Argus crashes

['Dale]

Suikerbos won't split the main, big group. Too flat. Now imagine this: 200+ cyclists going down the steep side of Suikerbossie at 80km/h+ heading to the robot where the road narrows and with a big island in the middle And then going down small Suikerbossie on a very narrow road and over the island

 

Can't even imagine that scenario - yikes!

[Guest Frail4Life]

Have riders qualify to enter (Comrades and 2 oceans) ?

At last Someone IS Thinking!

Simple. Top groups Say % * # and A to Z, need to Qualify. Have cycled more than 5 Events 80/100km in last 6 months. Where there Seeding and ID NEEDS to be Checked. The Groups AA to ZZ need to have finnish 1 Event 80/100km.

Seeding over ALL Needs to be Stricter in Every sence.

[Let's Ride]

At last Someone IS Thinking!

Simple. Top groups Say % * # and A to Z, need to Qualify. Have cycled more than 5 Events 80/100km in last 6 months. Where there Seeding and ID NEEDS to be Checked. The Groups AA to ZZ need to have finnish 1 Event 80/100km.

Seeding over ALL Needs to be Stricter in Every sence.

 

Agreed.

 

Would make it much more pleasant.

[superga]

my combined improvements in argus and burger sanlam from 2010 to 2011 was 3hours (not mins--2hrs better in argus and 1hour better in burger) yet i started 1 and half hours later this year. i assumed that previous argus and burger are are very big seeding races for argus. so do not understand seeding process???? queried with organisers and reason given racetec seeding. have done a few other races mixed from 30k's to 90 k's and 4 training rides of 100k's and 3 rides of 75 k's.

 

so good luck with seeding races ....the better you do the worse your start time...

 

.problem is charities-- more groups this year so more unskilled riders ahead of skilled riders. maybe this should be changed to argus charity ride and not a race...

 

otherwise best solution let the charities all start later as they are fun riders.

i know of a few cyclist who rode for charities and paid the R1500 just to start earlier and charities advertise an earlier start and not what charity is all about. i have nothing against charities after all that is how this "race" started.

 

therefore suggested all seeded riders must qualify and charities start at the end with beginners and novices for the "gees" and more seeding races eg why not cape cobra or rollercoaster, engen etc in w'cape

[Audible Anarchy]

Man there was some bad riding in the B group, I have never seen aggression like that in the Argus. Guys switching each other, surging into gaps, pushing others around and shouting at each other the whole way to Boyes Drive, where it seemed to calm down, probably because we dropped the idiots who need to ride like morons to keep in the Group, It is a miracle that we never saw more crashes in B, I only saw one on Smits, looked soft, but I thought the guys involved where going to whip out the handbags.

 

that B grp was one of the most nervous, twitchy bunches ive ever raced with! had to put my foot down twice before we even got onto the blue route! thank gooodness things clamed down a bit once most of the guys got popped off the back up smitswinkel

[janneman72]

Crazy D group! I counted 5 crashes, 3 within the first 3kms! Last one 200m from the end! Seems like people regard a fast time higher than their own lives, very sad!

I was in the D group and it was really crazy.

 

In the beginning we had a lot of start & stops(noobs braking unnecessary), then one guy went through the cones at Hospital bend, then the guys started to pass on the left on the CURB and squeezed themselves in when the curb ended which caused another accident, then 4 or 5 crashes during the first 40kms, then one later at about 60km followed by another one shortly after and the one at the end. I probably saw about 10 crashes, if I had my cycling cam on I could've sold the footage for a few bucks, really some first class crashes over the bars.

 

I just tried to finish this Argus, it just wasn't worth a good time...D anyways didn't get any sub-3's....

[janneman72]

This puts us right back to the question, where must the organizers find the place to slot in the increased albeit smaller batches. Limit the entry down from 35000 ?, have the back end'rs start later ? Have riders qualify to enter (Comrades and 2 oceans) ?

Perhaps they can keep the groups and intervals the same but make the front groups, lets say to H, much smaller and the back groups larger. The back groups just enjoys the Argus and can be bigger but the front groups must be reduced.

