2016 Coronation Double Century

[megs]

 

Megs.....not a chance.....you girls did the ride of your life.  Very proud to have been part of the crazy bunch of hardegat never say die ladies and gents.

 

 

 

Thanks Spinnekop! Was an amazing team effort!

 

I think I left a part of my lungs on the road somewhere, and at about 20km from the end was in some serious pain, and was told to keep quiet and pedal

[jcza]

Race report - Met most of team on Friday for the first time. Started 30 seconds after Pure Savage. Had a good ride finishing with 11. Very hot out there and some wind on the final stretch. Great event, hope the roadworks are complete next year. Finished in 5:20 which was 90 seconds behind Pure Savage in 20th place.

[Velouria]

Race report - Met most of team on Friday for the first time. Started 30 seconds after Pure Savage. Had a good ride finishing with 11. Very hot out there and some wind on the final stretch. Great event, hope the roadworks are complete next year. Finished in 5:20 which was 90 seconds behind Pure Savage in 20th place.

Angel wings! Been there, done that!

 

Well done - great ride!

['Dale]

Thanks LWB.

 

Megs.....not a chance.....you girls did the ride of your life.  Very proud to have been part of the crazy bunch of hardegat never say die ladies and gents.

 

The race was awesome.  A smidge hard but awesome.  Organisation brilliant as usual.

The friendly people of the Cape never seizes to amaze me.  You can't help but smile all the time. 

We had the perfect weather on the day.  Truly amazing race which should be on everyone's bucket list.

 

 

Was it your dey-booh, Spidey?

(As the Aussies call it?)

[Velouria]

Sounds like he rode flat out!!! I like him!

[Spinnekop]

Was it your dey-booh, Spidey?

(As the Aussies call it?)

#4 for me. 

Three slow ones and now this pain.......hahahhaha

[Slowbee]

Well done guys.

 

Spidey, you coming down the argus ?

[Rapunzel]

Captained a mixed team this year which was a steep learning curve. 4th DC and first Charles Milner for almost all of us in the team.

Race organisation was fantastic and only one suggestion I'll be making is to put a water only stop right next to the road at the top of Op de Tradouw (117km to first feed zone too far in the heat and the big detour around the farm shed is a nuisance when you just need a bit of water).

[Monark]

Captained a mixed team this year which was a steep learning curve. 4th DC and first Charles Milner for almost all of us in the team.

Race organisation was fantastic and only one suggestion I'll be making is to put a water only stop right next to the road at the top of Op de Tradouw (117km to first feed zone too far in the heat and the big detour around the farm shed is a nuisance when you just need a bit of water).

 

Well done on the award. I think that the shed is an awesome touch. Some awesome views from the back.

[J∆kk∆ls]

My first DC with Tri4All Team 2. We hardly trained together and unfortunate bad luck saw our captain in hospital two weeks before the DC. 

 

There were 3 non-Tri4All cyclist in the team including me. I got an invite a month before the event and snapped up the opportunity to do this bucket list ride. 

 

So with 8 dudes and 4 dudettes, a new last minute captain and 3 outsiders we hit the road at 05:29 as the 59th team to start. 

 

It was a little chilly as we descended into the mist and warmed up very quickly as we started climbing Tradouw Pass. With a full bladder I used the climb to get ahead of the group and take a much needed wiz. They passed me quickly so a second effort was needed to catch up. Before the pass was over we all regrouped and continued to hammer on. 

 

After coming out of the first feed zone by the farm shed there was a little confusing one of our riders had a little crash. After a quick bike check we were off. Soon after that we had two chain slips and lost a bottle the went flying through the group. It seemed like all concentration was fallen apart but that was the worst of it and coincidentally happened back to back! 

 

Soon we found ourselves in a bigger bunch chewing up the miles beautifully. Good team work by all the teams taking turns to lead made light work. 

 

 

When we got to the first Team Stop we were all feeling very good and had quick chat about our strategy for the leg to the next Team Stop. We rolled in 15 minutes and decide to have 4 strong riders in front and 2 strong riders at the back to keep the group together. We rode in 2's as we did for most of the day and got through the next 40km fairly quickly and effortlessly. 

