Statement regarding cancellation of the 40th Cape Town Cycle Tour from David Bellairs

[Mamil]

I hear a lot of protest on the hub about something as trifling as having dipped put on a bike race.

 

Imagine the lengths hubbers might go to if they had a more trenchant dissatisfaction.

 

It's too easy to dismiss protests as being cynical political maneuvering. No doubt this is part of the picture but there's more afoot than that.

 

Is the response to protest to beef up security? Possibly. Perhaps too we might try to understand what really is the source of the dissatisfaction.

 

or are we only happy when the massive portion of our countrymen who live in poverty, are disenfranchised by the very systems put in place to serve them stay in their ghettos and only come out to build the roads we ride our bikes on.

 

Thought experiment. How much was your bike? Speculate about the total annual household income of a block of 20 shacks in imizamo yethu. Does that alter the outrage you feel about the protests and the cancellation of the tour. It ought to.

 

In my view our response to the protests should be to shout our agreement with their grievances. It's the very least we could do.

[MonsterMan]

They arrive by post in the July after the event. I've got 4 of these beauties already.

 

But this year we "did not finish" the cycle tour

[dev null]

If the WC government does not sort this out now, the protests will be back next year. This protest today has the BFLF movement's fingerprints all over it.

 

Even if the weather was perfect today, the race would have still been in jeopardy because of the protests.

[carbon29er]

We are all disappointed yes, but I think expecting some sort of compensation for sunk costs that were already incurred by participants is not going to solve anything.

 

What I expect is that CTCT organisers come up with a weather proof game plan for next year's race. Maybe a bit impossible yes but at least demonstrate the effort to do so.

 

For starters why not have 2 alternative dates, the saturday or the sunday, and make the call a week before the time when the forecast gives a general idea of what the better day will be.

 

Why not also have the option of doing the route in reverse, with strong SE winds, the reverse is easier to deal with as you are sheltered by the mountain for most of the 1st half and then have the wind behind you for most of the 2nd half. Again, this is a call that can be made a few days before when the forecast can be considered as reliable.

 

Then there's the starting point, SURELY they can come up with alternative starting points. The civic area is one of the windiest places on the planet, why persist with this start point?

 

If the official race still has to be cancelled for safety reasons, at least give experienced riders the opportunity to take advantage of the closed roads at their own risk by allowing them to start without their race numbers and without support. A nice touch will be to leave the timing mats in place and still have the times count toward seeding, much like the hill climbs are set up, no support, just timing mats. Obviously this will be at the riders own risk, and it can be on condition that you hand in your race number.

 

Maybe these are all bad ideas, who knows, but it's something better than nothing.

Congratulations on an excellent first post.

 

Both the idea I highlighted is what irritates me the most.

 

They KNEW it would be windy. They KNOW what happened in 2009 with the wind AT THAT EXACT SPOT. Yet they did not give enough of a (place f word here) to change anything, instead using it as their get out of jail card and calling the race off.

[MonsterMan]

Blind Freddy knows the wind was used as an excuse to avoid the issue of protesters and route changes brought about by those who are/were revolting.

 

And yet nothing will get done to them.

[MonsterMan]

Does it really matter if it was the wind, the protesters, the Hout Bay fires or whatever combination of any of the 3?

 

None of these were made up by the organisers to rob our money. None of these were under the control of the organisers and all 3 were a potential threat to us.

 

I understand the disappointment but jeez thehub is full of moaners today.

 

Im sorry. A quick escape plan was made. I dont accept your comment. They had the means and man power to make a alternative route that would not have been dangerous

[carbon29er]

Snip

 

Thought experiment. How much was your bike? Speculate about the total annual household income of a block of 20 shacks in imizamo yethu. Does that alter the outrage you feel about the protests and the cancellation of the tour. It ought to.

 

In my view our response to the protests should be to shout our agreement with their grievances. It's the very least we could do.

The protests were not at Imizamo Yethu, they were on the other side of Chappies. Not related at all to the fires on Saturday that destroy hundreds if not thousands of homes and took many lives.  I cried on Saturday morning when I saw those fires and explained to my over privileged children how the fire leads to the loss of all one's possessions.  Unfortunately there are many more shack fires than we ever hear or read about that deserve our thoughts and action too.

 

Do you know what the protests were about? Any list of demands before the place was trashed and roads blocked on Saturday night / Sunday morning?

 

Now

[Korkstah]

They took all your money.........and when it got tough..........they laff at you all......

 

1 out of 3 races successful the past 3 years, 33%, sounds like a pass to me in South African terms. 

 

Agree with Carbon29er..........you cant run a sh!t show like this and get away with it. The organizers must be held accountable for their lack of vision and total lack of anticipation. 

[Dgas]

I hear a lot of protest on the hub about something as trifling as having dipped put on a bike race.

 

Imagine the lengths hubbers might go to if they had a more trenchant dissatisfaction.

 

It's too easy to dismiss protests as being cynical political maneuvering. No doubt this is part of the picture but there's more afoot than that.

 

Is the response to protest to beef up security? Possibly. Perhaps too we might try to understand what really is the source of the dissatisfaction.

