Coronation Double Century - 26 November

[scotty]

Nevermind that. I was at ElRidge at 6 am yesterday. All on my own. You guys suck.

ElRidge is 5.30am SATURDAY

[Bike Mob]

Was on the bike, made my bigest mistake by replacing my Campagnolo Record with k@k Sram Red, and long story short, at the end off the day my rear derailer decided its time to go and visit the rear wheel...

 

So you had a bad mechanic then? derailers have limits for a reason... and as far as I know Campagnolo isn't auto-sensing either...

 

Tough lesson, it's a pity, was a great day to ride a bike.

Edited November 28, 2011 by Tarmac's Revenge

[Niner]

So you had a bad mechanic then? Sram have limits for a reason... and as far as I know Campagnolo isn't auto-sensing either...

 

Tough lesson, it's a pity, was a great day to ride a bike.

[andydude]

Read some replies here and you will see that those used it was almost cause carnage...the people on the moan day in and day out about followintg rules/ road rules etc take pics of riders not doing so and now all of a sudden it is ok?

 

Ok cool man. I guess you were there with every incident which allows you to comment so strongly. Using words like carnage when there were no accidents actually makes your debate poor and makes people not take you seriously. But I guess that's the Hub - guilty until proven innocent and then you're still treated as if you were guilty!

 

I'm just trying to find out why you are so agro? It's not like every other funride is run smoothly and without incident, but I haven't seen you comment on that. But that's enough of me nibbling on your bait. Cheers mate. And enjoy riding your bike - that's what it's about.

[Thornman]

 

Stem saam!

[PeterM]

I've never DCed.

Still dream about it.

I have huge respect for those who do go on this adventure.

 

What I know is that the legacy and spirit of the event is about 'teamwork', 'support'

The quest for a step on the podium is a different spirit altogether.

 

Seems like the organisers are not quite fully prepared for this emerging competitive spirit.

They better get ready as this is the 2nd year of some form of controversy or doubt or something not lekka at the finish line.

 

 

Well done, brave riders, each & every one of you who finished.

 

Hi Dale

I just did my 1st DC - problem was that i was only asked +-40 hours before the race to join. So I was over-recovered and under-trained! It went well; it is a great race!! We finished with all 12 starters - for the last 80km we had to push the one guy and a 2nd guy started cramping 20km before the finish; 3rd guy started cramping at the finish, but we got them all to the finish!!

The team is key - so when you do it, rather go with a smart and steady social team then with "Team GoGoGo" because it will get ugly and they can turn into "Team Standstill".

I ate low GI up to km: 175.

And (quoting RodneyD): ". . . it's all in the mind . . . until you start to cramp . . . and then it is all in the legs. . ."

Dale - do it soon but make sure you have fun! It is a very special event!

Edited November 28, 2011 by PeterM

[GLuvsMtb]

Read some replies here and you will see that those used it was almost cause carnage...the people on the moan day in and day out about followintg rules/ road rules etc take pics of riders not doing so and now all of a sudden it is ok?

and I am sure that hubbers never exagerate or stretch the truth to suite their own argument (or excuse for not performing). In the perfect world we would have the corporates racing on the Saturday and the elites racing on the sunday, for the elites we would have an independent observer in each support car and we would have full road closure for the entire race to enable support teams to have a structured approach to the event.

Bottom line is that we don't race in a perfect environment and allowance needs to be made for teams needing to adjust from time to time, but accepting that would mean that thehub would be a very boring place, so lets rather knock the top guys in our sport and accuse them of being cheats than be sensible about it all.

[SeaBee]

Was my first, thoroughly enjoyed it, even if our team's plans went out the window in about 200m in the klofie between Montagu and Ashton.

 

Two gripes on my side. Support vehicles all over the show! Some forced you to pass on the right, then the next one was so far to the right, you had to accelerate and duck left, then repeat. I was personally twice nearly taken out by support vehicles just drifting into the yellow lane without warning - or usage of their mirrors!

 

Feeding... CYCLISTS: Park off the road and remain there until safe! FFS, don't just stroll into the road without as much as looking up!

 

Good things! Awesome race, great atmosphere and organisation was good. Lots of good humor along the way. Teams did not mind if I joined them (solo'd the last bit... ) for a bit - thanks guys!

 

And a special mention must go to the EMC support team! We arrived and waited for some guys, by accident stopping next to their support vehicle. One of our guys was low on water and asked whether they just have a bit - and they promptly proceeded to fill all our water bottles with ice cold water - and ice! Brilliant, guys, that's what I thought is the spirit of this race! And again, thanks a lot...

 

What a great event - can't wait for my next one!

['Dale]

Hi Dale

I just did my 1st DC - problem was that i was only asked +-40 hours before the race to join. It went well; it is a great race!! We finished with all 12 starters - for the last 80km we had to push the one guy and a 2nd guy started cramping 20km before the finish; 3rd guy started cramping at the finish, but we got them all to the finish!!

