eccc whippet Posted May 1, 2017 Author Posted May 1, 2017 After a week from hell on medication...there was no way I was gona miss out on full road closures and piss R400 against the wall...i went out and made the most of it...it caught up with me at the turn on the M4...but I made it to the finish line...I feel better today than I expected.
Underachiever Posted May 1, 2017 Posted May 1, 2017 Was also my 1st Tour Durban. Smallish VE bunch that started very lazily. Semi hard up the Pinetown climb, lekker fast down the other side. Good outing on the M4. Really appreciated the good tar surface - not all good, but better than the East Rand!! Enjoyed the race.
cbdcaffie Posted May 1, 2017 Posted May 1, 2017 It was my first Tour Durban- BL start. I didnt expect the hill on the M7 at about +-12km to be so torturous, lost the bunch right thereafter I had to climb on and off the passing buses. Wonderful well organized race. Ditto - Well organised race indeed.
'Kaze Pete Posted May 1, 2017 Posted May 1, 2017 Enjoyed the race. It was my first since the 94.7. Finished with the third A group. Back to training we go. The wind was just enough to be a factor and the M4 wasn't as flat as what I remember from years of driving in a car there... Saw a possible VE rider in the back of an ambulance being attended to after a fall. Bloody face. Possibly got caught up in shrubbery/trees hanging over the yellow lane?
Nibali Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 Awesome first Tour Durban! Hung on the front group of AL until I got tangled up in a spill on the climb out of Pinetown. Skinny me couldn't get back to the group on the descent despite some Froomey style descending. Soloed until the second group came along and joined them to the finish. Happy with the time but bleak that I got caught up. Thanks all for an enjoyable race!
gtr1 Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 Disappointing how small the racing batches were. And then they only award 1 prize for Junior category and 1 for u23. This is shocking for a major race. Supposed to encourage youngsters to ride. R400 entry fee plus travel to Durban etc, and a rider gets nothing for finishing 2nd. Yet elites get 10 prizes and even vets VA got 6. And no, I am not a disgruntled junior or u23. I wish :-(
hilton_ Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 Awesome first Tour Durban! Hung on the front group of AL until I got tangled up in a spill on the climb out of Pinetown. Skinny me couldn't get back to the group on the descent despite some Froomey style descending. Soloed until the second group came along and joined them to the finish. Happy with the time but bleak that I got caught up. Thanks all for an enjoyable race! This was basically my exact race. Bent derailleur from the guys tumbling in front of me didn't help for the remaining 70-odd kms but managed to form a smaller group down the M19 and along Riverside and then join that second AL batch somewhere at the start of the M4...
Nibali Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 This was basically my exact race. Bent derailleur from the guys tumbling in front of me didn't help for the remaining 70-odd kms but managed to form a smaller group down the M19 and along Riverside and then join that second AL batch somewhere at the start of the M4... Bad luck there man!
Spoke101 Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 The first 2km - https://www.strava.com/segments/1205208 The full climb into Pinetown - https://www.strava.com/segments/666387 Haha I'm on your list for the Pinetown Climb.
Spoke101 Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 Had a good race considering I've done no racing since January and was off the bike for 10 days in the last two weeks. Manged to avoid the carnage just before the M7 climb, as guys were all over the show trying avoid the bottles from riders hitting those massive holes.Then turned my self inside out hanging in the third group going up the climb. With about 2km's to the top we managed to catch the second breakaway and now we were 16 chasing the 5 leaders 50sec up the road.As there were three Telkom/BCX riders in the group and only Nolan up the road with three Roadcover guys it was up to them to close the gap.If I recall they got the gap down to 38 sec going out on the M4 but not long after that the team cars were allowed through which meant the gap was now out to over a minute.As we were not going to catch the leading 5 the internal attacks started, finally 3 riders got away up the Mdloti climb from the lagoon. I was now fading fast as I am seriously lacking in the short interval department, finally I went pop on the drag into Umhlanga. From there it was a 10km TT till the main bunch caught me just before Blue Lagoon.Finished in the main bunch loosing 4min's to my breakaway counterparts.
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