The I-Team

[StevieL]

Anyone feeling the need to attack can save it for Steyn City...

[Frosty]

Quiet here..........all the I-team batch most probably doing final training.

 

Will most probably see a lot of the following in this batch......

 

http://globalwarmingsolved.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/freewheeling.gif

 

http://24.media.tumblr.com/5942f9d85c50cf54e0a2e074dea22a54/tumblr_mmtlmwQIKN1qbw072o1_400.gif

 

 

 

 

 

......and the stirrer.......just to pull the group along......

 

http://33.media.tumblr.com/3589defdfd85fa0b39550cecd2fc5d1e/tumblr_nb9v6p6dK11qjm2elo1_1280.gif

I see your videos, and can't raise it by these photos...

 

[Fat Boab]

I see your videos, and can't raise it by these photos...

G0041546 (1024x768).jpg

 

If I tried one of those tucks it'd be "Man stuck on bike with jersey pocket hooked on his saddle."

[Frosty]

If I tried one of those tucks it'd be "Man stuck on bike with jersey pocket hooked on his saddle."

There are still 11 days to practice  .

 

That photo was on the M13 onramp (Amashova) - I was doing 55km/h at that point when Simon (in the photo) can flying passed me.

 

I've clocked 102km/h in the same position going down the M19 (Tour d'Urban) - that's when you start getting worried about the shirt hooking the saddle when you need to return to a normal riding position.

[Fat Boab]

There are still 11 days to practice  .

 

That photo was on the M13 onramp (Amashova) - I was doing 55km/h at that point when Simon (in the photo) can flying passed me.

 

I've clocked 102km/h in the same position going down the M19 (Tour d'Urban) - that's when you start getting worried about the shirt hooking the saddle when you need to return to a normal riding position.

 

Yip, I suppose there are always (in my case, a multitude of) skills to master!

[BouncingBrain]

Guys you have been awesome in providing so much info.. Thanks alot..

 

However with so much elevation in the last 25km or so, would it not be a better idea aiming for less than 2:17ish at Witkoppen?

As to still do sub3, it would mean averaging +- 29 to 30kmh during the time when it hurts most.

 

I've not done this race before so I'm sure you guys have a better idea anyway.

[Fat Boab]

Guys you have been awesome in providing so much info.. Thanks alot..

 

However with so much elevation in the last 25km or so, would it not be a better idea aiming for less than 2:17ish at Witkoppen?

As to still do sub3, it would mean averaging +- 29 to 30kmh during the time when it hurts most.

 

I've not done this race before so I'm sure you guys have a better idea anyway.

 

 

I know nowt' about pacing, this race or any other, but let me share some numbers which I found surprising:

 

Last year I found the whole race REALLY hard. I had an off-day, was hungover, unfit, ill or whatever....bad day from pedal stroke 1, literally. After riding solo for most of the way, I got to the top of Witkoppen in about 2:50 (+/-26 kph) and thought I was done.

 

Managed to keep going and the rest of the ride passed in a grey cloud - on Cedar for most of that hill my cadence dropped to <50 rpm in 34/28 and I limped through Steyn City and finished in 3:40. But somehow I still rode from the top of W'koppen to the finish in 50 mins. That section may hurt, but it rides quicker than it feels, particularly when looking back in time.

 

With the benefit of a working-group to W'koppen, legs still feeling good hopefully, riding that section in 43 mins or so, doesn't seem so far-fetched.

 

Then again, what do I know?! 

[Frosty]

Chicken and egg...

• Ride faster, have enough time left but not enough in the tank;
• Ride slower, have enough in the tank, but not enough time left to get there.

I can't tell you what's better, it depends on how everyone climbs.

394m sounds like a lot - but there are also 5 descents of about 380-odd metres.

The average speed will pick up on these descents, and on a few of the flatter bits inbetween.

 

 

BTW - the person asking for the elevation gain wanted it from the 70Km mark, which is before the climb up Witkoppen. For the sake of this group, the final 20Km has 308m of climbing.