[gripen]

Here's a crazy suggeestion. I found that the problem is the faster riders starting in the slower groups. This causes them to want to push ahead and go sub-3 from the H group etc. So why not cap the finishing times? Based on seeding, you can be expected to finish no faster than say 3:20 from the G start. So for example, no matter how fast you ride, you will finish at 3:15 even if you ride a 2:50. This way, people will either a) put in the effort and seed themselves correctly by doing a seeding race B) slow down and ride with the group and stop pushing ahead. You could then get "buses" like in the Comrades, 2 Oceans etc. So let's say you get a lowish seeding like K or something but want to get a guaranteed 3:30, you just stick with the main group and get it.

Like I said, crazy suggestion. Personally, I have no desire to ride this race again after the craziness of people pushing you around much more than any other race. I'm not sure why it is but the group dynamics in the Argus seem to be out of touch. Maybe just my experience. Or the actual route, with the downhills etc.

['Dale]

I hope the the Cycle Tour administrators pay attention.

 

Here's a news article too from news24:

 

http://www.sport24.co.za/OtherSport/CycleTour/29-serious-Cycle-Tour-cases-20120312

[odds]

I THINK THE BEST WAY FOR THE VB GROUP TO RACE IS THAT ALL THE ELLITE LADIES AND THE TOP 100 VETS 40 + AND THE TOP 50 VETS 50+ MUST RIDE TOGETHER

[Tubehunter]

I find this problem is more than just a cycling one. You only have to drive along the highway to see how many people feel entitled to camp in the right hand lane. (yes this has been covered in a previous thread....) These same people unfortunately put their leg over a bicycle and after paying their entry fee feel entitled to ride wherever and however they like without any consideration towards the people around them and whether they are indeed holding up those who have trained harder and want to go faster. No seeding strategy will fix this. The Argus is still a race and if someone wants to have a timetrial go from the very back of the groups than they should have that opportunity. I find the only approach that works for me is to call people out when they begin doing crazy **** around me. Going down Hospital Bend some chap in our group attempted to do the overtake on the left stunt and I shouted blue murder at him! Told him in no uncertain terms that he was taking unnecessary risks to all of us so that he could simply move up 5 wheels. Did the same to some guy in Nedbank kit approaching the end of the Blue Route. These fools don't seem to realise that when a road narrows and you have people overtaking each other on both sides that someone is going to get squeezed due to the lack of room. They are usually the same chaps who ride tight in the bunch hiding from any wind with overlapping wheels and don't even understand the fuss when you tell them not to do it. Only thing to do is deal wtih it as it happens. The organisers could also have some screens in the number collection hall with some video playing using some of our local pros demonstrating good bunch ettiquette. Will probably be the most effective way of dealing with this. Knowledge is power and most of these transgressors are simply clueless actually. that is the real root of the problem.

[RTG7]

that B grp was one of the most nervous, twitchy bunches ive ever raced with! had to put my foot down twice before we even got onto the blue route! thank gooodness things clamed down a bit once most of the guys got popped off the back up smitswinkel

 

Things were better from Smits, then 4 crashes from Bakoven to the finish, It was just so stupid. I got into that last km, pulled over and cruised in 20secs off the front, and missed the last crash 200m from the finish.

[udxcob]

Chris Skosen was at the finish line cheering on the finishers.

I spoke to him and he is wanting to get on a bike in a months time

[Sonic]

There was a crash on Edinburgh Drive, some box decided to stop dead in the middle of the road and the poor guy behind him was looking down at that very second. Slammed so hard into this guy that he almost flew straight over the said box!

 

Yeah... that was me

[onetrackmind]

that B grp was one of the most nervous, twitchy bunches ive ever raced with! had to put my foot down twice before we even got onto the blue route! thank gooodness things clamed down a bit once most of the guys got popped off the back up smitswinkel

 

I was also in B.

 

Was a safe ride, except for this guy who kept unclipping and putting his foot on the ground.

[Audible Anarchy]

i feel worse for the guy i had to elbow in the back to prevent going endo! hahaha

 

glad to see i wasnt the only one who had to make emergency stops...

 

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/113924-argus-2012-bad-luck-stories/page__st__16

Edited March 14, 2012 by Audible Anarchy