3wings

I took your advice and drove out to the Noordhoek Village today, parked up, and hit Chappies. Borrowed a mate's Stravonometer which, if I punched the right buttons, told me the ascent averages 4-5%. Perfect. So I did it 10 times - well 20 really, 10 up and 10 back down to the village. A total of 95.3 kms distance and 1289 climbing metres. Clever things these Stravoos. Took me 6 hours 39 minutes including a couple of banana and coffee breaks. Thing is, it didn't really cure the problem; my nuts are now as numb as a bum on an icepack... Eish

Yip, am sure you're right. Have ridden the same bike, a BH G5 bought from a great hubber up north, for my last three tours. It was last professionally set-up in 2018 so really should have had it tweaked/redone this year. More fool me - won't make that mistake again in a hurry !

On my hands and knees.

Its now Tuesday morning and I'm STILL numb in my 'nether regions'.... Anyone know a cure - or how long this will last ????

Remember the 'old days' when you used to see them sucking the juice out of discarded power-gel wrappers ? Perhaps they still do...

Thanks - but wasn’t fishing for kudos – especially when owning up to an (only-just) sub-6 !! Guess I’m just trying to get my head around the whole question of e-bikes and the CTCT. Is it good for the event or, in the long term, is it bad ? E-bikes are a feature now – we all better just get used to the idea, that much I understand at least. However I can’t help get the feeling that there’ll be more and more each year. To all those pushing their bikes up Smits, Chappies and Suikerbossie – what must they have been thinking as an e-bike whizzed past ? “To hell with this, next year I’ll get myself one of those” !! And the okes riding the e-bikes – what were they thinking as they passed them? “I used to have to do that, glad I got myself one of these, takes all the effort out of the climbs – and the need to train hard, or at all really”. These might be exaggerations I know, but what is the incentive for the overweight, the unfit and in some cases the unhealthy, to ever ride under their own steam again when they witness an ever-increasing number of riders junking their old bikes and investing in something propelled by a battery-powered motor ? There will be some, like me, that would rather throw in the towel and call it a day, however I suspect that, as e-bike prices come down, technology improves and batteries become smaller and more durable, the numbers of these hybrid bikes taking part in events like the CTCT will increase substantially. It’s a headache for the organizers but one they will need to face up to sooner rather than later. One very obvious and pressing question for them as numbers increase might be this: Who has precedence/right of way ? Man-power or battery power ? Just asking but from an insurance perspective, is a motorist always deemed to be at fault when colliding with a cyclist ? I don’t know the absolute answer to that but suspect it’s the driver. So if a little old lady grinding along gets taken out badly by a testosterone-fueled 22 year-old on an e-bike doing 25kmh up Chappies – and it will happen one day – then what ?

I’ve been reading all the comments on e-bikers, wondering whether or not to wade into the debate or keep quiet… So on the assumption that the organizers read and take note of this forum have decided, for better or worse, to wade in. First a little background. I’m a 66 year old male, 1.85m and 82kgs who suffered a heart attack in 2005. Double stent angioplasty in September and a triple bypass in January 2006. Had always enjoyed road running but the cardiac ‘event’ put paid to that so, on the advice of my sub-3 cardiologist, took up road cycling. And LOVED it. First ‘Argus’ was 2009, a baptism of wind !! Got round in about 7 hours. 2010/11/12/13/14 all good and my PB improved to under 4.30. Missed 2015 – busy sailing across the Atlantic. 2016 another good ride but was diagnosed with cancer later that year. The Lance Armstrong variety – so now I’m a ‘uni-baller’ !! 2017 was cancelled – and what a relief for me that was ! Much better ride in 2018 but then, in September, I got tick-bite fever. TBF is a bitch, unless diagnosed (and treated) very early – which mine wasn’t. Recovery can be very slow, and missed last year’s Tour – my limbs were just stuffed. So I was back in the saddle yesterday, started in 4D, and, although slow up Edinburgh Drive, got to Miller’s Point in good time. And then the fatigue set in, no power in the climbs and eventually finished in just under 6 hours. So am I a candidate for an e-Bike ride next year ? (On the basis of illness or that I was 90 minutes slower than my PB ?) No way – NOT EVER. I love ‘The Argus” – it is such an enormous privilege to have one of the world’s most spectacular highways given over to cyclists for a day. The carnival atmosphere is awesome. The sight of those handicapped okes' arms grinding their recumbent three-wheelers uphill humbles me to the core. If they can do it by sheer guts and will-power then so can I. Even if it means finishing in six or so hours…. For me its the taking part that counts - not the breaking of some speed record. Those days may be gone for a while, so I might as well just man-up and accept it. Meanwhile... A sub-4 on an e-bike ? Will somebody explain to me, like I’m a five-year old, what is the point ???