 

At the next Team Stop it was clear that fatigue was creeping in. The strong riders still felt good so we kept our strategy and pursued the last 40km with gusto. 

 

 

The last 40km was challenging as a little head wind, a lot of heat and some hills were asking a lot of the team. There was lots of pushing up hill, but everybody was still in high spirits. 

 

With 5kms to go we regrouped and got ready to roll over the finish side by side. All 12 riders hugging and shaking hands as we finished in 7:15. It was a hot a challenging day but the team had great chemistry and with no punctures or any injury there was nothing to complain about. The event was one my favourite rides of all time and I look forward to riding DC again. 

 

 

[Smurfy]

The Dik Daisies also completed the DC in Daisie style. All 12 crossed the line. Hell we had lots of fun. No punctures or breakdowns on the day.(had enough on the One Tonner). Clocked the Heat at 42.7 leaving Bonnievale. Thank goodness for the wind. Thumbs up to the Marshalls and staff on the road. Well done. C U all next year.

[Long Wheel Base]

Sorry guys, never done this one(did the maluti double 90 though). What is the Charles Milner award?

[Patchelicious]

Sorry guys, never done this one(did the maluti double 90 though). What is the Charles Milner award?

Its some BS award you get for getting all 12 teamies across the line together.

WTF, what happened to racing and dropping your own teamies???

[Rapunzel]

Its some BS award you get for getting all 12 teamies across the line together.

WTF, what happened to racing and dropping your own teamies???

it's a bit like a handicap category - for those teams who allow their weaker teamies to hang onto their back pockets instead of ditching them on the side of the road

[devocean]

Once again, us weekend warriors met on the Friday night before the DC, not having done one ride together and half of us never having met before. Had a quick dinner and attempted to discuss a game plan but all that was concluded was to go balls to the wall from the start but not to drop anybody early on either. I'm not sure how that was ever going to work.

 

Saturday morning we rolled over the start line just after 7am, some of the guys sprinting off the line and others still figuring out how to clip into their pedals. It was just like the usual PPA races. Soon we were hammering along, feeling super chuffed after picking up the Savages somewhere around Suurbraak. Then we got to Tradouw Pass and ended up drag racing against other teams and by the time we got to the top we'd lost 6 of our guys somewhere along the way. Being the tight-knit unit we are, we decided to sit up and wait for the others...at the neutral zone! 

 

The six of us were flying down THAT long fast descent just after Op Die Tradouw at 80km/h plus. Riding 90/60 deep sections for the first time in my life, my bike started to go into a speed wobble which, to my relief, straightened out as I started to pedal again. I then saw my team mate ahead who was also riding 90/60 deep sections and going into a death speed wobble, looking like he was on his way to meet his maker, with me screaming "Keep pedalling! Keep pedalling!" at him. Somehow he managed to save it, and when I pulled up next to him he was as was as white as a sheet which, for a Brazilian, is saying something.

 

After that scare, the six of us had split in half, so we had three guys up the road, a second group of three and then the other six somewhere behind us. Not really the ideal situation for a team time trial. About 20km from the neutral zone, we saw one of our team mates from the front group of three, riding back in the opposite direction to come and look for us, but missed us and ended up with the last group of six a few minutes behind us. So there we were at the neutral zone with only 5 guys, waiting for the rest of the team to roll in and stop the timer. Deja vu from last year.

 

Between the first and second stop we rolled like a well oiled machine apart from a couple of casualties which managed to regroup at the second stop. From the last stop to the finish it was just pure suffering and I don't think there was a word spoken amoungst us. Just everyone suffering in silence, except maybe nearing the top of the last sister where I begged team mates not go over the top without me! Couldn't face the thought of grinding that last 10km on my own. 

 

We ended up with about 8 of us at the finish line within a few seconds of each other and a team time of 5:08 which was a 12th place. And as usual, we vowed to be back next year to get that elusive top 10. Such an amazing event.

[Patchelicious]

it's a bit like a handicap category - for those teams who allow their weaker teamies to hang onto their back pockets instead of ditching them on the side of the road

If I am not mistaken, you guys ditched a hairy guy who punctured just before the second climb