Musashi

Hey, you caught us again on camera this year! I bet there aren't many 11 year olds with 2 CTCT's done.

At the moment the forecast is no rain, but a pumping southeaster. In other words a regular summer day in Cape Town.

I've "raced" it many times but three years ago did it for the first time on a tandem with my then 72 year old father-in-law. We decided beforehand we're not going to race but not going to faf around either. Enjoy the views, chat a bit and pull a few people from the top of Suikerbossie home. It was great fun, so much so we did it again two years ago. Then last year my son was old enough to take his place on the tandem and this year will be his second Argus. We have a nice 07:03 start so the riders are quite sensible but not aggressively serious. It really is nice to look up and enjoy the experience.

The plot thickens. Due to foot and mouth disease, they're adjusting the route a bit. No one knows what we're in for...

They are quite good at sharing info closer to the time with those that have entered. They share the route file and usually do a zoom call where they discuss the route in more detail and share other useful info. Entrants also get added to the Whatsapp group where everyone asks and shares info. You'll have a good idea what to expect come race day. Time on the bike through the Karoo/ Free State is always good!

They're not the best at keeping the website updated. I have this from December.

I'm also considering this one. The route is apparently about 410km so hopefully I won't be too knackered the Sunday to drive home.

I'm glad my son and I dropped back to a 06:30 start. The main hurdle with a tandem is you end up doing extreme interval training. It's quite efficient on the flats and downhill, but every climb requires max effort just to keep up. We did loose the groups a few times but still ended up 14 minutes faster than last year. Maybe next year we'll break 3 hours. What was interesting, a few riders in bunch F, G and H did not know how to hold a line but I stayed clear behind them as they drift left and right. We didn't have any incidents. And it was only now and again that someone crossed the lane to overtake and generally the riders kept on this side of the road. I think most riders in these bunches are a bit less serious about their time and more serious about their safety. What really surprised me was how patient many drivers were. For some long stretches they had to sit behind the bunch and wait until it's safe to overtake, and no one seems overly irritated. Maybe it was a different story inside the vehicle. A big thanks to them. If I HAD to critique, the only minor thing to improve would be the generators close to the food stalls. The noise made it nearly impossible to hear the announcements and vibe. I almost missed it when they called our number for the lucky draw. I don't know how you pulled it off, but you even managed to organize perfect weather! Well done, excellent event!

# (tandems) start at 06:05

Which group will do the 94km in about 3 hours and when do they start?

We started in that group last year, got dropped after 500m and only managed to hang on to a group (I think G) for the last 15km. We did a 3:48 Argus so I’m hoping someone at a similar pace can indicate where they were seeded, otherwise we’re going to drop back to F or G.

I did that last year. It didn't work.

Me and my son are (correctly) seeded with the tandems at 06:05 but there’s no way we’re going to stick with those fast groups so we want to drop back to a group more our pace. Anyone with a 3:45 to 04:00 Argus pace, where are you seeded for the 99er?

The tandem fits inside my wife's Kia Sedona without having to take a wheel of.

It take some guts to apologise, especially on an anonymous forum where it's easy to "disappear". You have my respect.