Cape Town Cycle Tour will go ahead, detour route now 47km

[Gen]

I saw a tweet that many of the volunteer firefighters are riding the 47km on Sunday.. make sure to buy them a nice cold one afterwards.

[MTBeer]

Cant they just move the ride to another place? How many 100km routes is there?

yes I agree. why didn't they think of that. I think you should contact them with your brilliant idea. I mean the logistics for 35000 cyclist can't be that difficult to transfer to another venue.

 

no wonder people think cyclists are boxes.

[Kranswurm]

Airial footage is going to be amazing, one looooong stream of cyclists. Chatted to a few guys that had entered, all sympathetic, those that were using the race built in as part of a holiday are going ahead, others doing it as a hit and run will cut their costs and cancel. As for refund it has not entered their heads as the race is held for charity.

One has to be reasonably pragmatic and move on.The organisers have tried to find the best solution and were faced with an impossible task to please everyone.

If I had entered I would just can it and do something else and forfeit the entry fee to a good cause

Who cares about a goddam cycle race in the face of the disaster that has happened and the effects which will be felt for a long time to come.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Its a New South Africa misconception that only rich people stay up in those parts. Look around your house tonight when you get home and think to yourself what you would take if you had to evacuate, have 20 minutes to pack and there would be no come-backs later. Bikes are insured, furniture is insured, but the photo albums, portraits, artwork, things like my Wilbur Smith collection with curled pages from re reading them and the memories we made here has no replacement value. This with my dogs, my wife and my son is all that matters. 

Precisely. The guys at the cecilia academy just 500m down the road, whose whole livelihoods re in those homes which were in danger of going up in smoke (they don't have anywhere else to go, BTW). The guys in Hangberg, after some idiot decided it would be a good idea to shoot a flare up into the fynbos above the settlement. The guys in IY who had that fire above them for 3 days straight, all hoping it wouldn't come down on them like it came down on the "rich whiteys" in Noordhoek, constantia and tokai. 

[Tumbleweed]

Alrighty then, who's got a couch to crash on, a bike to lend to, and an airline contact for cheap ticket prices...oh, and an entry for me?

[Ratty]

yes I agree. why didn't they think of that. I think you should contact them with your brilliant idea. I mean the logistics for 35000 cyclist can't be that difficult to transfer to another venue.

 

no wonder people think cyclists are boxes.

 

What about all the riders that have booked accommodation close enough to ride to the start.   

 

Also need to take into account logistics of parking.  Lots of people catch the trains, my citi busses or cycle to the start so less cars. 

[MTBeer]

What about all the riders that have booked accommodation close enough to ride to the start.   

 

Also need to take into account logistics of parking.  Lots of people catch the trains, my citi busses or cycle to the start so less cars. 

perhaps you missed the sarcasm font in my post.

[davem]

To cram 35 000 riders onto 47 km of road is a bad idea. I think the freeway is going to be a war zone with crashes. 

 

The logic of this and other similar posts doesn't stack up. Riders go in one end of the pipe and come out the other. This year the pipe is shorter but the rate of feed into the pipe is identical.

 

As you also said, once is the pipe some will now race harder, some will ride slower but probably overall the average speed will be the same.

 

Although this is my first CTCT, my understanding is that congestion happens specifically where the road surface narrows and there are a number of well known spots on the CTCT.

 

Logic points to exactly the same congestion as in previous years.

[Barker]

This is not ideal. There are no ideal options or choices.

 

Even an alternate route to do 100km elsewhere will not be the Argus. You can not compare it. Its not the same. Its lose, lose for everyone. 

Best one can do is to accept it an move on - as far as i am concerned the only people benefiting here is the CTCT Trust. Monies paid, no refunds. 32 000 people x R 400 (Cant remember the actual amount) =  R 12 800 000  

 

If they make a substantial (like in at least 6 millions) contribution to some charity ill be happy.

Edited March 5, 2015 by JoeZipp

[MTBeer]

This is not ideal. There are no ideal options or choices.

 

Even an alternate route to do 100km elsewhere will not be the Argus. You can not compare it. Its not the same. Its lose, lose for everyone. 

