Emperors Classic 2016 (road)

[carrera4s]

Rode VB - safest I've felt in for a long time - one or two twitchy moments but otherwise a good day out.

 

Keep the feedback coming, especially the groups that would have passed the 40km riders.

 

Hope you felt safer on this route compared to the old one.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Was my first Emperors and my first VB ride - felt safe all the way except for the still standing polo at one of the traffic lights which we had to dodge and then the oncoming truck & 2 or 3 cars on Yaldwin as we went over the highway.  I lost my nerve (and quite a few places in the bunch) over there... Luckily the rest of the route was very quiet in terms of car traffic.

 

Very happy with my overall time, but I am not sure if these fast, flat routes which results in big bunch sprints are for me...  Still a bit scary for me to have c 80 - 100 guys around you travelling at > 40 km/hr... (The first 80 guys finished within 30 seconds).

 

But I must say, my experience was that the group was well- behaved (apart from the group crossing the white line often).

[Frosty]

Was my first Emperors and my first VB ride - felt safe all the way except for the still standing polo at one of the traffic lights which we had to dodge and then the oncoming truck & 2 or 3 cars on Yaldwin as we went over the highway.  I lost my nerve (and quite a few places in the bunch) over there... Luckily the rest of the route was very quiet in terms of car traffic.

 

Very happy with my overall time, but I am not sure if these fast, flat routes which results in big bunch sprints are for me...  Still a bit scary for me to have c 80 - 100 guys around you travelling at > 40 km/hr... (The first 80 guys finished within 30 seconds).

 

But I must say, my experience was that the group was well- behaved (apart from the group crossing the white line often).

Many marshals (and traffic officials) don't understand the concept of keeping the intersections clear on the race route. The problem is usually associated with people that don't understand how cycling works. Rule #1 for marshals - keep your intersection clear of traffic.

 

About VB...

I worked my butt off yesterday to stay in the front 10-15 positions, with the odd turn on the front, but I found myself at least 20-30 back on a number of occasions. At the pace we were moving, there was very little chance of a break staying away. For me the worst was on Pretoria road (just after ERPM golf course), where the entire group seemed to push passed on the right taking up the entire road. As for Yaldwin, the front of the group were all left of the white line, so the guys at the back were trying to push passed to get a good position at the the final few turns. Once we got to Jones road (final drag to the finish) I sat up and enjoyed watching guys sprinting for "non-podium" positions #crazy

Edited April 11, 2016 by geraldm24

[Frosty]

Greatest thing about today was that we never caught up with any of the shirt distance riders. Rode in VC. Problem was being caught by tandems. The bunch used them to pull our break back.

Where was the commissaire? With the break?

How many tandems were there?

 

They should have neutralised the VC bunch to allow the tandems to get away, but I understand that it's not that easy. If the bunch then catches the tandems again, then the tandems have to be neutralised. 

[jcza]

Where was the commissaire? With the break?

How many tandems were there?

 

They should have neutralised the VC bunch to allow the tandems to get away, but I understand that it's not that easy. If the bunch then catches the tandems again, then the tandems have to be neutralised. 

 

Shouldn't tandems start just after Elites? 

[Joe Low]

Also had a good ride in VA. Loved that flying feeling pretty much the entire race.

 

Just one thing, is there anywhere on the hub where we can name and shame litterbugs who chuck their wrappers out on the road during a race instead of simply putting it back in their pockets?

 

Agreed - I think they should announce the litter issue before every bunch starts.

 

Then again, they spoke against music players at the start but still saw plenty with earbuds in.

[Frosty]

Shouldn't tandems start just after Elites? 

Technically yes, but it's a catch 22 situation.

 

Where did the tandems catch VC?

• I can check on Strava Flybys to see where the tandems caught VC, providing they have uploaded their data. 

 

• 13 tandems rode faster than VB, but were slower than the VA's.
• At 5 mins between the groups, the tandems would have finished 1 minute behind the VB's, or rather 30 seconds behind the top 80 VB's.

 

The top tandems (very few) have a good chance to catch many groups, in this case 13 (not sure if they were all together as they were separated by 4 mins (top 13). 

 

VA will probably catch and pass a lot of the tandems (the less racing type), and if this is on a narrow section of road it could be dangerous. Think about the sections from after the 4-way (where the new route went straight to Heidelberg).

 

Which is easier? To allow one or two tandems to pass a big group, or to allow the big groups to pass several sized tandems?

 

Each group should have a fair chance to have their "own" race without groups catching and passing other groups, but there are limitations based on the route.

 

The biggest problem is having the start and finish at the same place, never mind sharing the first/last 1.5Km, as well as having long and short groups share the same route to the finish. The spacing between the groups has to be carefully managed to get the least disruption.

 

Then there is the traffic situation, which is why majority of races are held outside the residential areas and on the "country" (rural) roads.

[jcza]

Technically yes, but it's a catch 22 situation.

 

Where did the tandems catch VC?

• I can check on Strava Flybys to see where the tandems caught VC, providing they have uploaded their data. 

 

• 13 tandems rode faster than VB, but were slower than the VA's.
• At 5 mins between the groups, the tandems would have finished 1 minute behind the VB's, or rather 30 seconds behind the top 80 VB's.

