MDJ

Looking forward to it, my first race for 2020 ????. Weather is looking good so far. Seems it might thankfully be quite a bit cooler in the morning, may need a warm-up for hels ????

Awesome, thanks for the info, will definitely try some WP Cycling events this year ????

The PPA website isn't great, but at least its kind of logical. The WP Cycling one however .... maybe I'm just silly, but I can't seem to find a simple list of the road events for this year. It seems to all lead to an empty calendar with only WP Champs this weekend?

Sad news, it went from 5 to 6 then 8 - now zero. It was really cool to have so many additional 'safe' road event options - I managed to do most of them, but the numbers last year at a few sportives were very low, so I can understand that it was not sustainable to have 8. In my opinion it would be great if there was series of 5 sportive events spread over August to December. There are quite a few guys I ride with who are just getting into cycling and these were great events to get used to 'larger' bunches, have a good race workout and get into the seeding system. Guess I'm gonna have to try some of the WP Cycling events now

The new bike really looks awesome, congrats again . I love your write ups - thank you! I still get dropped, just have a slightly higher average speed most of the time . The A-B group was hectic as mentioned, nice to see the breaks and chase downs up-front in person. Not so nice to have to pick between going over the line or suffering in the wind. Its a race I guess so guys push hard and don't want to give anything away, if they kept left there would have been so much more space. At least when the bunch split at around 70kms our little group of 6 worked well in the wind, rode a better formation - much more sensible for a 'funride'. I feel sorry for the bike marshalls - they did an awesome job as always and really tried to keep everyone safe . Cars passing on left, oncoming traffic - some serious thinking about why it has to be like that, guess I'm not cut our for the racing group ...

Checkout https://brakkies.photofrog.co.za some really awesome shots from the event.

Sportive 7 was originally supposed to happen in October, but they rescheduled it to December due to lack of entries on the original date. The date for 8 was already set and I think this was the only weekend that made sense. Logistically the routes and venue's differ etc. See you at the start line ????

Ahhh that sucks - I was wondering why you missed the last one. We must arrange a December ride

Event Name: 2019 PPA SPORTIVE #7 When: 8 December 2019 Where: Perdeberg Wine Estate, Western Cape Category: Road Venue: Perdeberg Wine Estate Date: 08 December 2019 Start time: 06h00 / 07h00 Long Route: 102 km – 06h00 Short Route: 50 km – 07h00 Lucky Draw: 11h00 Cut off: 12h00 Enquiries: Rozanne Dreyer (021) 671 6340/rozanne@pedalpower.org.za ROUTE DESCRIPTION Long Route (102 km): Click Here for route map. Riders will start at Perdeberg Winery and turn right on Vryguns Road. The route will split at Slent road where the short route will turn left and the long route will turn in the direction of the prison. Cyclists will continue to the R45 where they will turn left, in the direction of Malmesbury. Once they enter Malmesbury, they will turn left on Loedoelf Street and left again at the roboot on to the R302. The route will continue along the R302, becoming the R304 and then turning left on the R312 at the fruit seller 4-way stop. They will continue until they reach the R44 where they will turn left and head back to the venue along Vryguns/Voor-Paardeberg Road. The 102 km route will have 3 water points and the 50 km route will have 1 water points. Short Route (50 km):Click Here for route map. Riders will start at Perdeberg Winery and turn right on Vryguns road. The route splits at Silent road where the short route will turn left towards the R304 and left again when they reach the R304 heading in the direction of Stellenbosch. When they reach the fruit seller 4-way stop, the cyclists will turn left on the R312 and continue until they reach the R44 where they will turn left and head back to the venue along Vryguns/Voor-Paardeberg Road. Water points: The 101 km route will have 3 water points (35,7km | 56,8km | 77,7km) and the 50 km route will have 1 water points (25km). MORE ABOUT THE SPORTIVE SERIES This series is aimed at all cyclists, from beginners to experienced riders, and offers the perfect platform if you want to keep fit riding road events throughout the year, improving your times and setting a new personal best. If you’re brave enough to take on the challenge of the longer routes, the series is a great test for endurance and stamina … and needless to say, completing all the events will be a great source of personal achievement. No pressure though! Each one is also a standalone event, so you don’t have to enter all in the Sportive Series. THE SPECIAL FINISHER’S TROPHY This year, we have decided to do away with medals and do something more innovative and challenging – you will get a beautiful 3D bicycle puzzle that you can assemble once you have completed all the events. The way it will work is that after each event, you will receive a few pieces of the trophy … complete all eight events and you can assemble the little road bike on a stand. However, even you haven’t done all the Sportive Series events, or won’t manage to do all the events, you’ll still be able to buy the missing pieces at a very reasonable cost at the Sportive #8. We still want everyone to have that trophy to display at their home or office. DIRECTIONS TO THE VENUE FROM CAPE TOWN From the Cape Town via N7: Follow the N1, turn left on to the N7 towards Philadelphia Road/R304. Take the R304 exit from N7 past Philadelphia. Follow the R304, turn left on the R302/Klipheuwel Road and continue along Slent Road. Turn right on to Vryguns Road for approximately 2km to Perdeberg Winery, on the left. From Cape Town via the N1: Take the N1 to the R44. Take exit 47 from the N1 and turn left on the R44. Follow the R44 and turn left at Windmeul Winery on to Voor Perdeberg/Vryguns Road and continue along Vryguns road for approximately 7,5km to Perdeberg Winery, on your right. GPS Co-ordinates: Latitude: -33.39’30.00″ Longitude: 18.49’37.00″ NOTES Remember to wear your PPA road fun ride number and Racetec timing chip. No children u/13 on the 101 km route. No children u/11 on the 50 km route. ONLINE ENTRIES Long Route (101km) Non-Member R375 PPA Member R275 U/18 Non- Member R200 U/18 PPA Member R100 Development Entry R100 Short Route (50km) Non-Member R175 PPA Member R125 U/18 Non- Member R80 U/18 PPA Member R50 Development Entry R50 Late entries will be available on the day of the event at the same cost as the online entries. If you wish to enter on the day, please arrive with enough time to register. Go to Event Page

