teams would sign up and line up for the most beautiful race on the planet.
Most recently, our attention has been focussed on the e-bike explosion, and the thousands of new cyclists pedal-assist machines continue to bring to our beautiful sport. We have created some separate rules for e-bikes, and their riders, to follow, which are in the general rules you all accepted when you entered the 2024, but some of them bear repeating if we are to keep on the path of successful inclusion for all.
RESPONSIBILITY
E-bikes offer riders some significant advantages, specifically on the climbs where many newer riders are unaware of the speed differential they have over a normal bike. We have had very few real-world problems with this – partly because we keep the seeding system in place so that relatively experienced riders ride with each other, but also because many riders understand that the power wasted hooliganning up Wynberg Hill may well turn to walking up Suikerbossie with a dead battery.
But as battery life gets better, and riders take up Giant Bicycles’ generous battery-swap function just short of Noordhoek, the risk of running out of power is reduced and temptation rises… we ask all e-bike riders to keep the spirit of the event in mind and smell just as many roses as the riders around you. It isn’t a race, especially for e-bike riders. The Cape Town Cycle Tour is a celebration of pedalling the most spectacular roads in a safe, happy environment.
IDENTIFICATION
For the 2024 event, all registered e-bike riders will have an orange stickers on their back number for ease of identification. Any e-bike rider without the orange dot will be required to have an orange dot applied in the start chute, where their category will be updated on our systems to e-bike, and will be required to move back to 3A or lower, if they are in a higher seeded group.
We will have experienced marshals checking bikes entering the start chutes in 2024, to make sure the few errors of omission – deliberate or unintentional – are identified and categorisation is spot-on for the safety and happiness of both the e-bikers and the normally-aspirated cyclists around them.
There is still time at registration to make sure you are correctly categorised – if you are riding an e-bike (maybe you weren’t going to, but now are, or possibly you missed the tick-box in the registration process) no matter – we aren’t angry, we just want the safest outcome for all riders. If you are riding an e-bike and you haven’t entered as one, you need to let us know at registration so we can update you on the system.
If you are riding an e-bike and starting earlier 3A, you will need to drop back to that group, or further, to be allowed to start. We can facilitate this easily and swiftly at registration.
Please remember that e-bikes may not complete the 109km route faster than 3 hours and 50 minutes – we have calculated this with some actuarial input as a fair trade off between the fitness of a fast rider on a fully-legal 250w e-bike, and to date it has seemed to be a fine cut-off with very few riders arriving earlier than that time. The penalty, however, for finishing faster than 3h50 is disqualification, so if you are on a pearler of a ride, please just make sure you keep an eye on your time.
ACOUSTIC RIDERS
For cyclists on regular bikes, acoustic they might be called in a musical world, who are worried about the impact e-bikes might have in the earlier start groups, rest assured we are doing our best to make sure your race will be run fairly.
E-bikes in groups earlier then 3A will either be there by mistake on their rider’s behalf, not reading or understanding the rules properly upon entry, or (far less likely) because they are taking a chance. We will have marshals on the start chute gates checking bikes as they come in, but it is a busy time and many of the newer road e-bikes look remarkably like fat-tubed ‘normal’ road bikes, so there is a possibility some might make it through.
Self-policing is the only way we can ask you to help us redirect these riders to their correct start groups. Please encourage them to go back to the start gate and ask the marshals for help acquiring a special orange dot and moving back to a more appropriate start group so they can be integrated correctly to our timing systems. Very few will take exception to being shown the correct path when a genuine mistake has been made, and out marshals are fully briefed and equipped to make the process quick and simple.
WHAT A DAY!
As we have streamlined our e-bike rules and systems over the FIVE years they have been permitted at the Cycle Tour, so we have been able to get a tab on the real numbers of pedal-assist riders joining the rest of us on this magnificent day out. It is significant, and vitally important to the future of the event as e-bike numbers rise into the thousands, that we all welcome ANY new rider to the Cape Town Cycle Tour.
The original Argus Tour cocked a snoot at the draconian Apartheid laws with its first event in 1978 being open to all riders, no matter their colour, race, creed or any other nonsensical classification. As an event, that spirit of inclusivity has remained unchallenged for 45 years.
We all have a role to play in keeping that spirit going; whether we are personally pro or anti this revolution on cycling, it is here to stay and allowing so many people access to the joy, health and passion we all have for two-wheeled adventure. Good luck on Sunday, see you at the finish in Green Point!