 

The top tandems (very few) have a good chance to catch many groups, in this case 13 (not sure if they were all together as they were separated by 4 mins (top 13). 

 

VA will probably catch and pass a lot of the tandems (the less racing type), and if this is on a narrow section of road it could be dangerous. Think about the sections from after the 4-way (where the new route went straight to Heidelberg).

 

Which is easier? To allow one or two tandems to pass a big group, or to allow the big groups to pass several sized tandems?

 

Each group should have a fair chance to have their "own" race without groups catching and passing other groups, but there are limitations based on the route.

 

The biggest problem is having the start and finish at the same place, never mind sharing the first/last 1.5Km, as well as having long and short groups share the same route to the finish. The spacing between the groups has to be carefully managed to get the least disruption.

 

Then there is the traffic situation, which is why majority of races are held outside the residential areas and on the "country" (rural) roads.

 

Think it was around 60km mark where tandems came past. As always some riders tried to hitch a free ride. Tough situation esp with licenced batches having to overtake slower tandems if they start ahead. Wish there was a couple of hills to break up the bunches.  

[CharlesZ]

I have no idea. I'm from the Vaal and was hanging on for dear life 90% of the time.

thanks. A friend just mentioned it on fb to me that she witnessed a crash where a cyclist and car was involved.

[Dexter-morgan]

Being chuffed with my race, I had a look at racetec, behold 2 places above me is a 70-79 toppie that got a 3:08 - Respect to him for being so fit at his age.

[NordicElf]

A very well organised race, loved the route. I did 3:00:32 - yes... I missed my first sub 3 by 33 seconds and I was comfortable, just sucked at maths! But I'm happy it was my first sub 4!

 

Definitely want to do more races now. I had a blast. 

[carrera4s]

 

About VB...

I worked my butt off yesterday to stay in the front 10-15 positions, with the odd turn on the front, but I found myself at least 20-30 back on a number of occasions. 

 

Tx Gerald. I will need to get fitter / stronger to be able apply that strategy.     Something to work for.  

[Frosty]

Think it was around 60km mark where tandems came past. As always some riders tried to hitch a free ride. Tough situation esp with licenced batches having to overtake slower tandems if they start ahead. Wish there was a couple of hills to break up the bunches.  

The old route had the bump at Diduza which for the licensed groups isn't really a climb. Sure, it might spit a few out the back, and affect a few tandems, but it was still a flat route.

[megs]

Technically yes, but it's a catch 22 situation.

 

Where did the tandems catch VC?

• I can check on Strava Flybys to see where the tandems caught VC, providing they have uploaded their data. 

 

• 13 tandems rode faster than VB, but were slower than the VA's.
• At 5 mins between the groups, the tandems would have finished 1 minute behind the VB's, or rather 30 seconds behind the top 80 VB's.

 

The top tandems (very few) have a good chance to catch many groups, in this case 13 (not sure if they were all together as they were separated by 4 mins (top 13). 

 

VA will probably catch and pass a lot of the tandems (the less racing type), and if this is on a narrow section of road it could be dangerous. Think about the sections from after the 4-way (where the new route went straight to Heidelberg).

 

Which is easier? To allow one or two tandems to pass a big group, or to allow the big groups to pass several sized tandems?

 

Each group should have a fair chance to have their "own" race without groups catching and passing other groups, but there are limitations based on the route.

 

The biggest problem is having the start and finish at the same place, never mind sharing the first/last 1.5Km, as well as having long and short groups share the same route to the finish. The spacing between the groups has to be carefully managed to get the least disruption.

 

Then there is the traffic situation, which is why majority of races are held outside the residential areas and on the "country" (rural) roads.

 

The tandems passed the VC group at about 60km, at that stage there were about 10 tandems still together, so we could pass the VC group easily and we stayed away. The tandem comm was very good with stopping other ridings from slipping the tandem group. All-in-all the tandem race was awesome!

[Frosty]

Greatest thing about today was that we never caught up with any of the shirt distance riders. Rode in VC. Problem was being caught by tandems. The bunch used them to pull our break back.

 

The tandems passed the VC group at about 60km, at that stage there were about 10 tandems still together, so we could pass the VC group easily and we stayed away. The tandem comm was very good with stopping other ridings from slipping the tandem group. All-in-all the tandem race was awesome!

 

Interesting... two different versions of how the tandems vs VC was handled when passing one another. 

 

Racetec shows 3 guys finished with almost a 4 minutes gap. edit: VC group

Edited April 11, 2016 by geraldm24

[jcza]

Interesting... two different versions of how the tandems vs VC was handled when passing one another. 

 

Racetec shows 3 guys finished with almost a 4 minutes gap. edit: VC group

 

Break in VC wasn't as a result of tandems. I guess the tandem solution is to have racing tandems and social tandems but thats a topic for another day....like Friday. 

[Frosty]

Break in VC wasn't as a result of tandems. I guess the tandem solution is to have racing tandems and social tandems but thats a topic for another day....like Friday. 

I know, the first comment was that the tandems were used to bring the VC break back.