Bub Marley

Those new Titan 20”s really do look the part. Would be nice to have some 16” options as well.

Not actually interesting at all. This whole KOTAS has just become an annoyance now. What was supposed to be just a friendly a bit of banter and fun has literally been killed off by trying to formalise it with podiums and crowns. Just getting boring now.

I get what you saying but on that particular stretch it’s impossible to not draft. Even if you let the bunch go, within 30 sec another bunch will come past and then another bunch. And the bigger the bunch gets, the easier it becomes to draft. One of the reasons why the drafting is less important in the first half is because the bunches are smaller and the weaker teams will struggle to hold on and then they let go. But on that middle section, everything comes together.

We talking an individual time trial vs a 12 man team. It’s completely different. A triathlon will never bunch up like this race. And I’m sorry but this race is not only about the elites. Why should the other teams slow their pace down because that is essentially the only to avoid this? There is no space on the road. The only way to avoid this is for the elites to go first but that will never happen. Whenever you do the reverse with slower guys rolling first, it’s impossible to avoid drafting. And like i said, on every other part of the race the no drafting policy can be implemented because there is enough space. But that particular section, there is no space at all. Even if you are riding slower on the left, you will still get some draft because the peloton is spread across both lanes.

That section through the Jacarandas once you take the left turn at Robertson towards Bonnievale is almost impossible to avoid drafting. That’s the one area of the race where it’s almost impossible to not draft. You essentially go from riding in a bunch with your own team into a proper peloton with 50 riders. The road is completely blocked off as well as you have the slower riders hogging the left and then the entire peloton flying through on the right. No space at all to move anywhere as well. Everywhere else on the route I would agree with you. But that particular section frightens me every year. This year thankfully seemed quieter when we passed through but I remember last year we had oncoming cars on the one side and the peleton taking up the entire road. So so dangerous. They need to have full road closure for that section.

I agree with that description of anticlimactic for the Charles Milner. I’ve never understood waiting in the baking sun just to get a second medal. As cool as it is getting that second medal, I feel the whole point of it is riding together as a team from start to finish. Two years ago my team went through the same ordeal with waiting on the line just for that medal. I don’t think that’s what the medal is supposed to be for.

I think people went too hard to try and draft but a 7 day gravel stage race is still very new. There aren’t many 7 day stage races worldwide in comparison to mtb. And if you’re there with no suspension, narrower tyres and you’re trying to stay in a bunch you will blow up.

This topic is just completely stupid and getting dumber on every page. Mate, you’re a dealer end of story. Accept it, pay your taxes if you wanna continue advertising on here, or go advertise on another platform. What are we even debating here? You have 2000 ads listed. What are you trying to say here? Everything else you said is speculation. No proof, nothing. So much whataboutery. You broke the rules and got caught. End of story.

You sound butthurt because you got caught out. That’s essentially what this comes down to. You then created a dummy account and got caught again. Just because others haven’t gotten caught yet, does not automatically mean you get a free pass. The rules are the same for everyone. You just got caught so accept it and move on.

I think you are overthinking it.

Pogi is riding in my team. Costed me a right ol penny to get him down but will be worth it when we stand on the top step of the podium. The real podium not the KOTAS podium 👀

City, Outriders, Durbanville, Bellville etc Not sure who else from north.

We need to get a kings of the north competition going as well. These southerners stealing all the fun.

As it stands Freewheel Cycology and LBA Construction are starting the same time.

There are gaps at the front end which implies certain teams have been left out. However the numbering is done already so not sure how this is going to work as there aren’t any gaps in the numbering groups.

Starting to add them one by one now.

These okes really know how to keep the anticipation going.

Once you hit 5 hours on a gravel bike, i think that’s when having more comfort is an advantage. So if you can complete a 100 miler in under 6 hours then maybe a gravel bike can be good for you. But for everyone else, that’s a long time to spend in a saddle with no suspension. If you just planning on doing 50 milers then go for it.

Probably a good idea to bring a spare set of shoes if you doing a multi stage event.

Suppose it depends on the persons skill level. In the US, loads of gravel races include singletrack sections etc. I’ve seen some videos of them absolutely gunning it through a single track forest on drop bars. I probably wouldnt even keep up with flat bars. So yeah, it really depends on how skilled everyone is. I think equipment also plays a huge role. If you running wider tyres you can run lower pressure which helps not only with traction but also puncture protection. A narrow tyre will be way more susceptible to flats, the rougher the terrain.

Thanks for the feedback. Was it only the one day that was overly technical? How were the other days in terms of technical, ruggedness etc. And how tough was the race? Racing 7 days gravel is pretty new still. In comparison to a mtb stage race etc.

I get what they’re there for and ofcourse they serve a purpose. I just dont like them. Im also not into bike packing so I would never need any of those mounts. This is my personal preference.

I like everything besides all those bolts on the frame.

It’s definitely cost related. This is an expensive race if you dont have a sponsor. The other points you mentioned doesn’t really stand for me. Loads of races intertwine with each other and use the same or similar routes. There is no patent on a route or a climb. There is only so many routes you can do to include the same climbs, which is what we want to do. I don’t think you need to worry about them stealing the other events. They all have a place on the calendar. Not many can afford 50k so will appreciate the 1 day races where we get to ride the same terrain.

Can you give share some numbers? DNF & DNS after stage 1 and 2.