NickGM

I'll take your word for it, but that surprises me. Places like Eldoret in Kenya (2100m) are a conveyor belt of endurance athletes. And our biggest city is at 1800m.

If it's any consolation that's a great username.

To be fair, it's advertised in the "Frames" category so getting the wheel is a plus.

Looks far too windy to be riding outside anyway.

Gotta work on that 2min power.

Well organized and incredibly fun ride. I was in G and we caught F (or at least a huge bunch from F) just before halfway, making for a pretty massive group. Some riders seemed pretty keen on a game of chicken with the on-coming cars, but other than that it was plain sailing. Easy pace and I even had the energy to ride back home to stellies.

That looks easy enough, thanks!

So I've got a ride to the start. Can anyone recommend a safe cycling route back to stellenbosch? Once I'm on either Bottelary or Polkadraai I'm sorted, but a sensible route from the race end to there would be appreciated.

I've done little to no reading around this, but my partner started to do it and I joined her. Which in practical terms means that on days where I have not done a morning ride, I will not eat until 10am earliest. About 4 hours later than I normally would. It's been easier then I expected and my perception so far is definitely less fogginess and a sort of calm-but-alert feeling for the morning. This is all very "soft science" and nothing I've measured yet (although checking BP and heart rate wouldn't be hard at all). But my point is I've found it to be a net positive so far, and losing a few kilos was a nice side effect. I think a lot of our modern day eating and sleeping habits are unfortunate by-products of the industrial revolution.

Thanks for the confirmation.

Thanks Chris. Yeah I'm not TOO stressed, I was in two minds about doing this race so if it doesn't work out it's not the end of the world. I'm on the Somerset West side of Stellenbosch, Paradyskloof.

I didn't see them but speed wasn't my problem. I think it was the tears that blurred my vision.

So like a chump I thought this race was on sunday and domestic planning was done around this assumption, the end result being that I have no car on saturday morning. If anyone is passing through stellenbosch and is happy to give me a ride to the race start (and home), I'd appreciate it. Some info: I'm likely starting group D/E and don't mind getting there early/waiting late. I'm more than happy to pay for petrol I plan on picking up my number on friday, so could pick up yours too (if this is allowed at the 99er, I know people have done it for other races) and bring it to you the day before. DM me if you're happy to help. I'm expecting awkward silence.....

Side note: recent comments in this thread made my "engineer alert" radar start to ping.

I was thinking of laughing off the 99er because the last time I did it the beta was 0.94, which I naively chalked up to the fact that it's just a flat, fast course and will never have a high beta. I had also sort of counted my chickens with this race and was just about bang on your 3hr worked example; expected 28, got 33. But ok, I've actually bothered to read how they come up with that beta now, and its worth turning out for the 99er. edit: corrected historical 99er beta.