dannygirl

Ai, culled everything but 2 'fun rides'...

Entered 45km @ R125 (PPA discount also) - reckon that was discounted!

Welvanpas

Thanks LeoKnight. Doesn't look like the 37km (or the CTCT MTB 20km) were added to seeding calculations (although both events' 2017 versions are in the mix) - strange...

Where did you get the seeding from?

To Annemart and team - thanks for another very well-organised event! My 2c: Markings were great (37km) Distance was what it said it would be Start, finish area, bike park etc all worked well Think the introduction of a 57km route was very positive. Perhaps not all will agree, but seeing as there is now a longer middle distance route, perhaps consider reducing the distance of the 37km to closer to 30km...that way some of the 13km bunch could possibly move up a bit, plus in my opinion that last 5/6km sandy bit is just more of the same and don't really add any value... Oh, (and this is something that would be nice for most events on farms) a would it not be nice to know on which farm we are riding? Things I've seen today: Sand A tandem MTB cycling up that steepest bit near the top of the climb to the mast where us mere mortals struggled to even push... Spectacular falls - all in soft sand... Sand Will be back next year!

Ride In breakfasts are great value for money - PLUS they are dog-friendly!

I'm eating my words...why didn't we bat on until lunchtime today??

Jo, should cap'n Faf not have decleared after reaching his 100? Surely not much more is to be gained from a few more runs?

G-spot with the hound

Also noticed them. In our start group, a guy on a fatbike was going for podium - from 4J. He literally pushed and shoved his way to the very front in the start shute, and then swerved his way through to Smitswinkel, where I thankfully lost him. This after several people pointing out that he was a danger to others...to be met by expletives and a patronising 'why don't you just enjoy the view'. I'm pretty sure though that he didn't ride under his own number - I won't name any names, but 'Willem', nobody that have done more than 10 tours could possibly ride this badly? On that note, is there a mechanism to report suspected cheats? I know this is a 'fun ride', but it irks me no end to see people get away with it... Came across two young ladies cycling sedately on the left just after cresting Smits - now they were wearing 7B and 6G numbers respectively. At that stage only a few of the faster 5 riders have passed us. I mean - we were about 2 hours in, and were passing two riders from a group that started 1 hour 27 minutes after us?

So...when do we start the 2019 thread?????

What's with the waterbottle cap? A WMD perhaps?

I promise I will... Oh and slicks ready to roll...

Are you serious? Not sending us all on a wild goose chase? A picture of the number or it didn't happen... (Was planning to go after work but don't want to drive through from Stellenbosch in vain...)

so the numbers are problematic...but what about the GOODY BAGS??!!

Do get that checked out - I have an iron deficiency, and my throat was so dry on Saturday, no amount of drinking could quench it. Dr. Google suggests there may be a link...

I can't agree that this is a 'victimless crime'. Say Jonny A is seeded in 1G but Peter B is now riding in his place. Peter B may now be starting way out of his depth, and may actually be a danger to the group he is starting in... Or if Jonny A is a slower rider and now Peter B takes over his spot and finishes 2 hours faster than Jonny would have, this would improve his seeding no end for future races - is this fair to other riders? I'm sorry, but I feel strongly that rules are rules, and should be adhered to. Having substitutions open to 10 days before the race honestly leaves enough opportunity for those who really wanted to enter, to do so...

Missed out on a podium place in the short route because of lack of signage, which lead to some of us joining the same loop twice before realizing there must have been a turn-off - so back up the hill we went... Marshalls at the waterpoint about 1.5km on didn't seem too interested to hear about it / fix it... Constructive criticism for the organizers: Signage could have been a lot betterMarshalls would have been handy at a few additional points (there were LOTS of them at the last waterpoint!) - specifically where the long routes merged from the right with the short route, just before said waterpoint. Almost got taken out here! Seeding - pleeeaase have look at the results to see how the seeding in the short rout specifically does not reflect results at all? Only 8 out of top 30 in short route was in AS? (As opposed to the longer routes where the top 30 is almost exclusively A group). How do I explain to an 11-year old who has provincial colours and who finished very high up why he was seeded in CS, and hence did not have a shot at a podium finish? It seems that no effort is made to seed the shorter route riders, despite many of them having good PPA / Racetec seeding - instead the seeding seems to correlate more with time of entry...Will be back next year, though...although still hoping they'll go back to the two-day format, so we can do two rides! (Would be interesting to know if overall numbers were down as a result of the 1 day event only).

With the hound yesterday, above Coetzenburg

TWK dam last Sunday (open pic for full extent)

If need be, one can always blame the size of the board for its contribution to wind resistance... ;-)

Online entries are now closed! Limited late entries are available at Registration Late entry fees: 60km – R350 40km – R300 20km – R200

Still a tiny bit miffed that they've condensed it into one day - used to be lekker to ride very socially on the Saturday and then do a longer route on the Sunday...

Seeding on Racetec - or look in your Spam folder in your inbox (seems like most seeding emails ended up here...)