The team is key - so when you do it, rather go with a smart and steady social team then with "Team GoGoGo" because it will get ugly and they can turn into "Team Standstill".

I ate low GI up to km: 175.

And (quoting RodneyD): ". . . it's all in the mind . . . until you start to cramp . . . and then it is all in the legs. . ."

Dale - do it soon but make sure you have fun! It is a very special event!

Thanx for the dedicated note, man.

The last time I saw you was on a Burger course ride in 2010.

 

Sounds like magic to me.

[Domestiquehated]

Anyone know where I can find race pics (apart from ActionPhoto and Facebook)? Previous years some people posted on Flickr, etc... Would so love to have a picture of our team (90)...

[TNT1]

ElRidge is 5.30am SATURDAY

 

Dammit.

[American Flyers]

I loved this race and the only problem is that we have to wait for the whole year for the the next one...

[Domestiquehated]

And yes Niner, there is a big difference between the top teams and the more social riders. As a fun rider I think of it as an honour to be able to ride alongside many of the country's top riders - and yes they do have bike handling abilities I do not posess. I for one don't want the event split into 2 races just so that a couple of rule obsessed individuals can have everything perfectly neat and tidy in their limited world views. Whatever... As others have said: ride more, whinge less.

 

Moving on to more important issues: Congrats to everyone involved in the organisation for improving the formula re the seeding. My only suggestion is that there should be a clear process to follow to resolve disputes rapidly so that the top teams can be given their moment of glory on the podium. The main congestion seems to me on the Montague to Ashton strech and I imagine that some additional tweaking of the seeding order could help to offset this somewhat.

 

Probably my favourite event on the calendar.

[stratus5]

that a couple of rule obsessed individuals can have everything perfectly neat and tidy in their limited world views. Whatever... As others have said: ride more, whinge less.

 

 

I think you would have to agree that where teams break rules that jeapordise the future running of this event they should be censured?

 

Why have any rules if you can cherry pick them? I might choose a differnt rule to break, like getting towed by the team car.

 

Ah, cherry picking the rules, reminds me of another thread LOL.

[splat]

That was my 7th DC and probably one of my most enjoyable.

Apart from one puncture, we had no incidents.

 

I know of at least 2 other teams that had crashes and last year we had 8 punctures.

And we were VERY lucky with the weather! That wind came through soon after we finished and that rain just poured and poured for hours!

 

The organisation at the start and finish was great and marshalling around the course was good too.

There were several 'Think Bikes' patrolling the course keeping the riders and motorist under control - a difficult job!

 

I think the behaviour of most of the support vehicles was better this year. There is always the odd idiot here and there who ignores the rules and everyone else around them.

The feedbag story has one drawback and that is littering on the course. I am interested to know if anyone went back to pick up the bags and discarded bottles, and tin foil etc.

 

Looking forward to next year!

[small h]

 

snip

 

Two gripes on my side. Support vehicles all over the show! Some forced you to pass on the right, then the next one was so far to the right, you had to accelerate and duck left, then repeat. I was personally twice nearly taken out by support vehicles just drifting into the yellow lane without warning - or usage of their mirrors!

 

Feeding... CYCLISTS: Park off the road and remain there until safe! FFS, don't just stroll into the road without as much as looking up!

 

snip

 

 

I was part of a support team this year - 2nd year attending DC as spectator, 1st as support. I quite enjoyed they day, but......

 

The general behaviour of the support vehicles was atrocious! But I do believe that feedback from some cyclists proved that it was better than the year before! There was a "uit-k@k" session (due to last year's behaviour) as briefing of the support vehicles where many people apparently got up and walked out....... I guess one could take a guess and say it's those people that misbehaved on the road?

 

It was quite scary seeing how some of the vehicles were racing as if it was their personal race. And like you say, some so far over the white line. We were trying our best to behave and give the best possible passing space to the cyclists, but as soon as we would move to the left to let a group past, the vehicles behind us would swoop in next to us making it ridiculously dangerous for cyclists to go past into oncoming traffic! (of which there was THANKFULLY very few cars oncoming!) or leaving the cyclists to pick a path weaving through the vehicles....

 

What further pissed us off was that support vehicles would, like you say, not pull off the road. So we would give way, and the next moment have to stop dead because there's some special person with their vehicle in the yellow lane (and cyclists climbing back onto their bikes all over the place) and then we can't move back into the road because of cyclists / other support vehicles being right next to us

 

And not to mention the idiots feeding on the descents..... or driving 2 abreast with their vehicles...... and then don't even get me started on some teams having idiots hanging halfway out the vehicle, driving halfway over the white line, just to take photos of their team - ignoring the marshals telling them to move over Surely the marshals should have done more to these types of guys?

 

And I can give you team names and shame them here, but that's not the point. If everybody would just abide by the rules (which I'm sure are there for safety reasons and not because somebody thought it would be fun) more cyclists would enjoy the race