[Frosty]

The final 20Km...

Edited November 4, 2015 by geraldm24

[Frosty]

I have checked a few times from people that did a 3:30. They covered the final 20Km in 38-42 minutes - I was so broken, that I did it in 39 minutes.

 

If you get to the 20Km (to go) point in 2:17 then you have 43 minutes.

 

Let me say again, it's definitely "doable".

I've created a segment on Strava for the final 20Km - just waiting for it to populate the leaderboard, then you can see the riders that did it in 35-45 minutes. It will be called 947 20Km to go.

 

Edit: KOM for this segment is HB Kruger (27:17).

• Take your current seeding index (example, a 2:59:59 for 2014 would give you an index value of 23.44);
• Now take 27.28 * Your Index % + 27.28 = the time it would take you to do the final 20Km (it's not scientific, but rather another way of telling you your average time for the final 20Km). The value before the decimal is minutes.
  Don't forget to press % after you have multiplied 27.28 * your index value, then press + and 27.28 again. No equals inbetween.

Example: Seeding index is 23.44
27.28 * 23.44 % + 27.88 = 34.74432

Convert this to time is 34 minutes, 45 seconds.

Edited November 4, 2015 by geraldm24

[tombeej]

Like I said before, I got to the top of Witkoppen last year injured & cramping in 2h16 and I pretty much nearly walked the climbs from there. I even got off my bike and stopped for a bit on the Steyn City climb.

 

Really, I just got into the lowest gear and just spun my way slowly to the top of each of those hills.

 

And I still made it with 2 minutes to spare.

 

Once you're over Witkoppen, while you certainly have some little testers to conquer on tired legs, the truth is you've actually got more descending than ascending on that last stretch. 

 

Especially the first half after Witkoppen - it's mostly very fast downhill:

Edited November 4, 2015 by tombeej

[BouncingBrain]

Those responses help alot..

 

Many thanks..

 

Looking forward to race day

[HappyMartin]

It's going to awesome. Can't wait.

[tombeej]

Rolling turns: video #1.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbqZCrqV_wE

 

 

Watch how 'tight' they stay, i.e. they don't let gaps form in the lines - both the line moving forward and the line moving back.

 

The guy coming through to the front doesn't accelerate (just keeps to the groups constant pace), and when he 'swaps off' to the left he takes his foot off the gas just enough to allow the next person to roll through easily at the groups constant pace.

 

At one stage you see one of the guys in the video getting out of his saddle while doing his turn on the front. He's not accelerating, he's actually just trying to keep that constant pace as they go over a tiny bump. So on rolling terrain, to keep the pace constant, in the I-Team we'll need to take this into account: i.e. if you're going over a little rise you have a responsibility on the front to keep the group pace up, and that might mean getting out of the saddle to stop the group from slowing.

Edited November 4, 2015 by tombeej

[tombeej]

Rolling turns: video #2.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6985pLLM_hA

 

The guy's commentary is enough - no further comment from me on this one.

[GaryvdM]

So in those are rolling turns. You can also do a paceline which is sightly different.

 

(Some of this is blatantly copied from http://cyclingtips.com.au/2009/02/rolling-turns-pacelining-echeloning/)

 

Rolling turn

his is when you smoothly rotate through riders taking turns at the front.  The rider on the front will not be there for more than a few seconds before the next rider smoothly rolls through and pulls off in front of the guy he just passed. Once the rider rolling through pulls in front of the lead rider, he is now the lead rider and should back off the pace slightly so that the next rider pulling through can come around.

 

 

Paceline

This is when the rider at front will stay there for an extended period and then will then pull off and drift back in the group while the next rider will do the same.

 

Single

Double

 

So as far as I know, rolling turns are a little more difficult to organise. I've found that a paceline is easier to get a group to execute. It's also easier for some people to do more, and other to do less with a paceline.

 

Anyway, I'm not in the group, so my opinion does not count. But best to deiced before hand which you are going to do, so that it is clear to everyone.

Edited November 4, 2015 by GaryvdM