Skubarra

afaik photographers were mostly from the school photography club, so maybe not quite used to these kind of logistics, but will give through the feedback.

There seem to be some "technical" issues delaying the process. But photos will be uploaded on social media (hopefully) soon.

Well I guess there is a lesson there - if an event that's on your bucket list is cheap, get in and do it as soon as possible, don't assume that it will be cheap forever. If the demand is there and the event is well run then most likely the entry fee will go up exponentially.

Wow - I stand corrected. Racetec never disqualified people who started in earlier batches, Finishtime certainly don't take nonsense... I was a marshall at the start (apologies for the chaos, I also was surprised that there were no officials with megaphones taking charge) Noticed a father sneaking his son into an earlier starting group moments before the start (I happen to know his name but did not have time to react) - I now see in the results he has his result but his son got disqualified. I guess we can say that is the one improvement of Finishtime over Racetec 👍

Unfortunately quite common for people to start in wrong groups, I have never seen it strictly enforced to the extent that people are disqualified. If people were disqualified yesterday because of that its a first.

I very much doubt the DQs had something to do with people starting in wrong batches or doing something wrong on the route. Don't know if it has something to do with the timing system, one can only speculate, but if it does this does not augur well for the CTCT where you will have mass bunch starts. The technology seems to work well enough for runners and mtb'ing, does it work for bunches of cyclists crossing the racing line at speed? Only time will tell (as I am not aware of any specific testing)

Yes its a bit of a head-ache to do a road race and gravel race on the same day where routes will overlap and cross. The school does have good relationships with the farm owners so there are a few interesting options like for example to use some of the Klipheuwel trails to connect Occultdale and Spes Bona. Ultimately the powers that be were not entirely sold on a gravel race but I'm hoping we will be able to do it in the future.

Would be interesting how many would do both - not sure if it would be enough to justify the additional costs of hosting the event over 2 days but maybe something the organisers can look into. There might be a gravel route in future editions of the race, but it is actually surprisingly difficult to put together a proper gravel route from Durbanville that doesn't include a lot of tar.

Thought I answered this but seems my phone didnt post.. They look up your number on the database, usually they just need your name. If you have your CSA number that might be useful.

They usually look you up on the system with their laptop, just keep your membership number on your phone in case there is an issue.

Things must be a bit different up north, here in the Western & Southern Cape CSA is very diligent on this. I regularly have to give proof of my annual license, even on the kerkbasaar type of races

Dont think its much of an issue, yes not the greatest surface on that section but not unrideable - more than enough places after that to make up extra miles if needed

Maybe not doubled but I was also a bit surprised by how much the event fees increased over the past few years. Still the best value for money around and I guess a better business model than starting too expensive and then having to find ways to reduce fees and costs to survive.

Personally I prefer the roads north of the N2 in that area (but still south of the mountains). Less wind, roads generally in a better condition and better scenery. Downside is some nasty rolling hills, especially if bikes are heavy with baggage

Like Chris mentioned - when you enter they mention a CSA license, so I am sure that they will be sanctioned. I wouldn't read too much into the clash of dates with the TdW, this happens all the time with mtb and gravel events that are CSA sanctioned. The only big event I am aware of that is not CSA sanctioned is Karoo to Coast

We need to direct our anger at the Cycle Tour Trust who screwed over the smaller event organisers when they converted to a new timing system with no plan in place for events prior to the 2024 CTCT. Also screwed over the road cyclists that now have to purchase a temporary timing chip for every event they do the next 5 months.

The road timing chips were low frequency chips, the mtb boards are high frequency (whatever that means) So the old mtb boards are compatible with the Finishtime technology and dont need to be replaced

The way this makes sense to me is that Cycle Tour Trust cares about the Cycle Tour and only the Cycle Tour, everyone else is on their own. That the change of timing systems incurs additional costs to road cyclists in the WC and cause headaches to the organisers of the seeding events that used Racetec in the past is not their concern. Edit - your permanent mtb board should be fine, it already uses the new technology so it doesn't need to be replaced.

The boards you buy before the Argus will be temporary, the permanent board will be with the Argus entry So people doing races prior to the Argus will be wasting R20 to R50 per race on temporary boards - could add up to a tidy number for people doing many events Very wasteful decision by the Cycle Tour Trust.

So the issue is the permanent boards are not yet available - seems will only be ready for the CTCT. So all the smaller events leading up to the cycle tour that used Racetec in the past are screwed over by this change - they either need to absorb the cost of the temporary licenses or add the costs to everybody's entry fee if they want timing. This will also explain the big bump in the entry fee for the CTCT - they are adding the cost of the new timing boards to the fee.

I see - let me message the organiser, plans might have changed 👍

Probably because the time keepers don't know yet and details haven't been finalised. But as I have it the permanent numbers will be in use from Durbie Dash onwards, so if you buy a board for one of the spring/summer races you can use it permanently incl the cycle tour. Same timing system they used at the 94.7 ie a board you can fit on the seatpost so you won't have a big mtb board as a timing chip. Whether there will still be a small board upfront as with recent cycle tours i dont know. Edit - that was the original plan a few months ago, there might be issues/problems that cause a change of plans.

don't be like that - they probably had at least 3 phone calls...

We had squatters in a public park here in the northern suburbs @Robbie Stewart should know about it. City & community had to work really hard to remove them. Took more than 2 years of working through tons of red tape, court cases and a bucket load of ratepayers money. So unless whoever the owner of that land is, is fully invested in removing them and willing to throw lots of money at the problem those squatters are there to stay and no amount of petitions and logging complaints with the city are going to change anything.

Is it not one of those cases where the squatters are on Transnet/National Government property so the City / Provincial government are limited to what they can actually do with the squatters.