braamverster

"In 2020 he achieved a notable sub3 Argus result from the unseeded menagerie of 4F at the Cape Town Cycle Tour." This is hilarious, I had to look up what "menagerie" means... "a collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition" or "a strange or diverse collection of people or things" He's gonna love it.

The racetec website have all the data for all road races. Last year only 118 guys out of 23k got in under 3 hrs and they were all from the racing groups - no one from 1A even made it. This year 1075 out of 22k made it - including a crazy guy from 4F

Yes, i would say so (assuming good conditions, OK seeding etc), noting that the 20 min at 4W/KG is rather 4x5min or 5x4min with 5-8 min rest between them. If you can do 20min solid at 4W/kg, your FTP will be 3.8W/kg given that one way to test FTP is to ride at your max for 20 min and multiply by 0.95

Well done man - thats one for the record books. What training app did you use?

Thanks Andy, and thanks for the data! So you were at a consistent 4.3 W/kg on the climbs, while I was at 3.3-3.7 (and pretty maxed out at those levels) - I would have gotten dropped by your group, so perhaps starting a bit further back may have actually helped me.

Well done! Enjoy the buzz. Thinking the same thing for next challenge - either something longer (Coronation double century?) or something harder (?)...

Thanks - data is shown to give power meter nerds like me a feel for what it could take to go sub 3

And I thank you - were you the guys in the grey bibs?

OK, so, not bragging (much), but I did my targeted sub 3 in the 2020 Cape town cycle race (2:57:12) I am writing this to encourage people who have the ambition to go sub 3 but are not sure if its doable. I am 46 and not particularly athletic. I did my first Argus two years ago after pottering around on a mountain bike for a few years. So I dont exactly want to say that if I can do it anyone can... but I am certainly not a "naturally talented" cyclist. My tips would be: Order a perfect day, like 2018 or 2020 - if its like 2019 the tips below will NOT hack it in getting a sub 3. Get a good seeding ... this year 79% of 1A got sub 3, 59% of 1C, 25% for 1E, 18% for 1H, 10% for 1J, 4% for 2A... So your odds of getting a sub 3 goes down as the capabilities of your fellow riders get lower - I was in group 1G (was 2H last year) so in the "tough but doable" zone You do NOT have to be at 4W/Kg to do sub 3...I am 84 kg, FTP before race of 270*, so 3.2 Watt/kg - For me, without my indoor trainer (Wahoo Kickr) and a structured training program (I use Trainerroad) there is no way I would have been able to put in the time (6-7 hrs a week for the last year) to get fit enough - it also helps with motivation somehow. To improve road skills I did a few Cycle Lab (Fourways, B1,2 groups) and ICG morning rides plus I did the 94.7 which perhaps also helped with seeding (who knows?). You need to be fit enough to do ~4W/kg (or perhaps a bit less) in the 4 decisive climbs. But luckily they are not that long, and any good structured program will take care of that with some hill climbs or VO2 max sessions. See below my splits for key climbs... Gradient Time Distance Speed Power Power/kg Cadence HR Average 0% 2:57:12 108.9 36.9 184 2.2 95 167 - Edinburgh drive (steepest part) 7% 0:02:38 0.75 17.1 300 3.6 98 185 - Smitswinkel 5% 0:03:41 1.25 20.4 309 3.7 102 179 - Chapmans peak (excl little Chappies) 6% 0:04:59 1.49 17.9 278 3.3 104 184 - Suikerbossie 6% 0:06:47 1.84 16.3 266 3.2 99 185 Net power 2.27 IF 0.84 Become a wheel sucker - this made a HUGE difference on the day. Except for the 4 climbs, and a few turns at the front, the rest wasn't that painful, tucked in 30 cm behind the biggest oke I could find. Finding a good (i.e big) guy or tandem to draft behind is especially important after the big climbs and worth expending the energy on. A shoutout to "Dennis" from 1H, you rock... Train your cadence - spinning faster will leave you with fresh(ish) legs for the last two climbs and help you catch passing wheels Get nutrition right - everyone is different, but I had 2 bottles of cadence carbo fuel, 2 bananas and 2 hydro gels with caffeine (used before the last 2 climbs)- I also had an extra bottle of carbo fuel that I drank while waiting to start and I ate normally the day before... no carbo loading Have a good bike - I have a 2015 Specialized S-Works Tarmac, Corima 30mm profile rims - not the newest, but light and has good handling Thanks again to Verandapanda, tyboy0406, Long Wheel Base, Skubarra, Milky4130, Jewbacca for the tips they had in my previous post, it was very useful * Tested on my Wahoo Kickr using Trainerroad ramp test, confirmed by my power meter. Test was done in Jo-burg, where I live, so given 1700m altitude my effective FTP may be a bit more at the coast Addendum- managed to download the power file to xls and create a chart - surprising how much time is spent in "recovery" (green) being pulled along at 40km/hr - presumably by Pure Savage Addendum 2 - Figured out how to convert average power to normalized power -normalized power estimates the effective "steady" power of a segment i.e. if your power was 100% steady for a segment then Average power=Normalized power, but if there was lots of acceleration changes/sprints then Normalized power >> Average Power, reflecting that would require a higher effective power/fitness This changes 2 things from the non-normalized graph, 1) "easy" segments are slightly less easy due to acceleration changes 2) The first 25 minutes are now all hard - acceleration changes means even the flat bit between Hospital Hill and the bottom of Edinburgh drive is hard. Climbs did not change as its power on climbs are steady so no difference between Normalized and Average power.

Thanks! Hope you are right, forum makes it seem quite tough (I will never see 4w/kg)

Thanks, good advice

OK, got it - just searched for my pedal power rating - its F, so quite some work to do... I will play "Eye of the tiger" as I go up and down Northcliff

Thanks, I agree, Northcliff here I come....

did not do it unfortunately

Thanks, great list! Point 3 is something I have never of...

Group matters lot, I agree, But to give people some hope, on that perfect day in 2018, even in start group G, 28% people finished below 3hrs... see below from racetec data % of riders who did sub 3 A 70% B 61% C 43% D 37% E 36% F 29% G 28%

Thanks, that graph is a classic...

Thanks, very helpful - you were unlucky not to break 3 hrs in the last Argus with the wind

In the 94.7 this weekend, there was a guy on an e-MTB who was pushing his buddy (on a normal road bike) up the long hill before you hit Bram Fisher... Naughty, very naughty...

Soooo.... I achieved goal number 2 and got a 2.57 for the 94.7 this Sunday (Group F). But how am I placed to achieve goal number 1, i.e. a 3hr CT cycle race? What does it take? My previous best time in CT Cycle race was 3.35 in 2019, but I was back in 2H, and it was a windy day, so I figured in a better group on a less windy day I might have done 3:20-ish. 3:20 sounds pretty close to 3:00. Is it? My current FTP is 260 (trainerroad ramp test - taken in Jhb where I live) and I weigh 85, so watt/KG is 3.06. Is that enough? Or even close? Thanks!