bleedToWin

I'll ask for more info. Just know it's a Stellenbosch group.

Hearsay, but from reliable sources it is being confirmed as reported. Early morning attack with maximum violence by two individuals. I'm also really hoping for more info. How do you prepare for unprovoked violence of such a nature? 😱 Apparently there is a growing fund for any info that would lead to arrests.

Jonas has two descending sections yes, but when it climbs the only slack offs are down to 10% between long stretches of 15%... 🤣 Looking at power and speed and gradients from a top contender now for Swartberg. I think it's mainly where it's placed in the race and the loooong drag into the the actual steep part that makes this one such a challenge.

Yeah, 156km in the legs will change things up quite a bit. With Jonaskop I was quite fresh, although not 100% in good health. Would have liked more gears, but made up for it with Watts in the first 50 minutes. It was only the last 3km or so where the relentlessness of the climb and the elevation started to take a toll. My sense of humour requires more oxygen than what is available above 1300m, and those >15% weren't funny anymore.

Can anyone compare Swartberg to Jonaskop? I would have preferred better gearing, but managed reasonably well with 1:1

I've been eyeballing your entry for weeks now, but apparently I not only need to convince my family that Prince Albert is a nice holiday destination and not really that far of a drive, I also need easier gearing.

810 is officially 34t max, so that's what I've got on. How does it handle going 11-36?

Is renting a midsized car not an option so that you can fiddle with dropped seats to get the box in?

1. When it was closed for cars it was technically also closed for cyclists... 2. Very nice still, and not too busy. The stop and go sections are short. On Sunday I think I had to stop only at two on the way back, and on the way out got waved through every single time.

Also, what's the TLDR on Inspire vs Premier?

It's actually the second person that makes a race out of it when following the wheel of the first person. It's as easy as letting the wheel go. 🤷‍♂️ I often train in groups where I'm the strongest. Invariably if the group is big enough it will have folks that surge on climbs to keep the speed high. It has nothing to do with Strava or avg speed chasing, it's just ignorance to proper training methods. The whole group follows and I am the only one allowing myself to get dropped. If the climb is long enough they will slow down and I catch them doing my same z2 Watts, but even if it's a roller they'll sit up at the top and I'll catch up doing the same Watts. Later in the ride I'll hear complaints about the surging, and sometimes even directed at me because I don't allow the group to rest on the flats by sticking to my z2 Watts. Every once in a blue moon someone will ask me about why I keep dropping and what power I'm doing etc, but mostly sheep just keep on sheeping.

As is all of life... 🤷‍♂️

Like how you accuse the author of projecting when their first words were introjection? "It's not you, it's me." 😏

That's a recipe for riders illegally riding under someone else's entry... Better to charge a substitution admin fee and keep things above board IMO.

We (Wine Lands Mixed) caught the Hit Squad early and they immediately sat slip. PCH caught us but came over our paceline and sat up so we tried overtaking again or at least sharing the road. Wasn't really working so we opted to sit 20m behind them. This worked for a good long while until after Tradouw descent where we had a mechanical to a key rider. The whole time we had Hit Squad in our slip. After the mechanical we were able to ride freely until feedzone 1. Halfway towards feedzone 2 we had 3 teams in our wake and got caught by Savage with 4 teams in their wake. As others have said, the event format makes this unavoidable. Mixed teams have to apply their power at specific areas in the race in order to not burn their ladies. Overtaking was not an option. Dropping off simply resulted in us needing to pass teams dropping from Savage on the climbs and then they latch on to us to reform the mass on the descent. It was impossible to get anything going. Should we have given up our race? I don't like this aspect of the race. As lame as it is it is allowed in the rules, but it certainly was not a loophole exploited by us intentionally. I do understand that others will feel differently about how things played out. Last year I was in a mens team and our seeding resulted in us never getting caught by a stronger team so we had a clean ride for 9th. I was proud of that one, and I am proud of this one too... The womens category is these days able to run without interference and the mens too. Perhaps if not possible for the mixed category (and in light of the winners nearly coming 2nd in overall!) it would be best to only have two competitive categories... 🤷‍♂️

Everyone focused on DC maybe?

Well, now with Paarl Cycle Tour cancelled this weekend just became free for all the roadies.

@MyriadEventsSA Is it not time to step into the void? Drop the silly winter league idea. Cycling is a summer sport and we are looking at a 7 week period with no road races slap bang in the middle of summer while all of us are fit!

Maar Wynand weet klaar alles... /s I agree and am trying to do the most with my limited influence via my team and club. Let's in parallel hope that when the incompetent organisers fail that others can take their spot and hopefully be open to input and getting the basics right.

Their strategy consisted off: Self professing to be the new Burger-Sanlam Early bird entry discount if you enter before 15 December 2022 (50 weeks before the race) Listing the event on the MyActive Events calendar

https://paarlcycletour2023.myactive.co.za/CaptureDetails/Home.aspx

Netwerk24 Paarl Cycle Tour Cancelled 17 days before the event due to low number of entries. Zero marketing done for the event. Am I wrong that 80% of entries are normally received in the 24h before entries close? I'm on a 40-rider squad that normally have about 25 entrants for every road race. We only have 3 riders that have already entered, so for us it's over 90% in the "yes I'm doing it, but still have to enter" camp...

Looks like a reasonable composition, but very expensive.

At One Tonner the poor parking, lack of PA system to communicate with those in and around the start area, and poor vibe at the finish area are all valid points to complain about without being labelled a snowflake. It felt like no-one involved in the planning had ever participated in a road bike event. The difficulties were predictable, making it even more frustrating. A large reason for participating in these events is the mass start with riders of similar ability and half the field were denied that, reducing it to a club ride with marshals and water points.

Amazing. Incredible. Unbelievable almost...