Skubarra

Had a great day so I'll stick with the positive stuff. Also my only reference is the 2014 version at Steyn City which was an organising shambles and my 2nd ride was an improvement in every possible aspect. The venue, access & parking worked well for me (luckily had no run-ins with car guards). Thought the racing in the vets groups works better than in the CTCT where all categories are thrown together in 2 combined groups. Also the bigger gaps between the racing groups helped, even after I got dropped us stragglers could patch a chasing group together and continue racing without being immediately swallowed by the next bunch. Enjoyed the route, not quite the vibe of the CTCT but still there were enough peeps out in the streets cheering us on. On the day the legs just didn't arrive from CPT, felt like jelly the first half, got dropped just after Kyalami but weirdly started feeling better once we hit the climbs in the suburbs (I blame the altitude, can't be the few too many brandies at Saturday's rugby 😝). We even managed to caught most of the bunch again right at the end. Not quite with @stringbean that this event beats CTCT but it's certainly right up there and very well organised 👍 Only moan is that flippen app that guided me to a closed road at 4h45 in the morning, then Google maps took me into Soweto to more closed roads 😬. Had this Capetonian very worried at some point!

Seems the last time Racetec did the timing was in 2019? Not sure why it changed, I assumed costs as Racetec aint cheap, but the system they are using now not really better in my biased opinion.

And well done with your second place in A bunch! Low-level flying!

Annoying but in principle I can live with that. Events with full road closures are ridiculously expensive to host and the organisers need every sponsor and additional income they can get - so happy to indulge them on this if it means I get to do a race with full road closure at a decent entry fee.

Tx @The Ouzo & @Gr3mlin131 - looks dodgy... Will be careful there

Tx - so roughly here?

Another newbie question - I heard at some point in the race (about halfway?) there are some big gaps in the road/highway(?) that are not covered and has lead to some nasty falls in the past. Some pointers on where this is and how to avoid it?

Loved that old 500 - that little thing was bulletproof! Probably got a few 1000 hours out of that unit before one of the buttons finally perished of overuse. Thanks for the offer but I'm good - the Xoss seems quite capable for a cheapie.

Sad thing is there actually was a time when their after sale service / warranty process was very good

Officially no - don't even mention it to the organisers. There are a whole number of official reasons on why its a terrible thing to do. Unofficially - don't think anyone will bat an eyelid.

So thats what I did - phoned today, they received it, turnaround time for assessment 10 to 14 days.... So no 94.7 and DC with a Garmin 🤷‍♂️ Got a XOSS (what a terrible name) at a cheap price, at least it can do the basics and I can continue to record my rides and I have backup for when my Garmin fails again in 2023. So funny when I googled the address for their Joburg office I found the Garmin SA slogan. I applaud their sense of humour 😂 From Garmin Southern Africa "Built to last. Three simple words that describe our products

Same here - assume its some IT issue on their side? What a daft system...

I have a special dislike for Golden Arrow drivers - in the northern suburbs I often see them driving extremely aggressively and at high speeds. It cannot just be one or two rogue drivers, it seems to be something in the company culture that drivers only have a certain amount of time to complete their shifts. Not that its ever really save to cycle on Durban road anyway but the biggest reason I completely avoid that road while commuting.

Thanks for the offer @117 - yes I think 5 days will be cutting it a bit fine as I am based in CPT. Will take a look at the Lezyne as a backup

I I don't know if I'm just hard on the things or have bad luck but I have went through 3 Garmin 520s in 4 years and this 530 now lasted me less than a year My old 500 lasted more than 5 years and I only updated it when the start button started to perish with age and Garmin offered me a 520 for cheap - somehow regretted that ever since

Given that my Garmin dies on average once a year I think its good to invest in a cheap backup unit that you can use while you go through the warranty process - quick google search shows there a few options available that can do the basic gps & heart rate monitor, bluetooth functionality for less than 1K Edit - personally also why I would never buy a Garmin second hand or do a grey import - I need that warranty process to be smooth

Hijacking this thread - so my Garmin 530's screen died this morning - I got almost 10 months out of this unit which I think is pretty good for a Garmin in my experience... 🤷‍♂️ Will go through the whole flippen warranty process but I have a 94.7 and DC coming up in the next 2 weeks an I know there is no way the process will be finished before then, any suggestions for a cheap temporary option for a bike computer while I wait for the warranty process to play out - important that its something that can read my heart rate monitor.

On the race I helped out we managed to get all the approvals well in advance, maybe a things are a bit easier here in CPT (but also it only involved 1 municipality and not full road closures)

Maybe something could be said about the late changes asked by the municipality, but more so - how badly must you suck at events planning to get to within 2 days of your event without having written approval from the municipality? A competent organiser would have had approvals in place months in advance, and if not wouldn't open for entries.

Tx @Schnavel and @Frosty- really appreciate this, would really prefer to do a little warm-up ride to the venue rather than driving through with the car (if one can avoid the bad hombres..)

Thanks - just out of interest what road/highway will you be taking in the area near the stadium (and back?)

Tx - yes. I was looking at the app and the estimate looked super optimistic compared to my previous experience - but seems that Steyn City was the problem last time.

Last time I did the 94.7 was in 2014, we got stuck in traffic on the way to the (then) venue at Steyn City(?) and I completely missed my starting group. Would really like to avoid it this year - I'm in one of the early starting groups and I stay in Auckland Park area, is it an option to cycle to the venue or is it too dangerous and I see Nasrec might be closed? If I drive by car how much time must I give myself to get to the parking area? Edit - I see a similar question has just been asked 😀 - ok so cycling there is not an option...

Its not that cyclists particularly want to cycle on that stretch - it is just the least worse option out of a set of bad options.

Looks awesome - if you want some company I will join you on the 1st half of Day 6 - can show you a "secret" shortcut trail out of Stilbaai so that you can skip the tar road out of town