Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge 2014

[Wez-O]

ooooooo this is going to hurt on so many levels......uurrrggg.....

Says the guy who got into and stayed in the breakaway over hekpoort 

[BigT4]

I tried to plot the route on strava. Excuse if some of it is not 100% Correct

 

http://www.strava.com/routes/1127596

[tombeej]

Just wondering how much 'racecraft' or experience racing in those bunches plays a role in being able to hang in there?

 

Even strong guys that are very fit get caught out purely by the tactics employed by the well experienced few front runners that will do whatever it takes to shake off the 'baggage' they don't want to take with to the line. Those surges that come every so often that can rip the legs off even well trained and fit lads and lasses?

 

Even just that acceleration when there is a sharp turn ......

 

There are lots of little tricks you can employ to stay with a fast bunch that's steadily becoming too fast for you on a rolling course like this.

 

One of the best has to be that old truth that if you are suffering you need to be at the front of the bunch at the foot of a climb, then as the bunch steadily rides past you, you play little mind games with yourself to hold onto a wheel for like 50 pedal strokes at at time before falling off to the next wheel coming past and trying another 50 pedal strokes on that one, and so on. This way, you hopefully find yourself at the back of the bunch at the summit before you get spat out the back (if you start the climb in the middle or rear of the bunch, you're going to get dropped much more easily).

 

Then going over the top, you stay to the right of the bunch and if you're a fatty like me, stay off the brakes and allow yourself to run down the right hand side so that you're back at the front of the bunch at the bottom of the next climb, so you can once again start your 50 pedal strokes survival game.

 

As fatties we need to take advantage of our weight and don't allow ourselves to get caught deep in the bunch as it descends before the next roller. On these descents the bunch always has to sit on the brakes while it gets swarmed from the right hand side. Rather be one of the guys swarming to the front than being caught mid-bunch before the climb. Momentum is your best ally on this course!

 

Anyway, that's my plan for those 5 last climbs in the final 20km .

[Frosty]

My recon ride last Sunday (with the previously mentioned detours) came to 1,600m elevation gain. Last years race was 1,300. Make of that what you will...

Which software did you use to get your total elevation gain?

[HOEKVLAG]

There are lots of little tricks you can employ to stay with a fast bunch that's steadily becoming too fast for you on a rolling course like this.

 

One of the best has to be that old truth that if you are suffering you need to be at the front of the bunch at the foot of a climb, then as the bunch steadily rides past you, you play little mind games with yourself to hold onto a wheel for like 50 pedal strokes at at time before falling off to the next wheel coming past and trying another 50 pedal strokes on that one, and so on. This way, you hopefully find yourself at the back of the bunch at the summit before you get spat out the back (if you start the climb in the middle or rear of the bunch, you're going to get dropped much more easily).

 

Then going over the top, you stay to the right of the bunch and if you're a fatty like me, stay off the brakes and allow yourself to run down the right hand side so that you're back at the front of the bunch at the bottom of the next climb, so you can once again start your 50 pedal strokes survival game.

 

As fatties we need to take advantage of our weight and don't allow ourselves to get caught deep in the bunch as it descends before the next roller. On these descents the bunch always has to sit on the brakes while it gets swarmed from the right hand side. Rather be one of the guys swarming to the front than being caught mid-bunch before the climb. Momentum is your best ally on this course!

 

Anyway, that's my plan for those 5 last climbs in the final 20km .

That's a really good plan - except that everybody tries it, especially the part of passing on the right, sometimes to the extent that some of the bunch have to break even more than the rest to allow everybody in resulting in some really hairy situations....

[Tothehills]

For all the 3hr subbers

 

 

[Tayyib]

Just got my seeding.... Being a mountain biker 99% of the time (mostly by choice), just don't enjoy dodging idiots on the road or entering road races without full closure. The fact that I have done the last four 94.7's dragging an ice cream for CHOC; hasn't helped my seeding cause - RR with a start of 9:54 isn't going to help my goal of a sub 3 / 3:15 (without the ice cream this year...).

In this day and age, can't the results from Sani / B&B / Juma / etc be taken into consideration for seeding?

Pretty pissed, especially since I went out & got a skinny wheeled bike for the effort...

Watch the classifieds... Vent over.

