- Active Topics
- Forums
- Create Topic
-
Ok so in Cape Town we have 3 basic races:
1. Something over Ou Kaapse Weg
2. Something over Helshoogte Pass
3. Something around Malmesbury / Riebeeck Wes / Paardeberg
If its the scenery you're after you only need to do 3 races a year. If you are price sensitive pick the 3 cheapest races, or even better hook up with your friends for a morning ride on one of these routes. For the odd variation they may throw in a sprint along the R27.
I think the late entry system is plain stupid. They should simply close entries a week before the event and only let the early entrants participate. They then have the exact numbers and can eliminate the contingencies and if they have access to a decent weather site, they'll have a pretty good idea of what to provide at the event.
This weekend past I entered a road running event. Now this crowd is still in the dark ages with timing and orginisation. Timing is done by hand, there is no seeding system, only 4 portable toilets for about 900 people and for all this you pay about R60 or so. I enjoyed the route and the good attitude of the volunteers and marshals but would gladly pay a little bit more for more toilets, better seeding and timing.
We in the cycling community have it good and don't realize it.
Distance 89.57km = 56milies.
Change settings to metric to also get climbing in meters and not ft.
Huh? what is wrong with that?
Yeah. Its always been 600 teams + one or 2 celeb teams that gets pulled in at the last minute
Its really ironic on how one day we bemoan the fact that the trails are unsafe and that we need to grow the sport of mountain biking and the very next day we moan when new-comers use our trails. Instead of educating riders and bringing them into the fold, we end up alienating them with our confrontational attitudes.
Insulting riders and making reference to people that are overweight as done in the OP not only shows your character, but also shows that maybe you should be looking for recreation that you actually enjoy.
I am a mountain biker at heart and a roadie by default at this time of the year. The attitude on the trails lately seems to be worse than that on the road.
Peace and love, PEACE and LOVE.
Next time try to catch up with the leading rider afterwards and thank him for his effort in trying to get the riders with him to give you some track.
Why don't we try to get along on the trails, opposed to being envious of their shiny bikes and cars. Odds are that these guys and girls work 15 hours a day to be able to afford the nice cars and fancy toys and should not feel guilty about it.
Thanks for the replies. We had a blast today! Paarl was hot but I didn't have to worry about having to push my wife up the climbs or having to talk her through road crossings or passing other cyclists. We are learning as we go along, but our time (1h35) for the short route was probably 45 minutes faster than what it would have been if she was riding her own bike with me pushing her along. I suppose we will end up in my wife's start group and make a day of it.
I've gone out today and bought a second hand tandem for me and my wife. We are thinking of asking for a substitution of our "normal" entries for a tandem entry.
Does anyone know what time the tandems are due to start. Its no use asking for a tandem seeding if that is going to be a later start than what our current seeding would be (last year we started around 8am).
Try calling the SARS E filing not-so-hotline. It never works! No email to send queries to, the only alternative is to go and stand in the queue with the other cattle at SARS. Orginisations that doesn't allow you to communicate to them in the medium you prefer will be extinct in the near future (or agencies will end up being the interface inbetween them and the end user)
That was a nice fun course, less climbing in the end (185m per lap) which was fine by me.
That explains why your lap times were faster than mine. My Garmin indicated 220m per lap, every time. 
Epic Entries have always been available from December the previous year. Many riders realise by Dec/Jan that they've taken on too much and decide to sell.
If 20% of the entries changes hands afterwards, that would mean that 120 entries gets re-sold. Your best chance is to ask your partner if he doesn't fancy doing it with someone else and let him scout for a substitute for you.
There are a few mercenaries who do not enter for the event and know that a week before the time they'll pick up entries at cost - 50%. You may end up having to go this route.
Sounds a bit dof to me as the total number of laps for each rider/team will drop drastically, especially for the novice fun teams. I will be doing it solo though, managed 16 laps last year, this year prob only 7-8 laps.
I am also wondering on why the route change. Many of us would have liked to benchmark against last year's times. I suppose that they need to toughen it up for the race snakes. I think this year the real climbers on the teams will benefit.
Currently I'll be happy with 8 laps (that would equate to the same amount of climbing I did last year on 20 laps)
its been fun. Time to go ride my bike. Same place tomorrow?
No that would be attempted murder!
