[Event] 947 Cycle Challenge 2016

[Pieter-za]

Yep, definitely shorter, I clocked 92.6km.

 

What I still find interesting is the difference in elevation between the various recording devices. Mine shows elevation gain of 1293m. Whereas everyone else on my Strava feed recorded elevation gains of 1400m or more.

 

100m difference on 1400m is a 7% error, not insignificant.

 

 

 

I think many of the activities elevation would show the same elevation on Strava, as Strava uses an 'Elevation Database' in absence of a barometer?  Viz https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216919447-Elevation-for-Your-Activity 

 

My recordings:

Device                     Distance         Elevation

Suunto A3 :               93.21Km          1305m

Garmin OR650         92.91Km          1380m  (Barometer)

Strava (S A3 used)    93.2 Km           1403m  (Strava's database used it seems)

Edited November 21, 2016 by Pieter-za

[Pure Savage]

So it turns out Brendan Davids had not even planned to do the race, he was sitting in the substitution line with one of our boys on Saturday! Signed for a racing team next season in JHB

[Pikey]

So it turns out Brendan Davids had not even planned to do the race, he was sitting in the substitution line with one of our boys on Saturday! Signed for a racing team next season in JHB

And he wins it ....sweet deal ????

[Kranswurm]

Just an observation after sitting around at the finish for quite a while waiting for my son and his fiance to finish .... it would appear that Pinarellos are becoming like Specializeds .... every second person has one?

Chinarello's

[mtbgirlz]

Well organized as usual love the new venue for charity hospitality.

 

Only complaint is SOME of the guys doing the double loop they dont give a crap about the guys starting late. Saw a hectic crash 10kms into the race where a VB rider clipped a slow lady

 

The most aggressive and rude riders where those doing the double lap.

They need to learn to wind in their egos, most of the late starters and charity groups are fun riders, these guys have done the race they paid for the 2nd lap is a bonus!

[Pikey]

The most aggressive and rude riders where those doing the double lap.

They need to learn to wind in their egos, most of the late starters and charity groups are fun riders, these guys have done the race they paid for the 2nd lap is a bonus!

And you not generalizing !

[Cheese]

This e batch and I was in the pen 40 min before the time ....

Yes the loading pens a bit strange , Last year was the same for me in A we had the group standing in two different spots, This year we were standing at the VC start and as VA, then VB went I was wondering what is going on as the marshal kept as back, Then when the announcer called  started they released us to find there was around 20 guys at the start, so no communication to allow us to move, We almost missed the start as 80-90% of the group.

[Pikey]

Yes the loading pens a bit strange , Last year was the same for me in A we had the group standing in two different spots, This year we were standing at the VC start and as VA, then VB went I was wondering what is going on as the marshal kept as back, Then when the announcer called  started they released us to find there was around 20 guys at the start, so no communication to allow us to move, We almost missed the start as 80-90% of the group.

yea some guys went to back of d then waited and jumped in front of e...if that's what you do at a race. You probably a self righteous n@b anyway .

[IdeJongh]

Awesome race once again. Chuffed with a sub 2h30 this year.

 

Weirdest moment of the race, passing the tandems (I suspect there was an altercation of some sort) and the lady on the back decided to vent her anger towards me screaming that "if you're so damn fast you should start earlier".....I was riding VA

[Grey Hubs]

Great race! My first time...will do it again.

 

Anyone else forget where they parked the car ???

[Scalpel]

To the organisers. Great job indeed. Just two observations. At the start we were in the VD block. When we were called up there were about 20-30 VD riders already at the start line. So these guys did not stand in the loading pens. They waited close to the gate to be in front. Not that this is an issue but it should not be allowed. Pooks Hill sorted them out. Second observation. The seeding of the VA, VB and VC and most probably VD as well needs to be addressed. I can probably ad the tandems in here as well. The VD bunch caught huge bunches made up of these riders. It then became an issue to get through these bunches. As these dropped riders all tried to get into the VD bunch that just passed them. Like I said these are only observations and not complaints.

Edited November 21, 2016 by Scalpel

[Spoke101]

I managed a 2:31 from A batch. The start was useless compared to Cape Town Cycle Tour... There were n batch people trying to load with the vets. I think Gerald should teach them a lesson.

 

It was good to ride with spoke101. Until he smoked everyone up the last hill.

 

Edit: didn't find #Evan this year

 

Was great to meet you and have a very short chat.

 

Managed a 2:29 form A batch.

 

Little race report. (My memory is not the greatest)

 

Started right at the back of A after having to take a nature break 15mins before the start, so had to dig deep up the first climb to get to the front. From then on to Kyalami was in the gutter thanks to Anton.

Decided I would prefer to be the first one into Kyalami to make sure I didn't end up in a crash so put a little effort in over the top and down to the turn.

From then it was a fight to try stay out the wind on the M1 and what was left of the bunch split in half as we made the u-turn off the highway. I managed to jump across the gap with a few others and we had caught the front by Mandela bridge and a few others scrambled across the gap as well. The rest of the bunch caught up a few km's later.