I'm In the same boat dude...mainly race mtb so starting in RR as well...I would've like to push for a sub 3 but that far back with no help will be tough...will see you in the front row.sure well end up in a pace line together up front.

[megs]

Yip, like what happened to me at the Midvaal 100, when the 2 lead tandems hit the downhill at the halfway mark.

 

Getting dropped on the descent wasn't the problem, being in the gutter and trying to close multiple gaps over 3km was the killer.

 

Sorry! I was on the back of one of the tandems, I was scared going down that down hill!

[Frosty]

Sorry! I was on the back of one of the tandems, I was scared going down that down hill!

Nothing quite as humiliating as being dropped on a downhill. Just happened to be on the wrong wheel at the wrong time.

 

First time (and only time) it happened was in Oudtshoorn (SA Champs 2009), but I couldn't fault the tandems that time. There I was, chit chatting with a club mate how "rustig" the pace was and when we turned the corner... well, um, ITT for the next lap and a half.

[Skubarra]

Just wondering how much 'racecraft' or experience racing in those bunches plays a role in being able to hang in there?

 

Even strong guys that are very fit get caught out purely by the tactics employed by the well experienced few front runners that will do whatever it takes to shake off the 'baggage' they don't want to take with to the line. Those surges that come every so often that can rip the legs off even well trained and fit lads and lasses?

 

Even just that acceleration when there is a sharp turn ......

 

In my limited experience in big races I have found that the only places the group can really split is on big or long climbs, in other places the attackers won't get away from the group for long so it's not even worth chasing after little break-aways.

 

Like tombeej says, work your way to the front 1/3 before the big climb (the pace often seems to slow down a bit) and then pray you have the legs to be still be within catching distance when the mountain goats reach the crest.

 

No little trick is going to save you if you are really outgunned though (talking from experience here...), then just sit up, wait for the next group and resist the temptation to burn unnecessary matches riding on your own, the next group are going to catch up no matter what you do...

[dracs]

That's a really good plan - except that everybody tries it, especially the part of passing on the right, sometimes to the extent that some of the bunch have to break even more than the rest to allow everybody in resulting in some really hairy situations....

 

have to agree - pet hate.  I have no issue with anyone coming forward on a downhill if there is space on the right, but then be prepared to come all the way to the front of the pack for a bit - or stay out on the right (possibly in the wind) until someone leaves a gap (deliberately or otherwise).  Don't cruise down there and then push in so the rest of us have to anchor on.

[bmw1za]

have to agree - pet hate.  I have no issue with anyone coming forward on a downhill if there is space on the right, but then be prepared to come all the way to the front of the pack for a bit - or stay out on the right (possibly in the wind) until someone leaves a gap (deliberately or otherwise).  Don't cruise down there and then push in so the rest of us have to anchor on.

Thats only fair.. i tend to roll past , move in front and then take the bunch down ... In the hope that they give me space on the way up . Guys who know me actually look for me to take them down (I'm big enough to be a Tandum). lol

[TALUS]

have to agree - pet hate.  I have no issue with anyone coming forward on a downhill if there is space on the right, but then be prepared to come all the way to the front of the pack for a bit - or stay out on the right (possibly in the wind) until someone leaves a gap (deliberately or otherwise).  Don't cruise down there and then push in so the rest of us have to anchor on.

My pet hate is the guys that come wide over the solid white line when the surges die down. As soon as a car comes they want to push back in and you have to brake or slow down. The next thing is the pack surges and you have to try to close the gap.

Anyway us backmarkers are just fighting for scraps so before anyone states the obvious -I hang around the back because I am too soft for the front.

[wazi]

If anyone hasn't seen the new route at the end of the race (from Malibongwe) I took my camera along this past weekend and filmed it for you.  I wanted to check out the road we'd be riding on.  

"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31MZMmLwoDQ"

 

[eraser]

Cool vid, thks for sharing wazi

 

That road through Steyn City looks far from complete!

 

Anyway see you guys next Sunday!

[HBO]

Thats only fair.. i tend to roll past , move in front and then take the bunch down ... In the hope that they give me space on the way up . Guys who know me actually look for me to take them down (I'm big enough to be a Tandum). lol

Yip me too. At 105 kg's I'm a true downhill specialist. I think we must make a pact with the "light weights" in D to help us with climbs (give us a little push), then we will do all the work on the down hills.