Reading some of these Race Reports has inspired me to concoct something of my own although I don't think I'll be able to compete with any these budding Hemingway's on the Hub... This was my second CTCT start in the & Group and after losing the front of the group at the top of the Smits last year I was determined to hold on a little longer. After an emergency Physio session on Friday morning to release a tight lower back and friends staying with us (queue multiple nights of drinking) the build up wasn't exactly what you would call 'ideal'... Start was quick paced with a couple of other Savages remarking how much better it was doing this the first stretch without a block headwind... Although this seemed to encourage a couple to push the pace up paced as we crested the top of Edinburgh Drive more than 2 minutes quicker than 2019. The section along Ladies Mile was quick, with Several Savages driving a pace off the front. Feeling good I decided to have a couple of turns myself but would only later realize I was way out of my depth... There was a brief breakaway after Muizenberg but the pack soon hauled them in. My logic was to stay near the front to avoid any troubles on the narrow roads through Kalk Back Bay, Fish Hoek and Simons Town. I was still feeling good and contributed a couple more turns before Smits and then decided to slink quietly back into the pack where I actually belong... The Climb up Smits was brisk but not a deal breaker, arriving at the top the majority of the group was in tact with the fast descent to follow... As we descended the crash occurred about 20m ahead of me and Nutty (hope you healing up okay Bud) went down along with others... I veered off the road to the right and did a cheeky 20m in the long grass... Somehow managing to stay upright and taking some of the undergrowth with me I emerged back on the road and sprinted to catch the back of the group. And adrenaline rush of note. I would not recommend gravel grinding on 25mm tires at 50km/h. The remaining sections were fairly uneventful, I held on until we caught some @ riders in Noordhoek before the big kick happened on Chappies... I exploded quietly (tried to consolidate losses however the damage was done, my heroics off the front earlier had come back to bite me and Suikerbossie and the rest were a real slog... I snuck in with a PB of 2H50 which was well within my 3H00 goal. Initially my inner critic kicked in about being dropped but a friend, who entered at the last minute with ZERO training and had never ridden on a road bike before (we found him one a day before) put it in perspective when he pointed out that doing this ride is a real privilege, and that we should be grateful to be able to take part in something like this. That put things into perspective for me. Thank you for the great day out everyone and for those who were not as fortunate to avoid the crashes, heal up soon
