BuffsVintageBikes

As a tandem newbie last year (both me (the pilot) and my mate (the stoker)), by far the biggest challenge we faced was racing in a bunch with single bikes, especially if the tandem still has rim brakes. Single bikes are quicker to maneuver in a bunch and now with disk brakes around, they stop a lot quicker as well. This caused a few sketchy moments for us in the lead-up races to the CTCT with guys grabbing handfuls of brakes in the bunch for silly reasons and I'd like to think it's just my experience on a bike that saved us from some serious road rash. This probably won't be a huge issue if you're riding socially but if you're caught by $ group and end up mixing it in the middle of the bunch doing 70km/h down a hill you'd better know how to handle a bike and rub shoulders 😅 Thankfully at the CTCT they seeded us in the Racing Tandem group and that went a whole lot better as there the reaction times are all similar when something happens in the bunch i.e. slow 😄 We were on a loan tandem from Mark at Marks Bicycle Workshop but should I ever buy one for myself with the intention to race it, I'd definitely go for a bike with disk brakes.

I did my 21st CTCT last year and celebrated it by riding it on a tandem with an old mate. It was a great day out on the bike and we did a great time as well... Sub 3:30 🤙

Exactly the reason I didn't pay money to enter it. Rather just get a couple of mates together and go for a 500km ride.

The Cederberg's climbs are truly "next level". I've done then numerous times before on tours and each time I still seem to be caught by surprise on just how challenging they prove to be... or maybe it's because I'm just getting older 😊 Have you done the Plett 2 CT Cape Cycle Route yet? I can strongly recommend adding that to your "To Do" list. Longer than the Cederberg but less challenging terrain and absolutely stunning scenery.

LOL... I never even saw DJR's reply before hitting the quote button... great minds and all 😉😄

Fixed 😉

I tried to warn you about those climbs and a loaded bike but it's something you need to experience yourself to truly appreciate 😉😅

Yup, I see my age group (Men's 55-59) finished in the same time as the Elite women. Though I'm not surprised after seeing names like Udo Bolts placing 3rd in the group. The old ballies are hasty.

The road is still full of stop & go's after the flood damage so at times there are zero cars allowing for great photos 😉

Summer has arrived in the Cape... well for the next few days anyway 😊 Clarence Drive on Sat morning early. Hardly anyone on the road yet, pure bliss 🤙

Bottelary Hills last night with my mate Deon

The wider tires make a considerable difference in effort, I can strongly recommend road tires 🤙 I've got a set of identical wheels, one with 45C gravel tires and the other with 28C road tires. However my next set will be 32C tubeliss road wheels, that will give me a little more confidence riding them on smooth gravel stuff as well.

We all believe what we believe but I certainly don't hate, I love his racing style. I'm just not naive enough to believe he's a freak of nature racing on creatine & bicarb.

Robbie Mac... over 105km/s who also always raced clean 😉

I saw these stats this morning on his attack... 101km Time: 2:18:20 Avs: 44.3 km/h Elev gain: 1700m For context... After 4hrs 15min of racing in his legs, he still rode the Argus route (with 500m more climbing) in a faster time than the current Argus record holder... 11mins faster and Solo 😄 Yeah, he's totally clean for sure 🙄 I'm obviously skeptical but man, I do love watching the racing, it's a bit like watch WWF and believing everything is unscripted.

and your Afrikaans 😉

Great to hear, BMX is a great feeder sport into all types of other sporting disciplines in later years 🤙

Sadly, if there's one thing cycling has taught us over the years is that if looks too good to be true, then it probably isn't true. Excuse my jaded viewpoint but we've been down this rocky road far too many times to just except that someone is so much more talented or physiologically different to the rest. The only consolation is that if he's on rocket fuel, so are the rest and his octane is just better. Impressive ride nevertheless, to hold the worlds best at under a minute for so long must have been a mind f*$k of note. On that note, I enjoyed the women's race more than the men's this year. It had far more excitement, even with Vollering being a total plonker and riding her team mates off meaning the Dutch missed the podium altogether 🙈

That's a seriously loaded bike, good luck on those climbs 😄👍

Jamaka Organic farm is close to Algeria and a great place to stay.

Sadly the Epic is losing it's "Epicness" by constantly changing its route to cut costs and improve logistics. Part of the initial attraction was covering large parts of the Cape and being exposed to different climates, vegetation and scenery. It's also what made the production so epic. Now it's just going to be a hot & dusty suffer fest between Durbanville and Paarl. It would be crazy for locals to pay this much to ride trails you can ride every weekend. But then again, the Epic is no longer focused at attracting locals I guess. The good news is that you can still go and ride most of the old Epic route, any time of the year, for a fraction of the cost and have an absolute blast 🤙

I needed to leave soon after the race to pick my daughter up in Stellies and I came across some of the mid/back markers of the 130km race fighting their way into a block headwind on that tar section toward Caledon. It was at that stage that I was extremely grateful that I chose to do the 80km race, that just looked NAAAASTY 😩 We also got passed by the winner of the 130km race while having a snack at water point 2... he was on rails and doing some low flying 😲 Thereafter the top 8 caught us before we finished our race. The front guys were extremely strong, they just made me realize how bloody old I've gotten, I wouldn't have been able to sit their wheels even if I tried 😄

Or Full XXXX groupset for sale but then the rear derailleur or shifters are YYYYY 🙄

A huge congrats to Guido and the rest of the organizing team. That was really a great event and you could honestly not ask for a better gravel route 🤙 The views in the Cape at this time of the year are just incredible and the weather even played along for a change. It's not often I get to stop and enjoy refreshment points in a race but we decided to take this race easier due to a mate nursing an injury and boy oh boy, that 2nd water table was a special surprise... Yoh, we could have spent all day there with those delicious treats on offer 😊 The free beer at the end was a lovely touch and most welcome. Nice meeting you as well Guido. We'll certainly try and make this an annual visit to Greyton. A group of good mates & family shared a beautiful old house in town and we made a long weekend of it. We managed to get in 3 days of incredible gravel riding in the area but by yesterday our legs cried enough. Those Rollers eventually take it out of you 😄

Yussus, some okes (and their e-biking Mothers) just stuff it up for everyone 😉 I might be so shattered by then that I'll rejoice at not having to do it 😄