Yes, Sportive #7 - should also be fast and furious: https://pedalpower.org.za/events/pedal-power-association-241

Some photos shared on Facebook by Brakkies Sport Photos from the event: PPA Sportive #8 @ Simonsvlei Really stunning work

It should definitely be happening - there was an option to enter both 7+8 together which quite a few people I know took up. If they cancel they will refund your money - so nothing to lose. I've entered - looking forward to the final race of the year, long break until January

I understand the stats on why they adjust the winning time ... but it still *feels* wrong when they do that

Hahaha - maybe we should call it Team Pure Savage ... oh wait

Maybe we should plan for it in advance . I'm sure there are enough strong guys on the hub keen to shake things up a bit v.s working in a bunch to get wheel sucked and out sprinted. We could do one training ride and get to know each other. Then make a team and come up with a strategy for next race v.s just leaving it up to fate and letting the cards fall where they may. Even just a 5 minute meet and greet and co-ordinated break - it will be pretty cool to bringing a new dynamic to these races I've joined a club, but at the moment the guys are all over for DC, for the PPA race where we had enough club guys - we killed it, 6 minutes off the winner starting from C.

Thanks @Pure Savage - your train saved my race I started in % and was having a great ride, then my chain came off at around 30kms down a fast section . Had to put my hand up and stop, took a while to get going - tried to chase back, but it was tough going. Then I hear a voice from behind ... "how long have you been out here" - music to my ears. Joined in your paceline to catch the bunch again. It was really cool riding with you guys, painful but lots of fun

E-bike training for CTCT

... famous last words until the Adrenalin kicks in . Might be a better bet to do the 110 for seeding. See you on Sunday, good luck!

Definitely going to be a fun ride for me . Starting in J with our DC team - looking forward to Bains Kloof *full road closure* (thank you PPA), taking pics ... stopping at the snack tables I never get to. Weather looks good for a long day in the saddle, happy to be out riding my bike with the team *fun ride*

Cool, I'm game - happy to do any race over Hels and into Franshoek, love that route. I wouldn't be South African if I don't throw in a complaint though ... so here goes. We need a hill at the start, it was quite a dogshow with the large batches all the way until we go to Hels. All the mamils charging in super tuck down the hills to close off the road and get dropped on the climbs x 10. C'est La Vie ...

Join a cycling club, make some friend Seriously that was how I got to A this season. I joined a club over winter - some really strong riders, which makes your training a lot more painful ... err I mean a lot more fun. We started the first race in a C-E group, worked hard the front, caught A ... then rode to the end. That is one advantage of starting with a later batch, if the next one rides ok - all you need to do is catch them. There is always luck involved, but the more races you do the luckier you get

Swings and roundabouts .... you can't please all the people all the time Its definitely risky to everyone when there are guys in A/B/C/D-batch who don't have the group riding skills, or the 'experience' of recovering from some broken bones/a hard crash . Normally these are the bigger batches riding faster and closer together and while its a 'race' and we all love the intensity most of us have a day job to get back to. I think the lack of experience is the only factor that would be good for them to look at. Otherwise I don't mind riding in A,B,C,D,E,F - they all have some strong riders. Just as long as there are enough guys at the events! Its fun to adjust the riding based on the day, if you are stronger - do more work, get a paceline going, ride a TT ... the different dynamics makes it interesting!

Yip, the new Scott Addict RC - guess, I won't be able to blame the bike for getting dropped in future

Looking at the current forecast a canoe might be more appropriate . On the bright side it looks like I will get my new bike tomorrow . I might have to save it for One Tonner as her first event though - "dam' weather! ...at least we'll be able to shower good and proper this summer!

Still looks wet and windy - character building conditions