Ryan put in some big pulls heading down Jan Smuts to discourage any would be attackers.

There was a big attack up Witkoppen and I had to dig deep again to make the split just for it all to come together again.

As we hit the top of the hill on Mailbongwe about 4 attacks went off the front which all got pulled back except for one lone ranger who evaded detection.

As we entered Steyn City the pace was hot and an attack went as we started the climb, I decided to go all or nothing and slowed across the the 3 attackers. We then put our head down and worked well for the next few km's. As we hit the final climb the looking around started to see who would lead it out to the line.

I decided I rather lead it out than have the shame of getting caught by the bunch with the line in sight, so the other 3 came over me in the sprint for the line just for us to find out that the lone wolf who attacked 20kms further back had held on to a 20sec lead.

 

After a quick recovery and refuel it was onto the second lap starting in MM with the Qhubeka charity riders doing there second lap.

We rode a nice steady pace and along with pushing a few of the weaker riders up the hills offered up the slipstream for anyone who jumped in behind us.

 

Finished the second lap in 3:18 after a massive pull along Malibongwe, Lion park and Cedar by one very strong KZN rider taking it easy for charity.

 

After a great day on the bike it was time for the 600km drive back home and a very well deserved sleep.

[Cycotic]

I am wondering about the number of entrants vs. starters/finishers. The organisers quoted 33,000 entrants in this year's race. Racetec has just under 20,500 timed finishers. That means that nearly 13,000 people either didn't start, didn't finish or rode without a chip. I know that there were a few people without chips getting past the marshalls (despite the organisers' "no chip, no ride" policy) and there will always be those that don't feel they can ride on the day and obviously those that don't finish, but 13,000 just seems really high to me.

[EmptyB]

Looking at my past results, times, overall and age category positions, also taking my current fitness levels and training history into account I'm quite willing to state that yesterday was a lot easier than past events (2014 & 2012 specific). One of my first thoughts after finishing was that a lot a people will improve their times / have a very good race this year.

 

This year I was 2 minutes slower than 2 years ago (2 minutes faster then), however I slipped just over 400 overall positions to just over 1200th compared to 2014. Same with with age cat results; slipped 60 odd to just over 140th.

 

Comparing 2016 to 2012 (different start venue) but my times are less than a minute apart, I slipped just over 160 positions overall, however I improved about 30 positions in my age cat (two different age categories over this time span)

 

This year was much "cooler" temperature wise than last year especially for the later starters.

 

I rode with SPCA last year, started at about 9ish....thought I was gonna melt by the time I got to Witkoppen and up to Lion Park!!!

[Frosty]

<p>

Hit my target of a sub-3, so I'm chuffed

 

Some thoughts...

• Loading was better than last year, but still a mess
• For all the threats about chips and numbers and QR codes, I saw more than a handful of riders able to sneak in with either no chip or no number
• Kyalami was fun but literally blasted whatever bunches had been formed to smithereens
• That U-turn onto Carr was less than ideal
• CoJ could've made more of an effort with the road surface (Randburg CBD is embarrassing and dangerous)
• That final distance marking at the last Steyn City circle ("6km to go") seemed very suspect
• On the whole, organisation an improvement on last year!

Well done on your time.

 

To add to your comments:

• Not sure what happened at the start, as it's usually well organised. VC were only called through about 2 mins before the start time. The marshals at the batch in front of our batch seemed confused that we had to skip their batch.
• Kyalami was more fun the second time around and I was able to enjoy.
• The u-turn is not ideal, but it's a part of racing. I did notice the group I was riding with all hugging the smoother tar on the far left and pushing out right just before the turn.
• Agree 100% on the condition of the road, perhaps highlighting the state of affairs at municipality level. The organisers can't do much about that, but their marking of the holes/dangerous sections is something they can attend to.

   

  This was far from ideal - arrows pointing into the middle of the object, rather than pointing from the middle to the outside edge. Also, the spray painted warning of the dangerous points, especially on the faster desents, was done at the point. At 60km/h or 16.6m/s it should have shown a warning at 50-60m, a 3-4 second warning.

Some extra points

• I don't usually take a medal, but given this was their 20th edition, I thought I'd take one. In hindsight, I'm not sure it makes any difference having one or not. It will end up in a box with all the others I collected over the years.
• The AA flat bed trucks with the custom bike racks was nice to see - no more dumping bikes in a trailer like before. Shocking to see how many people were abandoning so early on (race track, Woodmead).
• I finished at 8:19, and I noticed how quiet the road was coming into the parking - a lot of people getting there early, perhaps too early. A couple people with CC numbers were waiting to get into the start batches at 05:30

Edited November 22, 2016 by geraldm24

[Pikey]

Great race! My first time...will do it again.

 

Anyone else forget where they parked the car ???

ha ha me to ???????????? but I wasn't driving that's my excuse????