 

or are we only happy when the massive portion of our countrymen who live in poverty, are disenfranchised by the very systems put in place to serve them stay in their ghettos and only come out to build the roads we ride our bikes on.

 

Thought experiment. How much was your bike? Speculate about the total annual household income of a block of 20 shacks in imizamo yethu. Does that alter the outrage you feel about the protests and the cancellation of the tour. It ought to.

 

In my view our response to the protests should be to shout our agreement with their grievances. It's the very least we could do.

If you must know, my bike is worth somewhere around 140k. Pinarello,Di2, SRM power meter etc. Busy planning to buy a F10, so soon my bike will be worth around 200k. I also have three other bikes worth around 100k. I worked hard to get those bikes and I do not feel one bit of guilt. I did not ride the race today and glad I did not come to CT although I had entered. Would've cost me a lot of money to go there and I would have been completely pissed off. Its not just the money, its the months of training and planning that went into it.

 

The protesters should be targeting the ANC government and not my hobby / sport. 

[urbanroyal]

Apart from the start the wind was not a valid reason. And the start was self inflicted as it is known to amplify the wind.

 

The protest action was avoidable by the spooks at Intelligence actually doing some spooking rather than trying to find dirt on JZ's opponents, real or imagined. Did the protesters actually have any demands in the weeks or months prior to last night?

 

The fire at Hout Bay did not go near the road that the route uses, it was on the other side of the mountain.

 

My moan is that 2 of these reasons you list as valid reasons for the organisers to cancel the event with no thought of any compensation were ENTIRELY avoidable with proper planning, a functioning police intelligence service, proper security and an obligation to give us what we paid for.

 

This is a massive and extremely profitable business. It is not a few mates getting together to organise a coffee ride. Maybe it's time the organisers are forced to have a plan B. Rather than plan B being a 47km ride or total cancellation. Why is there no insurance in place in the event of a cancellation?

All valid points....as well as the WACE thing....had to look this up and Bellairs sits on the board. ...you mentioned the jetting off to meetings world wide...if the protests and security concerns were to reach WACE. ..it might influence the standing the CTCT has at WACE. ..maybe something Bellairs might want to avoid....and now uses the wind as a reason....????

['Dale]

Deleted a cheeky post ????

Edited March 12, 2017 by 'Dale

[urbanroyal]

What if I were to call Mastercard tomorrow and dispute my CTCT payment. ..tell them race was cancelled. ..will they refer me to T&C 's. ....????

[Breezer]

If you must know, my bike is worth somewhere around 140k. Pinarello,Di2, SRM power meter etc. Busy planning to buy a F10, so soon my bike will be worth around 200k. I also have three other bikes worth around 100k. I worked hard to get those bikes and I do not feel one bit of guilt. I did not ride the race today and glad I did not come to CT although I had entered. Would've cost me a lot of money to go there and I would have been completely pissed off. Its not just the money, its the months of training and planning that went into it.

 

The protesters should be targeting the ANC government and not my hobby / sport.

Best of all, they are the same people who benefit from the charities of the ctct

[Skubarra]

Im sorry. A quick escape plan was made. I dont accept your comment. They had the means and man power to make a alternative route that would not have been dangerous

 

They shortened the route in 2015, they changed the route this morning before the race was cancelled. The organisers aren't averse to changing the route if it is at all feasible but logistically they have limited options, you don't quickly map out a new route on Google Earth on the morning of the race and everything else magically fall in place.

[mikkelz]

 

 

 

Cape Town cycle tour was canned,people of Imizamo Yethu unkulunkulu uphendulile

 

"unkulunkulu uphendulile" → "God answered"

Edited March 12, 2017 by mikkelz

[mudda]

Thought experiment. How much was your bike? Speculate about the total annual household income of a block of 20 shacks in imizamo yethu. Does that alter the outrage you feel about the protests and the cancellation of the tour. It ought to.

 

 

 

Let me think ...

 

errrm - probably I spent thousands if not tens of thousands on bikes and races  ... who did this go to ?

 

Well the bike store owner - he has a family and a house probably ... so he probably has a Gardner and a cleaner who he has to pay from my purchase  ..

 

his Staff - yes the bike mechanic, the cleaning staff, the salesperson all get paid from my purchase ..

 

then we start talking about where the bike was manufactured and the value chain involved in the production .. those hard working factory types ... they also got a cut ..

 

The advertising staff who came up with the brand and marketing of the bike - get some kind of cut as well ..

 

tax - yes even the government took their tax cut from my bike purchase - probably to fund the social grant program ... and probably salaries etc

 

actually I really dont feel bad about spending on bikes and growing the economy at all.

 

I enjoy my ride and who those who benefited from my purchase ...

 

Then i think of the tour - last time I did it, i spent thousand being a tourist in Cape Town - the restaurants, the beer , the socializing - all this supported business in the area and their staff and families, and probably it created a climate of employment to benefit the community ...

 

Then I think of all the crew who get involved in a cycle race - the cleaners, the organizers, the food/drink stalls - all these people who benefit from my entry fee...

 

If anything the whole of Cape Town should encourage people to cycle in their area because of the economic knock-on benefit to the whole community...  but if you must protest and disrupt the race .. hopefully you gave the entire value chain some thought ...