DJTerblanche

This was like 100m from the finish. I were a few meters behind them (orange Absolute Motion kit - 6 of us ) and really do not know how he crashed and then his team mate stopped in the middle of the road and we had to dodge him also.

You were super strong, nice to have seen the legend in action, even if out of form ... Whenever you went to the front the group went into single file and some guys just didn't even wanna follow you anymore which frustrated me... Some comments ... "Just let him go I have burn't all my matches" "That guy in the red killed me hels" I'm the guy with the Silverback Space bike and Most Claw 58mm wheels.

I wonder how big the groups will be, seems like it is going to be kinda big since a friend with a K PPA seeding is riding in the B (BL) group of this race, with a race number in the 600.

[Deleted saw it is being discussed here] https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/166069-ppa-road-seeding-index/page-3?do=findComment&comment=3395952

That strung out paceline seriously hurteted me and blew all my matches there which is why I dropped from bunch at Windmeule. We were about 7 guys chasing the front bunch after helz (Probably around 20 big then) and a little before the left turn to Paarl (unto the R301) a bigger group (12 - 15 riders I guess) caught us and at first the pace was not too fast but the closer we got to Paarl the harder we rode. I checked the Strava data and saw that we averaged 45km/h from the bottom of Helshoogte to Paarl where we finally caught up with the front group. On that little drag before you turn left in Wellington, I knew my legs wouldn't last much longer. I was actually in a great position on those Windmeul rollers but not too long after MC Dreyer (I think) attacked, my legs shut down.

When looking at the results, I noticed this guy from U-Z group ending up with a 38km/h average. Normally I would have said this is a long distance riders who decided to do this short route but I recognized his name and he is a 21y old triathlete (with national colours). Anyways he must be super strong averaging 38km/h on this course. His time is 1 second faster than mine arrrrg. Thor's hammer struck me at Windmeul and I was all alone the last 15km's, passed no one and no one passed me.

Ah, ok. I did the race in 2014 from group E, feels so long ago and totally forgot about Malanshoogte. It was a good race. It was my fourth official race on racetec

Winning time in 2014 was 2h30, which would have been a "nice" adjusted time. I think we had the gravel slen road that year, and the pro's wasn't at SA's. Even a 2h42 didn't give a sub 10 seeding. Abit off-topic: I have been thinking that it would be nice if they made add another seeding group which is index 5 - 10. Theres a hell of a difference between the top guys and someone with a ~9 seeding. But they will probably then combine the groups for most races anyways.

I think I stumbled on some inside info on how they determined your Argus seeding. From the below link, I can see all my recent races got a 5 penalty, except Stellenbosch cycle tour and 170km One Tonner. http://seeding.cycletour.co.za/riderseeding.aspx

A starts 06h20, B at 06h25. Not sure if A is first group since website says race starts 06h15. Also wondering if one can collect number at race on the morning.

Not really, you need A or B seeding in order to start with the CAT 1 guys, perhaps only a little hope for a B seeded rider to upgrade to A. If you were lucky enough to start in the A-B group of the West Coast Express though, then you would have received a A seeding afterwards since 35/42 riders in that bunch got a good enough time for upgrading/maintaining their seeding. The more the group breaks there is (and if you manage to stick with the first break), the better your chances is to upgrade. Or if the group simply worked well together to finish with a relative great time. I got the chance to go from D to C this year by finishing with the front guys in the Bouckaert-Soenen race, giving me a 17.41 seeding, and got into the A group for the 99er. Although I did great in the 99er, I only got a 15.5 seeding and were still stuck with a C. But many other D/E seeded riders had the opportunity to upgrade here since I think they also started in the A bunch. Sportiff #2 was a good race for me, since I started with the A-D bunch and got a seeding of 12.42 after this race, putting me in the B group. Sportiff #3 I missed the front bunch and got a seeding of 10.16 (if only I pushed 15 seconds harder over Riebeek Kasteel!) and the last sportiff I went over Riebeek Kasteel with the leading group but our times was too slow Not having the top league racers in the A bunch makes a big difference, I think the A bunch is more like a B bunch without them. I do not really consider myself an A rider yet, but it would be nice to have the letter

I got a 10.16 seeding after Sportiff #3, not yet good enough to get the A number Was 15s behind the front bunch over Riebeek Kasteel. We were 6 going down, lost someone before the left turn towards Wellington, Lloyd dropped a few km after the turn-off. It was tough keeping the tempo with a paceline of 4, and I thought we were doomed. Luckily a strong league rider latched unto us took a few solid turns. I enjoyed the chase and the adrenaline of trying to stay from a big group just a minute behind us . In the end the main A bunch finished 2 min ahead of us and the other chasing group 2 minutes behind us.

