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


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I suppose because they can then be held liable if the race goes ahead and someone gets injured who then proves that the wind was blowing harder at point Y...... This opens a different can of worms. Also people would already have traveled to Cape Town by then

 

 

Weather has so many variables, and a 110km course could have so many different weathers happening at the same time.

 

At the 94.7 we had Wind/Sun/Rain all in one race before.

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You guys are still at it. ????????????????

Hehehe ????

Good one

Give it a few more days - at least until Friday ????

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Dear Cape Town Cycle Tour Participants
 
The Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust is deeply disappointed and saddened by the outcome of this past weekend. For the cyclists, sponsors, city and provincial stakeholders - and of course the organizing team - it has been an extremely difficult and trying time. 
 
The decision to stop the race after the first four groups had left, and to then cancel the event completely was not taken lightly, nor was it taken without following strict protocols and was based primarily on participants’ safety. Involved in the decision to ultimately stop the race were multiple role players including the event organizing team, City of Cape Town Disaster Management Services, traffic authorities, Metro Police, South African Police Services, Mediclinic, Fire & Safety, and Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Using all intelligence available to us at the time and after having delayed a number of start groups, the decision was made at 06h38 to halt the event. 
 
While we know that many of you are as disappointed as we are with this outcome, we trust you understand that our motivation was based purely on your safety and can assure you that we considered every alternative before making this difficult decision. We are humbled and grateful for the outpouring of support we have received over the past 24 hours, and for this we thank you.  
 
We will be offering all participants who registered and collected their race numbers at the Cape Town Cycle Tour Expo between 9 and 11 March 2017 a preferential entry for the 2018 Cape Town Cycle Tour, before entries are made available to the general public. 
 
We wish to advise that the 40th Cape Town Cycle Tour will now be held on 11 March 2018 and as such, no finisher’s medals will be issued for the 2017 event. 
 
The Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust will donate the 2017 prize fund of R220 000 to the relief efforts of those affected by the fires in Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay. We are also donating water bottles to DARG (the Domestic Animal Rescue Group) who are saving and caring for animals from those affected areas.
 
We look forward to celebrating our 40th Cape Town Cycle Tour with you next year.
 
With thanks again and good wishes,
 
The Cape Town Cycle Tour Team

 

they are basically saying that we can all be first in line to be relieved of our money

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I still personally condemn the destruction of public property, regardless of your situation.

I completely agree with you on this. After giving it much though I have to say I somewhat disagree with the stance Geoff Hookins takes.
 
1) In civil society the law needs to be upheld. There can be absolutely no exception for when destructive protests or other forms of lawlessness is condoned. If is a very slippery slope once you start allowing that.
 
2) The facebook post of Geoff Hookins tries to take a look at the bigger picture of this "destroying a gem of the rich". I'm afraid at 5km from this huge informal settlement named Masiphumelele you are not getting the big picture. Let's take an holistic view and ask who are these people? Where do they come from? What are they doing here? Who told them to stay in these tin houses with no municipal services?
 
3) Ah yes, "gem of the rich". While there are cyclists who have R100k bicycles, R1m SUVs and can afford to do the Epic there are many more who are not that rich. My hatchback is worthless than some of those bicycle and my 2002 Giant OCR cost me R4k secondhand in 2011. I alternate between it and my R6k MTB for the daily commute because I can only afford petrol every second month. You see my fuel and cycling budget is the same thing, so a double entry for the CTCT is a lot for me.
 
In retrospect this whole incident got me thinking about the events I take part in. I am all for charity but my preference will be towards rides and routes that use their proceeds to better the trails by employing people for an honest days work.
 
 

 

Dear Cape Town Cycle Tour Participants
 
/snip
 
We will be offering all participants who registered and collected their race numbers at the Cape Town Cycle Tour Expo between 9 and 11 March 2017 a preferential entry for the 2018 Cape Town Cycle Tour, before entries are made available to the general public.

 

 

If by preferential you mean free - then yes.

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I suppose because they can then be held liable if the race goes ahead and someone gets injured who then proves that the wind was blowing harder at point Y...... This opens a different can of worms. Also people would already have traveled to Cape Town by then

 

 

Rather think of it as transparency. 

 

Seems to me they were making things up as we went along. Last minute ladies race, SMS notification not to ride in strong wind unless confident and experienced, last minute new route, last minute change of ladies race etc. 

 

If anyone wants a "preferential" place in the queue send me a message, I won't be back for this race. 

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Why not publish numbers beforehand?

 

If wind speed exceeds x knots at y point then the race will be called off?

 

That's a novel idea but not really an option. Most people don't read their start card information properly and devising a plan to suggest which numbers in the wind speeds will be very dynamic. Firstly wind does not blow in the same direction all the time. That alone will have a major impact on safety on the day. This really is the only barometer than can be followed and assessed on the day.

 

e.g. If the wind is the same strength as it was on Sunday but blowing from the West, you can be guaranteed that you would hardly notice it in comparison in the city, but the whole return leg from Cape Point through to Bakoven would be mental. Some cyclists would not make the route without a multitude of lie downs! Have the wind from the North West and it's everything in reverse to the South East. A couple of degrees can have a profound effect on what is experienced. It's not all vanilla, just wind and wind speed...

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Hehehe

Good one

Give it a few more days - at least until Friday

at some stage someone needs to start / open the 2018 event page and then we can get a running start to that one

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at some stage someone needs to start / open the 2018 event page and then we can get a running start to that one

Do it!

Open that pipeline ????

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at some stage someone needs to start / open the 2018 event page and then we can get a running start to that one

 

Just name it an Argus thread and not CTCT, ever since this race has been rebranded it's all downhill, I think we angered the gods... 

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Just name it an Argus thread and not CTCT, ever since this race has been rebranded it's all downhill, I think we angered the gods...

Agreed

Even the Burger too

Loved that event until the renaming ????

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That'll teach him for having disk brakes ... bike becomes a frisby ;)

[emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]
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just a question that has popped all of a sudden. did the event organisers have insurance in place for cancellation of the event? if they didn't, thats just plain stupid , if they did , will they claim seeing that they are keeping our money.

If they did we would be getting refunds. As we aren't they probably didn't.

Why not publish numbers beforehand?

 

If wind speed exceeds x knots at y point then the race will be called off?

I suppose because they can then be held liable if the race goes ahead and someone gets injured who then proves that the wind was blowing harder at point Y...... This opens a different can of worms. Also people would already have traveled to Cape Town by then

 

There is a difference between public liability insurance (required under the SASREA Act - Google that for more details). It is not the same as the other insurance referred to by Andy, that could cover loss of income and possibly allow for refunds.

 

 

edit: SASREA is Safety At Sports and Recreational Events Act - something which all events need to adhere to when hosting an event. 

Edited by geraldm24
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