2014 94.7 route Change

[The_black_stig]

hence the date at the bottom of the photo, but let's give this matter a rest

 

personally, I could only hope that people (esp. those that make noises on the N14 section) will not complain on this year's route after they've done the race.

[Racer]

Old route was 1098m ascent and the new route is 1348m ascent. All worked out by the master Geraldm24 aka Frosty

[Ryan's dad]

I used to be able to ride to the start and home after....

Still , change is as good as a holiday.

Is it still 94km??

[GaryvdM]

Looking on Google earth, I see that there is a underpass where the route crosses William Nicol/R511. (a good thing for traffic....)

 

(Blue line is the route.)

 

What the start line currently looks like:

In case this worries you, Tanya Harford said in a interview, she has assurances from the engineers it will all be finished by Cycle Challenge Sunday...

Edited June 23, 2014 by GaryvdM

[jcza]

I used to be able to ride to the start and home after....

Still , change is as good as a holiday.

Is it still 94km??

 

Same distance but add approx 500m ascent. Should be 1750m ascent now.

[johanpre44]

Interesting change to the route, going to be tough with that Cedar climb near the end. Pretty sure it will be fun. The not so fun part is the parking, wonder if the change of venue will make it any better. I suspect William Nicol (currently being a single lane between Fourways and Diepsloot) is going to be a nightmare for traffic.

[GaryvdM]

The not so fun part is the parking, wonder if the change of venue will make it any better. I suspect William Nicol (currently being a single lane between Fourways and Diepsloot) is going to be a nightmare for traffic.

 

Tanya Harford said that she has guarantees that the work to make it dual carrage will be complete by CC Sunday.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C0AyiMtSKI

Edited June 23, 2014 by GaryvdM

[kosmonooit]

Don't know if this works for me, I am allergic to crammed claustrophobic impromptu parking lots. Guess parking at 4-Ways mall is one option, its about 5 k's I reckon.

 

Lots of re-development happening in that zone road-wise, always get caught up there in traffic, and the taxis from the location go berserk, all over the place. And my fav chicken pie shop down the road has closed.

[GaryvdM]

Don't know if this works for me, I am allergic to crammed claustrophobic impromptu parking lots. Guess parking at 4-Ways mall is one option, its about 5 k's I reckon.

 

Good idea. 4-Ways mall is 6.9km, Monty casino is 8.2 km. I'm thinking I'll park at Epson Downs. That's 9.7km. (Since we starting with a uphill, I think a good warm up is necessary...)

[Bonus]

The climb between Suicide Junction and Broadacres is going to be tough, and its right at the end

 

/insert horrified smiley face here/

 

The thing that will throw me will be riding for 20 odd km and only then getting to the old "start".

 

:-)

[Wyatt Earp]

The climb between Suicide Junction and Broadacres is going to be tough, and its right at the end

 

/insert horrified smiley face here/

 

The thing that will throw me will be riding for 20 odd km and only then getting to the old "start".

 

:-)

 

The thing that will throw most people before they get there will be Pooks hill and the climb up to Woodmead .

[Cruz Addict]

The thing that will throw most people before they get there will be Pooks hill and the climb up to Woodmead .

agreed, think its going to be a much tougher race this year, very curious to see if the drop out rate increases as all the not so fit once a year type guys hit the wall harder than before.

also the congestion with guys walking that last section up to dainfern is going to be hectic for anyone not starting in a competitive seeding

[Ispeed_V]

Wonder if the MTB route will also change in line with the new start and finish venue?

[Pieterg]

Nice

[Dexter-morgan]

This will be my wife's first cycle challenge, best I hide all this info from her.

[tombeej]

I haven't done this race before; this year will be my first.

 

So I spent some time creating the route in Google Earth (the only part I'm not sure of is that little kink off the M2 E into the city centre and back onto the M2 E).

 

Total climbing is around 1500m according to GE, so others who are claiming 1450m sounds about right. It's in that range.

 

I've looked at all the 'climbs' and there's nothing really there. The altitude gain during the race is due to lots of small ups and downs - no serious gradients to kill the quads. I mean, that Pooks hill right at the start is around 97m altitude gain in 2.13km @ 4.5%. No need to come out of the big ring for that.

 

The constant ups and downs make for more honest riding I guess (easier to shed the wheelsuckers), but nothing in the race to really be called a climb.