As a rule, you shouldn't do more than 3 high intensity efforts in the week (3 is already pushing it and might be too much if you are over 45). Gym session counts as an intense effort. So, you can work in a gym session on Wednesday. I think it will be better to do a 7km run after the gym session. Monday can be another run day. If you want to do two Gym sessions, then do the other one on Monday, but replace the Tuesday ride with a Zone2 / Zone3 ride (try to stay aerobic). You will have enough intensity here, so if you also want to add IDT rides, then they should be recovery rides of one hour (Friday & Sunday). Add a few openers on the Friday session if you are racing on Saturday. So, weight lifting fits better in a program when you are doing base building. Check this article. http://www.active.com/cycling/articles/how-to-combine-cycling-and-strength-training?page=1

I also vote for the titan. But, as other posters said. Seriously consider second hand. The upgrade-ability of a new 7k road bike is not so good. You are stuck with a "heavy" aluminium frame and probably lacking some aggressive/aero geometry. Your one shot of upgrading the bike is probably going to be good wheels. Replacing the groupset with ultegra or the 105 groupset, will save you 500 - 750g and a new 105 groupset is 7k. Replacing stems, handlebars, seatpost, is also expensive (grams saved per rand). You will get guys who who are willing to let their second hand bike be checked by a local bike shop, if you want more peace of mind.

I got like halfway through the registration last time, so perhaps it closed while I was busy. Now I get this error straight away: Sorry, but the PPA Cyclo Sportif #1 is closed. Any incomplete baskets found have been cleared.

Sigh, wanted to do this race this and thought entries closes midnight, but it is closed already

Great race in Cat2, was suffering quite abit But I got annoyed with so many riders who just do not care about riding on the wrong side of the white line. Myself / Other riders / The bike marshall repeatedly told the guys to keep left of the white line but time and again riders just ride on the other side.

Looks like a nice event! Hopefully, the MTB route is not too technical for me! Getting an MTB this week and this will probably be my first event with it Still pondering whether it will be 30km or 55km for me.

Hi Bankie, I was behind you, to the left and I believe your bike swerved hard to the left after your handlebar knock and I could not get my front wheel out of the way in time. Went down hard but just a lot of road rash, and shoulder and bum abit sore.

Hey Mamil, cought up with your group just after exiting the town (after vissershok) and gave you a shoutout . I was the rider in blue shirt with a D number on my back. Sorry to hear that the race broke you

Hi "The Doctor", great posts, I am just trying to understand the reason for drinking 8% concentrated drinks of 500ml per hour. If one can absorb +- 60g glucose per hour and +-30g fructose per hour, you have to drink a solution of 18% CHO concentration. I cannot find any research which indicate that one needs to mix solids with fluids in order to achieve the 90 CHO p/hour absorption rate. Gastric empty rate does slow down with CHO concentration, but according to the abstract at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0148607195019005403, "The delivery of carbohydrate-energy per minute from the stomach to the small intestine was the same for all drinks". I have added 100g maltodextrin per 750ml water bottle, on several occasions, drinking two bottles in 3h without experiencing any gastric discomfort. Do you think this solution would not empty fast enough to be absorbed by the stomach/gut?

I have heard rumors that they might use the result of the 99er for substitutes. But I reckon that it should show on http://seeding.cycletour.co.za/ before they allocate your start time and the 99er is not yet listed there.

Duane_Bosch, on 15 Feb 2017 - 11:47 AM, said: I normally get my new seeding number at the race, just ask for a "reseed" and you will get what you are eligible for, and pay R50. Just remember, the race must be over 80km or more than 750m of climbing or it will receive a 15% penalty http://www.pedalpower.org.za/how-seeding-is-calculated/ So the race might not help much w.r.t seeding (not sure how much climbing it involves), except if you are really strong, and if it does, you need to dock up another extra R50 at tour de ppa.

The 109km got winners time adjusted to 2h40 and beta 0.97 Still, seems good as I am also improving my seeding with this

Racetec results very usefull to find out, just did some digging to find out for myself. Pros Ride: Amashova 2h20, 94.7 in 2h15 and Argus in 2h40 Found someone similar to your results and seems to be consistent with performance. http://results.racetec.co.za/results_by_person.aspx?PID=472221&HL=1 He rode Amashova in 3h53, 94.7 in 3h41 and Argus in 4h30