The beast is back for his 9th Tour. Missed 2019 because of tick-bite fever Was dreading the thought of the ride earlier in the week. But now I'm super-stoked and can't wait for the "Hoopla" Good luck everyone - and stay safe out there !

+1 There was, of course, the HUGE issue of the Western Cape water crisis and the severe restrictions currently in operation in Cape Town in particular. Lost count of the number of people who told me that they "thought' the CTCT has already been cancelled this year because of it. "Where did you hear that"? I asked in surprise/shock. "On the news/radio/newspapers" was the general reply, with the explanation that the City of Cape Town didn't want to be seen (politically) 'wasting' millions of litres of precious water on a bunch of elitist/middle class/predominantly white cyclists !! Okay, so most of us know that this is complete bollocks, but the point is that this sort of 'fake news' and negative publicity undoubtedly deterred a number of people from entering. And when you consider the planning and expense involved in getting here for so many up country riders, its perhaps not so surprising that by the time that bollocks was exposed it was simply too late for hundreds of otherwise committed riders to participate ! But given the enormously positive vibe on this thread over the past few days - I'm sure they'll be back - and they'll be enormously welcome too. Here's to a record-breaking, and above all safe, CTCT 2019 !

Gotta acknowledge LeoKnight for bringing this up - someone needed to - because the Marshal's friend alerted us all to his sad passing on The Hub last evening. So it cannot possibly have escaped Bellairs' radar - or that of his officials. So why the disrespectful silence ? Someone, somewhere, perhaps made a decision that three deaths in one day was just TOO MUCH BAD NEWS. And however hard that reality may have been for the organiser's to swallow - it was a very bad decision. That marshal obviously cared about the overall wellbeing of us, the cyclists, and of course about the safety and smooth running of the event itself. For him to lose his life trying to keep us out of harm's way is therefore tragic beyond words....

I know - but having travelled 9000 kms to get here.... And yes, of course, I could have gone home in a box Which would have made the tens of thousands of Rand spent on the trip seem rather pointless. So okay, I'll admit it was irresponsible, to myself, the people that would have had to clean up the mess and my two wonderful daughters back home. I'm an idiot okay. And I'm sorry.

On a different note, did anyone else do the Tour yesterday with flu ? I came down with it last Tuesday, sore throat, sinusitis, the works and thought at the time - that's it - no Argus for me this year ! At the Expo on Thursday I heard several people sneezing and finally asked one oke if he was feeling as *** as I was. Said he was not feeling too sharp but hoped to be better by Sunday. I wished him well and decided to wait a couple days also. Was all ready to cry off on Saturday night, but with the awesome weather predicted serious FOMO set in... Started in 4K, took it easy and stayed out of trouble but was waaaay off my best time. Feeling beyond *** today, coughing and wheezing but so very, very glad that I was there. It was worth it. HUGE THANKS to the organisers, all the officials, marshals and volunteers - what a great day. And heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of those who tragically lost their lives. You will NEVER be forgotten. R.I.P.

Hard talk from The General himself only yesterday: “Whoever declares war against us‚ against innocent communities‚ against women‚ against children‚ against the elderly … you want war? You’ll get war. “You want peace? You’ll get peace. And if you decide to engage in the war with us I can assure there will be one side that will survive and that side is us‚” No mention of cyclists though

Still in its infancy I know but these guys are on the right track: http://www.wrenchscience.com/ The road and MTB scene is (or should be) gearing up for the online shopper - not just components - but custom designed racing thoroughbreds. It's not for everyone, I still love the atmosphere at my friendly LBS - but they can only afford to carry so much stock - and isn't it always the case that the one item you really, really want is already sold out

I agree that the concept store is one way to go - but new stores need to do their homework and target existing brand users (always the best advocates of the product) to help spread the word. I live 10kms away from this new Stellenbosch store, have been riding exclusively S-Works for the past 5 years and only found out about it on this thread last night - too late now I guess - dropped another R7k with Pietie and the guys in Somerset West yesterday - hopefully I'm now done for this season. Online, direct selling is definitely THE WAY to go, especially in countries with a safe and efficient courier/delivery/logistics network. When Amazon made the move from selling books into just about anything in the US and UK they left a sad trail of retail stores in their wake. When my buddy took over the running of: http://www.intensecycles.com in California a few years ago that was his vision - you go on line, choose your frame, select your components, colour match - marvel as the graphics build your new bike onscreen - go to checkout and a week later the man from Fedex arrives with your personally custom-spec'd beauty on your doorstep. He's not quite there yet - but give hime time - he will be. No middlemen, no retail stores - a high-quality personalised bike from factory direct to consumer - you'll be able to do it all from the comfort of your favourite armchair ! Now if SA had a business that actually manufactured things rather than just imported from Taiwan and assembled - wouldn't that be something ?