You referred to teams while sucking things out your thumb.
next time I'll record the elites responses when we chat about bike lanes. Just for you sweetie.
Like I said, you did not say what time the pro's were on the lane ? I have ridden there on a weekend befor 7 and that road is not busy at all.
ok let me be more specific 7am ON A WEEKDAY or 10 to 11am ON A BUSY BEACH DAY OVER THE WEEKEND.
HaPpY nOw?
Maybe not from these teams but from other people and clubs, and I am yet to see the City do something about it on a REGULAR basis. Not just once a quarter.
You attacked these teams and now you wonder why the storm?
I mentioned the teams and stated that its uncool to ride like that. An attack would have been paying a truck driver to play chicken with them.
This is my take on the cycle path ...
It's fantastic to have the use of the cycle-lane facilities that we do have, and that the cycling community were not ignored in the planning process, as so often happens in other cities. Perhaps its design is not perfectly suitable for all cycling situations, but it suits the purpose to a great degree, especially for the cycling commuters. There are times when I choose to use it and times when I choose not to. These moments of choice always revolve around ride purpose and reasonable risk to self, from both cars and potential muggers.
I/we didn't use it at 5am this morning as we were a training bunch riding at a tempo pace, and we figure that the dynamics of our purpose don't include dealing with cycle commuters, poles etc along a snaking narrow path in the dark. That's a recipe for disaster, and then I'll bet there will be another thread on the Hub complaining about training groups using the cycle path
The road traffic at this time is also minimal and there is enough of a hard shoulder for a bunch to ride on. Being in a bunch in this situation also gives us more visibility than a solo rider. If I have to train solo for the same purpose at this time then I would choose another route away from traffic, or ride on the cycle path if it's for example a recovery ride.
On the occasions when our club rides out to town on a Sat or Sun morn for a 7am ride, then we use the cycle path from a safety point of view.
We have in the past had a club member mugged on the cycle path past Paarden Eiland, and I have had a puncture on it too (can happen anywhere). We all have a choice ...
A sensible reply and something to ponder. But doing the same ride at 7am or on a busy beach day over the weekend is asking for trouble.
I ask again have you spoken to any of these guys since you do a lot of talking on their behalf.I'm sorry morewood but i think your beef is just with everyone.It's still my opinion that parts of the bike lane are unsafe and would still like anyone to give me proof that bikelanes are a safer option and save lives.A lot of things thrown around here are just been sucked out of your thumb.
I've spoken to quite a few elites about this (mainly the ones acutally using the bike lanes, as the ones that don't get aggressive and is unapproachable about the topic) and my reasoning is sound. The guys don't like riding at a safe speed and feel that they have a right to train on a road that is unsafe. Again, if I had personal issues I would have taken it up with the individuals and their sponsors.
The real issue here is that these riders are missing the point on why the bike lanes are there in the first place.
I stated fact when I noted certain teams not using the bike lanes, you all have made a storm in a teacup about my intentions here, not me.
I also know that City of Cape Town have not received any responses from any of the teams mentioned about any concerns they have about the bike lane. If punctures are such an issue, simply ask your team to submit a request to have the cycle lanes cleaned up more often.
Not this argument again. You worry about tax payers money? Really ? I am yet to see these "clowns" wasting ANYTHING near what the government manages to waste. Maybe you should start with the big problems if you want to make a difference.
There are more road users that are worse than these few "clowns"! Golden arrow busses, taxis, moms driving their kids to school while doing their make-up! ETC!
You are not going to change the mind of motorists, neither are you going to get a positive response from cyclist by attacking them. Next time just ask why they were not using the lane rather than attack.
wrong x 2 = right?
In the OP I never attacked anyone. I simply stated that its uncool to ride 3 abreast on a road with no shoulder while there is a safer alternative and I mentioned who I saw doing this in the broader sense.
If I do something that others deem to be uncool, I don't end up making a scene like this. I simply acknowledge them and if I don't agree I ignore them.
How do you know the reason why any of these guys do this?Are you good friends with them?Have you spoken to any of them and do you even know them?Lots of accusations from your side morewood.It sounds more to me that your beef is not actually about the bike lanes but more about a bunch of riders you dislike.
