JohanDiv

They won't do the shorter route because they are too fit and "extreme" for that.. you, me and 50% of the field fully agrees with what you say, this is what we want..but the point I'm trying to make is the other 50% of the field won't return. The MTB Challenge always attracted masses because it was seen as part of the CTCT week..that will change now and numbers will dwindle over the next few years no doubt.. Last year when the route was still lekker chill I started in B and on that first little technical kicker 10km into the race onto the dam wall at the back of Klapmuts kop the entire field had to get off and push because some guys in front couldn't get up there. If that's the technical skills of people in B I don't know what it was like in E. And now terrain will be far more technical than last year, there's going to be lots of pushing and falling on the day and the average weekend warrior or roadie stretching their legs for the Argus the next week won't return.

2018 the roads were in perfect condition, gravelbike paradise(except the last 10km maybe), although HB Kruger won it on his full suspension MTB. Last year the road conditions weren't bad, but it was a bit worse than 2018. I do this event on my full suspension MTB, lock out the front and back suspension for the entire race, and pump my tyres a bit more than usual. I'd also like to one day do this event on a lightweight gravebike, I can just imagine how you'd fly on those roads!

I love this event..I actually think it's one of my favorite on the calendar. Rolling hills and canola fields all the way..don't spend too much time at the pont(neutral zone) because you will have a second roosterkoek and your legs will get cold, and that 45min go by very quickly before the clock starts ticking again.

Why spoil a good story with facts I say!

Did a little bit of the 60km route on Boschendal Black yesterday, written off my knee while playing with my gps and lost concentration for a second..such great timing urgh.. hope I can recover in time for this event and the Argus. Just this little 25km section I did was already miiiles more technical than anything on the previous years 60km route. Steep loose rocky climbs(people will push this guaranteed).. Descents with loose and sharp rocks with sandy patches here and there, dry river bed crossings with boulders that like to catch your front wheel.. and just the two sugarbowl singletrack pockets are already far more technical than anything we faced in last years race. I can't see how people are going to ride that steep switchbacks down if last years capabilities I saw is anything to go by. I can already see major pile ups happening down the singletracks. I think at least 50% of the fields entries are lost after this year. Most people don't like this type of technical races, they want the vineyard block roads and simple jeep track for the climbs and the mellow flowy singletracks down like the last couple of years.

Nah in that case not nutrition the issue then. Train longer distances.

Eat and drink more and do this regularly. I ride with droewors in my jersey pocket and have a 5cm piece every 30min on the bike. I'll have a Gu few minutes before a climb and with 20km to go in the race. I make sure a few days before a race I'm well hydrated, and on the morning of the race I have a bottle of water with rehydrate(or whatever puts electrolytes back in your system) on my way to the race. During the race I go through a 750mm bottle every hour and a half. As far as training goes, just ride as much as you can and want to. I think your problem is more of nutrition and not fitness. It was a hot day and you probably cramped up because of dehydration.

This view really just never gets old!

Haha just kidding. That should be low enough for an easy sub 3 Argus!

Fynbrag!

I think more kids are into mountain biking with the Spur League where it is just the kids competing against each other. That seems quite popular these days.

Haha you had strong race! Well done! You almost got away on Voor Paardeberg Road..it took a solid rolling effort from me and three other guys to catch you again. My HR peaked at 202 and I had to fall back in the pack for about 20km just to recover a bit after that! When I moved forward again with around 25km to go I saw they were still letting you do most of the work!

It's always like that! Guys you haven't seen all race long suddenly wants to move forward to sprint in the final km. I was run off into the dirt at Sportive #8 that finished on that same road so this time I tried to go waaay to early to avoid that this time around, plus hoping 9 or 10 guys come with me so we can fight it out at the line with less people..but no luck, left me out to dry haha. Was it you in the Qhubeka kit?

Nicceee!! I'm up 2 index points and from D to C! Happy with that

The way I read it on their page was that with a premier seeding event that single event can count towards your total seeding index. Otherwise the average of your best three other races (not premier seeding events) will determine your seeding index. Whichever one of the two above is better will be used as your seeding index. Not sure how they enforce this though. I've never had an average of three races determine my seeding, and the races they used for my seeding weren't always advertised as a premier seeding event. I just assumed if it's timed by Racetec it could count 100% towards my seeding index.

Actually quickly did the calcs with the assumption that the winner's time is adjusted with 5 min and Beta 0,7.. then my seeding would improve with more than 4 index points. That would be great! But I think they'll adjust the winners time by more then, or decrease the beta..I don't expect such a big seeding jump

This route and conditions was very close to Sportive #8.. There they adjusted with 4min and Beta 0.72 I think. I'm expecting more or less the same here. I think guys in C did well to get a time so close to B, their seeding should improve a bit. Not expecting too much of a bump for us that rode in D.

Yip I agree. They could've had motorbike marshalls with each batch at least. The motorbike only picked us up with 10km to go. The marshall that rode his bicycle in our group had a hard time keeping one lady rider to the left of the middle line for about 10mins. She ignored him two or three times, probably just thought he's a random rider giving her an earful. I was initially actually just refering to the venue traffic, getting in and out for us was easier than expected.

Batch B and Batch C times looks very close. 39.18kmh and 39.08kmh average. In D we managed to keep the average above 38kmh.

And the traffic turned out to be handled quite well by the organizers!

A mate in E said he heard boeing start up behind him at the start and the next moment you okes came past him at a helse spoed..never saw you again. He was sitting near the front somewhere around 55km and the guys went down in front of him. Took evasive action and ended in the bushes with two punctures. Batch D was pretty well behaved today. No real dramas.

I can confirm DL is 06:18. Edit: And OL is 06:48

Did you guys get entries or rolling from Spice? I know of a few other "roofryers" also wanting to do that..

Some mates who last did a Racetec timed race 2-3 years ago still waiting for the seeding email. The other one in OL, race number 1600. Makes me wonder how many entries were available. Must be at least 3000 if you also count the medium and short route guys.

CJ wanneer laas was jy op die fiets?? Nou wil jy 'n 24hour race ry die naweek?!! Edit: Haha sorry Coenie, my bad.. I have a mate from Somerset West, CJ Van Staden.. thought it was him commenting here