 

Best one can do is to accept it an move on - as far as i am concerned the only people benefiting here is the CTCT Trust. Monies paid, no refunds. 32 000 people x R 400 (Cant remember the actual amount) =  R 12 800 000  

 

If they make a substantial (like in at least 6 millions) contribution to some charity ill be happy.

all profit goes to charity.

[jules1976]

Speaking as a person having worked in the Events Industry for over 9 years now; Events Companies will be instructed by Disaster Management on what would be the best and safest option available to them as a result of the recent fires .

 

Whilst many say it is poor planning on behalf of the Organisers, they cannot control Mother Nature and the devastation that the fire has caused over the last 5 nights. 

Yes the event is not what a lot of the cyclists here on the hub and across the country and world have been training for but based on Risk Assessments undertaken by Disaster Management there unfortunately is no other option available

 

Yes lot of money will and has been spent on the event by Organisers , Sponsors and competitors to stage the race and whilst it has been shortened ; the alternative could have been complete cancellation of the event and in this case the competitor's would have been the most financially affected.

 

Lets take a step back and think about all those people who have lost all their worldly possessions, their homes , pets , cars , loved ones and reflect.

 

Its not going to be a competitive race and while I can state this without anger due to the fact that I am not partaking in the race ; I probably would have felt exactly how most the members here on the Hub would have felt if I had trained and spent money on fights accommodation on.

 

Anyways gents and ladies enjoy the race / ride make it an enjoyable one.

[GLuvsMtb]

This is not ideal. There are no ideal options or choices.

 

Even an alternate route to do 100km elsewhere will not be the Argus. You can not compare it. Its not the same. Its lose, lose for everyone. 

 

Best one can do is to accept it an move on - as far as i am concerned the only people benefiting here is the CTCT Trust. Monies paid, no refunds. 32 000 people x R 400 (Cant remember the actual amount) =  R 12 800 000  

 

If they make a substantial (like in at least 6 millions) contribution to some charity ill be happy.

you will be ecstatic to hear that all the profit goes to charities in some form in any event. 

[Slowbee]

This is the most pathetic and selfish argument i have ever heard, go crawl under a rock and stay there.

I am happy with your name calling. Simply because I dont think you have read all my posts (or the thread). But please no need to tell people to stay under a rock simply because they dont agree with you. You have been on the hub long enough to know that you insults are worthless because you give no justification. Rodents comments a few pages back are what makes the hub great. Full of passion, emotion and everything thrown in the bag, and that is great. But no need to be personal.

 

If you want to put your money where your mouth is,

 

1. Read the entire thread, or do a search on all my posts regarding this before you say selfish and pathetic (DaveM already called me arrogant).

2. If you still cannot see what I am getting at, then either meet me at the start where we can talk about why I am so disappointed or we can talk about this on the phone.

[HenryS]

My biggest problem with the change is that I'll be finished way before the beer tent opens.

[Flynnigan43]

At the end of the day this is our 'hobby'. Unless you cycle for a living, earning beer tokens via sponsorships - there isn't any reason to complain, whine, and act as though the sky is falling on our heads.

 

'It is what it is' as the saying goes. These fires and the repercussions to the peninsula are going to be felt for a long time. To throw ones arms in the air like a running orangutan, because it's not fair that route isn't long enough, not scenic enough, not hilly enough, won't be enough cheerleaders, that it's a conspiracy to only make money, my Chinarello will be under utilised, and that there is no harm in breathing fynbos fire ash.....is well, rather childish.

 

The weather forecast looks good so far, and I for one (and hope that it's the case for many) cannot wait to ride, to celebrate, and to pay respects to those affected by the fire. Above all, I want to be out on my bike to show sincere gratitude to the fire fighting teams.

 

This years Argus/Cape Town Cycle Tour is not about us, it's about the devastation caused by fire. Those whom have ridden the race before will surely appreciate the severity of the damage that has now occurred. This will be my first argus, and one for which I can benchmark against the ones yet to come.      

[DJR]

..............If they make a substantial (like in at least 6 millions) contribution to some charity ill be happy.

That has been done every year for the past thirty years