gripen

This is an excellent response - thanks davem. I believe the primary reason most people stayed away is reflected in your concerns - specifically about the difficulty of the bike course as well as the spectator options. I'd like to add that to attract more entrants and spectators, some form of laps be incorporated in at least the marathon course (where you really need the spectators) and in addition, spectator shuttles from point A to point B to point C (there's a lot of time to work out how to do this, but it would be great for a non-lap cycle race!). The other carrot would be packaged bike transport and/or accommodation options as part of the entry. Going even further, possibly family or support options as part of the entry (example: tourist packages for the day after, maybe a cape point visit or table mountain excursion). This would also help to attract foreigners as they would bring the family along too (the whole point of the race from the City's perspective).

That's a bit like saying "hey, sorry your cricket match was cancelled.. here play some bowls, even though you only have cricket gear and have been doing cricket practice" ;-)

Should be, according to the mail received on Monday!

Enough whining Any news on their refund policy yet? If they don't give 100% at minimum, that will be the cherry..

Thanks, more of an Xterra then. Not really a replacement for an Ironman race. Oh well. Jailbreak it will be

Why not organise an informal IM, call it a training day.. maybe 50 of us club together some funds and do this. Though there will be no medal at the end Or timing chips (unless someone can organise). Lots of ifs and butts, can't really race, have to do the whole distance in a group. If someone is brave, they can arrange something. Effectively a 14hour training session :-) I'm still leaning towards Jailbreak though I know nothing about this race. Does anyone know about the Triple Challenge or Slanghoek Tri?

http://www.urban-ninja.co.za/index.php/2011/10/challenge-cape-town-postponed-so-what-be-the-journey/ Wise words, especially for the haters :-)

I'm changing my focus to Jailbreak. Have done the training, may as well put it to use. I also have to do SOMETHING with my Kulula air tickets, non-refundable, non-transferable. Jailbreak is cheap, may as well do it.

I'd happily do laps of a shorter portion of that was the only option - rather than cancelling. It will suck but not as much as the whole thing being cancelled. Not much we can do other than wait and moan I suppose. Will carry on training. What for exactly, I'm not quite sure yet.

Ya, like the 500 people (Guessing) that entered will even bother for next year. I won't.

Why are people talking about it with no concrete info? Surely the person starting the "rumour" has more info? i.e. reasons etc. Surely these "top Pro triathletes" can shed more light? This is going to be a big deal if true. How much R has already been spent by each competitor.. Good luck to them even trying to hold a race in SA again.

Agree. However by now you'd think they would have worked out how to get the watch to auto-sense which sensors are active so that you don't have to change the settings in T2. It can be a hassle. Otherwise, all good!

Which polar do you have? Generally, you move about a bit too much for it to read accurately in the water. The newest ones come with WIND which uses 2.4GHz - which does not propogate well under water (similar frequency to a microwave oven i.e. perfect for the water to absorb - in layman's terms). So if you have one of these you're up the creek. I'd say write off the HR measurement in the water.. I do find that in water PLE is much more accurate than on the road - you will know if your HR is too high!

http://oi51.tinypic.com/35kobq0.jpg http://i51.tinypic.com/35kobq0.jpg

Thanks! Already doing this. Thanks for the info, did not expect to receive anything but this will be very helpful!

Does anyone know how to check the schedule? We drove all the way there yesterday to find they were closed. Rather annoying considering the hassle involved to pack in the bike and squeeze in some laps before dark. In future, we need to be able to check the day before if the track will be closed. Any suggestions? Is there an online noticeboard somewhere? Ideally I don't want to have to phone someone every time I want to ride. Maybe there is a twitter account or something?

Then DON'T look at the route profile for the CT Challenge Marathon (or just walk the first 6km)

Haven't you learned by now? Just do backstroke. It's the most destructive way to block an oncoming swimmer. If that's too hard, do breaststroke. Kicking up and down is not an option, that makes it too easy for other swimmers to pass. If you are going around a buoy, do not go wide and make sure you do said backstroke or breastsroke taking up as much space as possible.

So my advice would have been good advice then :-)

Faster transition, just keep the wetsuit on.. it's a short race

I'm a bit undertrained for an IM distance. I'm not going to peg a time down with all those hills. I'd say "just finish" but if I'm going to be still running in the late evening, that's going to be a bit unpleasant The swim should be ok, it's flat afterall ;-) but the bike, I dunno. Those hills look rough. Will see about the marathon, the first few km on IM will always be slow. I'd be happy if I can do somewhere in the region of my time for 2011 IMSA. Add an extra hour for the hills. So if I can come in somewhere around 13.5 - 14 hours I'll be happy.

Damn, bars would have been nice for a 6hr ride. New record on the road bike. SIGH... Let's say I'm 90% in, need to check with work colleagues about standby blah blah. Yes, will not be sorry, I do agree. Should even squeeze in a brick run, but let's not push it.

Let me get back to you, need to check my schedule. Will decide on Sunday night. Why use the bars? More comfortable. And I have the bars, may as well use them. Might not find a group that rides at a good pace at these races so will need to time trial a bit. Sounds good, organised training ride :-)

I heard the Cape Town elevation delta is 2800m or something. Over 168km, this would be 2400m. Comparable.. and altitude. I will also take it leisurely if I do this, road bike is gonna suck. Gonna have to take the Clip-ons off and put them back for the Energade race the next day. I'll see how much damage Energade does on Sunday, predicting none and planning a long run in the afternoon. I'm expecting to average somewhere in the ballpark of 26km/h for Cape Town. So 6.5 hours seems on the mark for this race.

I scraped together a route profile in Google Earth. Looks manageable. http://i52.tinypic.com/i1g1h1.jpg