sluiper

Wow. Some next level craziness out there. Just out of interest: why do they swim to Miller's Point and not to Cape Point?

Ha ha, sorry, meant to write 3 mile I'll be using a wetsuit. There are some very brave (read: insane) guys that will be doing the swim without wetsuits.

Just in case any of you missed it, the Human Rights Day Swim that was supposed to happen on the 21st is now happening on the 30th. There's a 3km swim which should be a nice warm up for next week's Ironman.

I was in D and we caught the slower part of C just outside of Simonstown. I was in B last year and from my perspective the smaller bunches were much, much better and a lot less scary. The concertina effect from last year was a lot less pronounced and the group was a lot more manageable. There were a lot less crashes and overall more riders "belonged" in the group. Would also like to see the E rider with a sub 3 as only 5 or so from D managed to go sub 3.

Jeez, that sucks. All the best for the operation. Heal up quick for Ironman next year.

Sorry to hear At least you're still here. There will always be next year.

Don't know, but I warned him that if he mentions he did a 3:10 on a 29er with knobblies I'd come and find him and hurt him.

Minimalist for me too. I strap 6-8 Gu's to my topbar and leave food in special needs bag (bananas, carb drink & stroop wafels). I drink a lot on the bike, so initially have a 750ml bottle with something like 32GI which I'll swop out along the way. Also 1 small saddle bag with a tyre lever, tube, adapter, 2 bombs and a patch kit.

Anyone up for a quick dip in the dam at Grabouw tomorrow? One of our swimmers had to pull out.

Agreed. Just too expensive for what it is. Dropping close to R1000 for 2 and a half hours' entertainment is a bit much for me.

Wow, a proper hardcore bonk for me. Stuck with the front of D for about 80km, ran out of water and proceeded to cramp, get dropped and cry (in that order). I think the last 10km took me 40 minutes and old toppies on Diamond Back MTBs were wizzing past me.

Good for PPA. I hope CSA f*cks off into the distance and leaves well enough alone.

Very, very happy about this :) Also got the mail, will definitely be doing it twice. They must have been reading the forums, I guess...

Do you guys know what I CANNOT wait for? All the posts after the Argus that say "Broke four hours on my 29er with knobblies. Whoohoo!!!"

They used all races last year as well. I specifically remember because none of the "seeding" races were used for me last year. Any PPA Racetec timed race will count towards your Argus seeding.

Just thought I'd ask the Brainstrust of South African Triathlon on TheHub their opinion: I'm sure a few of you have been following the Argus threads and the seeding debacle for the front groups. The Argus was a pretty crazy race for me last year in B and it seems that this year will be even worse with the front groups only getting a 1 minute gap between them. Are any of you considering giving it a miss? Seeing as the race is only a few weeks out from the IM, I'm seriously considering just dropping back and having an easy day out. Last year I saw and was lightly involved in a lot of accidents and I can only imagine that this year will be even more risky. Image relevant...

Seems you should have ridden faster in the seeding events?

Unless you did other non-Ractetec timed races and have proof of it, I don't think they'll adjust your group easily.

Wow, so many variables come into play here... Are you drinking wine or beer? Spirits? Tequila? Will there be ladies of the night (a.k.a. strippers)? Will you be cycling home? What is your average intake of alcohol per day? All or some of the above will affect your chances.

I'll be honest and tell you they're not good. Last year only riders in B and below managed to do a sub 3. This year gaps between groups are 1 minute up to E. Between E and F there's a 3 minute gap which will make it very, very difficult to do sub 3.

Looks like they put a few groups together and made the time in between shorter. I see some chaos coming...

Yeah, crazy day out there (for me, in any case). I rode in A today. We caught % an hour or so into the race and chaos ensued. The group was way, way too big for the narrow road and there was a bunch (excuse the pun) of very close calls with vehicles coming the other way. The marshals tried their best, but it was a very difficult situation with everyone fighting to get to the front of the massive pack. Saw 2 hideous accidents on the gravel happen right in front of me and more than once thought I was going down too. If I had known the gravel was going to be that bad, I probably wouldn't even have done the race.

Jeez, my heart goes out to the poor organisers. R28 000 for marshalls? That's horrendous, especially as entry fees netted them in the region of at least R250 000. How on earth these poor organisers manage to put on any kind of race with that paltry amount of money is beyond me. The exact same concerns were raised by many others (myself included) a few weeks ago after the Journey for Sight race. The only difference was that this time the pathetic marshalling resulted in severe injuries. All of these complaints about only half a cup of Coke at the end for each cyclist are also unnecessary. I'm sure there must have been at least 40-50ml in there. Don't you moaners realise that it's not the organisers' job to provide you with hydration? Be thankful you got anything at all, ingrates.

Not sure yet. Have to agree that it's a boring race and the cost is a bit too high. Would also rather do the ITU race.

Ah, I see