Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge 2014

[TK-Sp3cialiSt]

Can anyone tell me what the green, blue and yellow was on the numbers ?

 

Green was awarded if you rode both events, MTB and road

[IdeJongh]

Must say, I really felt for a guys.

 

With about 5km to go, I heard the distinct and humiliating humming of knobblies behind me.

And then coming up that *** Steyn City climb a dude on his dual sus came past me, he had caught us from C group, so he must have been heading for a 2h35!!

 

Then as he crested the top of that climb at the circle BANG!! his tyre blew right next to me, completely off the rim and a bit of poo came out of me! There was no way he was going to repair it.

 

That is *** luck!

 

If you are a Hubber, massive respect man!

 

 

I was right behind you guys, nearly poopoo'd my pants when the wheel exploded.

Still had sealant on my when I got home! But as said - big ups on a STRONG ride!

[Falco]

Compared to the Argus and Amashova how does yesterday's course compare?

 

I would say that this new route has about the same difficulty rating as the Argus, and slightly harder than the Amashova. But that's just the feeling from my legs, others might differ.

[ScottCM]

I agree with Wyatt about the "slower" riders passing even "slower" rider but at a pace that might be to slow for yourself . My gripe comes when we approached the water point, especially on Joe Slovo where people were stopping dead and just standing all over the road without consideration for the "riding" guy behind them. a couple of people almost crashed there cause of this.

[Wyatt Earp]

 Yellow = 10th

Red = 18

Blue = 15/16/17

Green = MTB and road entry

Cool, couldn't figure out why my my number was blue 

[Frosty]

I clocked a 2:59 on my Bryton. I knew this was going to happen. Racetec always adds a minute or so to the actual time.

My time is spot on. I started when the time hit 06:20.

Even though my GPS is set to auto-pause, the total time is gun to mat, whereas my ride time is out by the few seconds it took get moving.

[canfan]

Wonder if he just pumped it to hard and it just came off the rim.

[Paul Ruinaard]

I agree with you here as well, the rules of the road on a bicycle are the same as the rules of the road in a car.

I thought about this plenty yesterday .

I would see inconsiderate riders sitting four or five side to side having a chat and barely moving and hogging the entire faster lane by doing so.

 

Then you pass guys who are there and you wonder why , that is when I realised that in their mind they are fast and in reality they are, as they are passing people.

The guys walking and pushing, quite simple, do so on the left.

We had TA/TB behind us (I was in S with the wife) which lead to some shouting by the stronger tandem guys as they were trying to get through from Blue Hills down to Heartbreak.

 

These guys were cruising and it was clear that most of the people in the front were clueless about keep left pass right and racing etiquette about overtaking slower guys.

 

Not sure they shouldn't be seeded higher

[IdeJongh]

I just love this race! Well done Tanya Harford and the rest of her Team.

 

Fortunately I arrived early for an A batch start so no probs with traffic for me but I did notice a very long tailback developing.

 

Waiting in the start batch the guy next to me looks at his back wheel and its flat. We start changing and realize his tube valve is too short. Luckily I'm carrying 2 tubes, so we sort it out with seconds to spare. I think this actually helped my start because the adrenalin was already flowing..Lol.

 

Stayed with the bunch till the climb into town, then went with the second bunch at a slightly more manageable pace. Finished 2.43 went to the car, refueled, re-sunblocked and went to the start and followed Joel Stransky's charity group around for second lap.

 

Second time was actually the highlight, cyclists of all shapes and sizes riding and chatting, really great to see. These guys make this race and I'm sure they have far more interesting stories to tell than the race snakes. Anyway second lap was 3.20, so Around 6 hours in total. Any other 2 lappers with race reports? (It's always more interesting reading race reports on the hub than in the magazines)

 

Bring on Double Century next weekend!

 

First lap did a 2h39 from D batch, enjoyed the race.  Then popped back into the start and did a 4h04 with the missus.  It was awesome to see weekend warriors really giving it all just for a finish! Fantastic!

 

To the guy riding with one leg (no prosthetic) probably doing a sub3 - you gave me a lump in my throat and some perspective.  BIG big respect!

[Squier]

My time is spot on. I started when the time hit 06:20.

Even though my GPS is set to auto-pause, the total time is gun to mat, whereas my ride time is out by the few seconds it took get moving.

Yup, don't want to labour the point. It is what it is.

 

Anyway, it's a matter of seconds. I started my Bryton when Arnie said "30 second to start" and stopped it after I had stopped post the finish line. My time is a smidgen less than 3 hours.

 

Like I say, it is what it is. I still had fun.

[Squier]

Edit: double post

[Paul Ruinaard]

I would say that this new route has about the same difficulty rating as the Argus, and slightly harder than the Amashova. But that's just the feeling from my legs, others might differ.

Ar

 

I did my first 94.7 yesterday (Yippee!)

It was damn hard- I did it in my goal time of around 5 hours.

Compared to the Argus and Amashova how does yesterday's course compare?

Argus is less climbing over a longer course - 1320m roughly over 113km (Argus). Haven't done Amashova.

 

94.7 was approx 1430m over 94 kms.

 

The new 94.7 is similar to the older first one's which were Jhb's toughest race - you climbed all the way in to Braamfontein from River sands up William Nicol. 

 

Not sure of the stats but that was more like this route.

[RearWheelDrive]

So here's my story:

 

Started in E. I really suck at group riding, for some reason I'm nervous with people behind me so I tend to hang back a bit and the flood gates open and everyone passes me. 

 

So after Kyalami etc when we were on Woodmead and the highway I was in a biggish bunch but the pace was relatively slow.

 

The next thing  I suck at is descending. I always feel someone is going to run wide and wipe me out. So I came in at 3:07.

 

Next lap I did with my wife. We were talking about it for a while but she was nervous. My Dad decided to pull out as he hadn't done any seeding races in 2 years and got ZZ. So with one month on training and 4 rides of about between 50 and 60 she made it in 5:11. With foot cramps that we had to stop a number of times to rub. Ride time was 04:45. She did a short Dischem a few years ago but we had a bunch of kids so she's been off the bike. She feels chuffed as this is the furthest she's ever ridden.

 

And even she gave me a go on the downhills

 

BTW I also rode past that guy lying in the road on that fast bumpy bit (Cedar I assume, Just past where the Bar One stand is supposed to be) 

[Frosty]

I found those speed bumps in Steyn City extremely dangerous. 

Steel frame and lekker wheels and you don't even know they are there 

Don't forget to add bike handling skills too

 

I enjoyed those bumps - especially the one just before the circle at the exit. Bloke behind me thought I was crazy going through there so fast.

[Bateleur1]

Started in D with my sister. Initially was going to go for a hard ride but decided to stick with my sister.  She had a tough time especially over the first 30 km or so.  She battled with the climbs but I could give some lead out on the downhills and the few more level pieces of road (not that there were too many of that).  On Witkoppen I said cheers to the sister and hooked in with some F guys passing us.  The Steyn city climb killed my legs and finished with a 3.04.  Would have been able to do a sub 3 fairly easily but I enjoyed the ride.

 

I like the new route.  Was there nice and early and did not have traffic problems.

 

We decided agains the second lap but that was a blessing in hindsight.   When I got home I had a dog that needed to be rushed to the vet.

[canfan]

Don't forget to add bike handling skills too

 

I enjoyed those bumps - especially the one just before the circle at the exit. Bloke behind me thought I was crazy going through there so fast.

Agreed, Bike handling skills is probably the biggest one. But at that stage of the race fatigue plays a big role, especially for the guys at the back.