Anyone who rode the P&P Argus tour yesterday with an opinion on what worked and especially what DIDN'T! Please feel free to state your gripes and wins here and we'll forward it to Supreme Chancellor Zille to fix or at least consider for next year. As my first Argus I was luckily with old-hands who showed me the way to go, so preparation, timing, parking and loading into the chute was pretty smooth sailing. It did help that I arrived early. All I had to do was look out for the Standard Bank building, as per map and get to H-group (and freeze) and wait. There are a few things I would do differently; Start procedure- deploy much more staff to check the 5 "required to race" items (chip, numbers on h/bars; on brake cable;on shirt, a helmet, race card) have more access points for riders to get to their respective groups add more lighting at the start holding areas supply more toilets and refuse bins at start area potentially add paid lock-up storage at start line deploy marshals inside the chutes to stop late-comers from pushing past riders who arrived on time, to secure better start position on windy and even non-windy days, add some sort of windbreak on exit of the start line (just past the buildings), to prevent cyclists getting blown off their bikes 30 seconds into the race Timing of groups releases- Accept LESS entrants and charge a nominal amount more to recover that loss of income and THEN release the different groups further apart i.e. the current short intervals between groups are causing bottle-necks from Muizenberg through till halfway up Smitswinkel and the concertina effect on the Atlantic seaboard is potentially dangerous. Our group caught the G-group on the Blue Route and were caught by the head of F-group and even some flyers from J-group at Muizenberg because of the slow-and-go after Blue Route Race timing(racetec) I had a noticeable discrepancy in my recorded time and official time of 3mins. I personally started my Polar RCX 5 -20 seconds after the starters gun and stopped it about 30 seconds after crossing the line, so maybe consider having a second timing supplier ( and NO it doesnt auto stop- also I didnt stop or get off once, so bugs in system??? No? General observations The commentator at the finish line offering drinks could have more than one joke-something to do with “switching the wind off next year” More beer tents! Complimentary massages closer to the finish line More signage directing people to the Cyclelab and other VIP areas Not to play that “Suikerbossie” song at foot of Suikerbossie climb Deploy a person with a warning flag on final turn before Beach Road stretch to the finish line. I nearly overcooked it there, going in too hot and that would have been a long run carrying my bike In spite of the wind, the race was a big success and an absolute pleasure to ride and more especially pleasurable to finish. I can’t wait for next year and will start training for sub 3 from tomorrow. Promise! If you really want to know i did it in 03:36:06