My beef is with the regular offenders who make rude signs at motorists when they are clearly in the wrong. I never named individuals here (I do know who they are). If I had a personal vendetta against these riders I would have paid truck drivers to see how close they can pass the cyclists that are not using the bike lanes and record the result for fun.
You logic baffles me. One moment you refer to one incident and then another. Looks like you need to be more clear.
Then you also mention riders with their numbers on their back, that means they must have come from the Sunday race? These riders already said they were on the lane, so I think that you are just having a moan for the sake of it.
WRT punctures on the lane, when last did you see the amount of weeds(thorns) growing next to the cycle lane and lying on it. And that is not the case on the road.
I think it is not your duty to point out anyone not using the lane. If you want to use it( ie: not talk on your phone while driving ) then you do it. But what and why I do things has got nothing to do with you.
I'll gladly mind my own business if these fools carry the full cost of any accident they're involved in. Millions of tax payers money gets spent annually on avoidable accidents. Furthermore these clowns p!ss motorists off and these motorists take it out on innocent bike riders on places where there are no cycling lanes down the road. So by thinking that you're not affecting the rest of us by not using a safe alternative is a very narrow minded view.
It is also clear that many riders seem to miss the point of the bike lane. Its not to go speeding along at 40km/h for an elites training ride. Use the bike lane to get to safe roads to train on and do it at 25km/h. If you still feel unsafe at this speed then you've got to go for a bike handling course or something. For social riders it provides a safe environment to train, and as a further plus, many of the weekenders are kept of the more popular training routes because they have a safe and easy route to train on, making the usual routes safer for all of us.
Morewood why do you think some people would choose not to ride on the cycle lanes.Could it be that in their opinion the cycle lanes are not safe and in fact they feel safer riding on the road.There are sections of the path that are safe and sections that are dangerous.Lets look at what the city has given us.
1st its NOT a dedicated bike lane.It's a lane around 3 meters wide and in some sections its 2 meters wide.This is for 2 way traffic so in sense most of the time you have max 1.5 meters in one direction.This has to be shared with cyclists,runners,dogs,bergies pushing trollies and yes the odd vuka scooter that decides to use it.This is all fine when riding with 1 or 2 people but when you get a big group it's dangerous.At the same time there are sections in the road where the yellow line or shoulder is double that of the cycle path and the bonus been you don't have to deal with poles in the way or oncomming traffic.There are sections i use the cycle path and there are sections i feel safer on the road and use that.I would challange anyone who says the path as a whole is safer or saves lives to bring be some proof.In the short time the path has been there i know of 2 broken bikes,3 people attacked,and 1 broken collarbone.I myself was the guy almost taken out by a vukascooter comming towards me on the path while going to work.So how do you address the fact that some people genuinely feel safer on the road.
Well I will definately not visit them when (not if) they get knocked over when there is a safer alternative. The reason these guys (and the odd girl) do this is because they don't like slowing down when getting to street crossings and it means that they cannot ride next to each other (which they shouldn't be doing in the first place). If you need a piece of flat road to train on, go and train on the Botlary road with a wide shoulder. This section of road is dangerous and riders tend to use the bike lane to get to roads where they can train safely on a good shoulder. The current road works also makes it even more unsafe as at some sections the road is barely wide enough for a car, never mind 3 bike rider abreast and a car trying to pass. It is ironic that just over 30 years ago 200 or so guys hopped on their bikes and rode around the mountain in protest of not having cycling lanes to ride on. Over 30 years on and over 30 000 riders join the protest every year (most of them unknowingly, but still they take part). Now we've got them (and they're some of the best in the world ito design) and the people who should be setting the expample are the ones getting abusive when they are confronted about not being responsible here.
May this thread pick a double puncture soon...
:lol:
agree. Not sure why there was such an over reaction here. Maybe its just the way things are on the hub.
The road traffic at this time is also minimal and there is enough of a hard shoulder for a bunch to ride on. Being in a bunch in this situation also gives us more visibility than a solo rider. If I have to train solo for the same purpose at this time then I would choose another route away from traffic, or ride on the cycle path if it's for example a recovery ride.
:lol:
Tannie Helen takes on the Argus
in The Bike Room
Posted
I'm sure she'll kick Juju and Jacob's arses on a bike.
By the way Luke anyone can kick CA1's arse on a bike. Its a Prius.