GLuvsMtb

it feels like groundhog day... ok genius, which start venue could host 35 000 people, and where do they finish? Remember that any national road (i.e. road that starts with an "N") is out of bounds, and also remember that between 5000 and 10 000 riders stay in Cape Town within cycling distance to the start, so it will have to be close to a station or bus stop to transport these guys too. Remember also that full road closure is required, so where ever you go, you need to inform residents, have an alternative route for people to get in and out and have safe areas for emergency services and water points. Since its all so simple, I am waiting for your proposal in this regard.

Plan B would have been Boyes Drive instead of Main road incase of roadworks, plan C would have been Ou Kaapse Weg instead of Chappies incase of rock falls, plan D would have been Ou Kaapse weg, Chappies instead of Muizenberg and Boyes Drive incase of other problems going up say Smitswinkel and a shortened route. I think the current plan is plan J or K in terms of risk assessment.

it would only take 291 hours to set everyone off at 30sec intervals. Sounds like a great plan.

A bigger problem would have been 30 odd thousand riders doing their own rides on the day. The more I look at the situation, the more the decision makes sense.

Even the non-freeway sections of national roads are SANRAL roads.

And like the N1, N2 and all national roads it has certain freeway sections and certain urban sections. People often confuse freeway with national road.

yes, with the M5 and M4 running parallel to it. The N1 has Voortrekker road, but have you seen what the N1 looks like on Argus morning? Monday mornings have less congestion, likewise with the N2, now you want to close the road? Also consider that to get permission from SANRAL will take more than just a phone call.

Expect a few more big group crashes in the first 10km due to the all-out strategy the race snakes will want to follow, that will push back the later groups and cause bottlenecks (last year was chaos with the double loading start chutes) in the chutes, then add a bunch of guys who just got warmed up and want to beat their first lap time inbetween riders that will take twice as long as they do... see where this is going yet?

and shut the cable car down for the whole day? also remember to put lots of padding on those hairpins down kloofnek towards Victoria Road and pull some medics and rescue services from the fire areas to collect the maimed bodies at the bottom. Also tell the fire fighters that needs access from Cape Town to go around the long way if they are needed again.

Road closures were paid up in advance, most of the water points (Simonstown, Smitswinkel, Chappies, Suikerbossie) are all sponsored. The saving on the shorter route is negligible. Besides, do you think that they have 35000 cycling tops lying around in a storeroom, and imagine the unhappiness if they don't have any XXL's left when I get there?

Substitutions closed a fee weeks back. Riding with someone else's number will get the illegal rider and the guy who's number it is banned from the event. Even in the shorter Argus the rules still apply, so don't try and reseed yourself higher, jump in illegally after hospital bend or do that second lap (yes you paid for it, I know). The start chutes are going to be chaos as things stand right now, lets try and make the marshals' lives a bit easier by sticking to the rules.

you will be ecstatic to hear that all the profit goes to charities in some form in any event.

go read the 412 posts before you jumpted in with your 2c.

Suddenly I feel like a quarter box and its only 08:55 am.

Its a New South Africa misconception that only rich people stay up in those parts. Look around your house tonight when you get home and think to yourself what you would take if you had to evacuate, have 20 minutes to pack and there would be no come-backs later. Bikes are insured, furniture is insured, but the photo albums, portraits, artwork, things like my Wilbur Smith collection with curled pages from re reading them and the memories we made here has no replacement value. This with my dogs, my wife and my son is all that matters.

as far as i know substitutions have already closed, so anyone riding with someone elses entry still face disciplinary action, and so does the rider that allowed someone else to ride with his number.

So since Chappies, Franschoek Pass and Sir Lowries Pass all have rock slides every year do we just close the roads? It costs money to keep these open. People have been living in the South Peninsula for much longer than other areas. Muizenberg was established in 1747. They have been active conservationists for generations. The most 'convenient' scenario is to rip out the Fynbos and have landscaped green belts on the urban edge, but these people understand that this would impact on our national heritage.

then they shut down the cable car for a whole day. It takes more than 3 days to convince the biggest tourist attraction in Cape Town to shut down for the whole day. If it shuts down because of the weather its one thing, but to give 35000 guys a few kms extra? Really!?

And Rotary, CTCTT and a host of other charities will have 12 months to get the R 14 Bar they would rely on for 2016 entry fees, and the cost of road closures around the start and finish and shortened route would be abortive, the TV rights would be lost for 2015, people's travel and accommodation costs would be lost, and we would all lose a golden opportunity to ride for something that matters.

I thought of my 2 dogs, my wife and my son when I saw that pic. I cannot stand the thought of losing any of them this way.

Ok ladies. Put down the handbags and look at the scale of the crisis. 35000 people can only start and finish in the planned start and finish areas. The people that need to use the M3 will already be aware of the planned closures and have main road and the M5 available on the day. Boyes Drive, Ou Kaapse Weg and Constantia neck is now out of bounds. Any dash through the burbs is out of bounds. A loop over Kloof Neck is not feasible due to the narrow road and hairpins on the Camps Bay side and this would then completely cut off Camps Bay for the day and fire and rescue probably need access from all 3 sides to Hout Bay. Resources like rescue services, ambulance services etc are all being prioritized to assist with the fire. It would be selfish to expect a full route that would require many of these resources that could be aiding the fire fighters. I get that many are disappointed, but lets not lose perspective here. This is one of the biggest natural disasters to hit The Cape in many decades. If the field was only 3500'strong, there could have been more alternatives. The reality is that moving 1000 pros and competitive cyclists along with 34 000 recreational cyclists around the Cape is not for sissies.

All QdK needs is a big score in the next 2 games and all will be well with SA fans. Perhaps he should just be a little more intelligent when constructing an innings. He got out 3 times being caught in front of square (2 from short balls and one good length ball driven to mid-off). Only 1 dismissal was behind square to second slip. His feet are moving well and he seems to time the ball well. He just need to be patient and wait for the bad ball. Perhaps he should let # take a bit more of the strike. Run a few down to 3rd man and get his eye in before cutting loose. The best solution for QdK is to spend time in the middle. He will not do that batting at 7.

Kudos for CTCT having contingencies in place. I would be concerned if they were saying that everything is fine and we are riding the original route. Lets see on Wednesday what they say.

An England side without KP looks rather toothless. Their bowlers looks like they were intent on just putting the ball in the right places rather than trying to get wickets. Their batsmen seems to be content with scoring 50's at a run-a-ball and their fielding is also not as sharp as one would expect from a top side. Sri Lanka have a few players with the X-factor. Sangakara, Dilshan and Jayawardene are all top-class performers that can score very quickly and Malinga and Herath are also world-class with the ability to get set batsmen out. I would be more comfortable defending 320 against England than Sri Lanka, and I would feel more comfortable chasing 320 against England than Sri Lanka.