Reversed Route 94.7 2018

[Coolspin]

What’s the verdict? Was this reversed route harder than the other way?

I loved it - but am about 12kg lighter than I was last year (and my FTP is about 15% up).

Keen to hear from those who are more or less at the same level of fitness as they were last year.

Did 10 mins longer than last years time, came in 3:55 this time. thought was tougher than other way round,

Exiting Kyalami became pretty tough in the heat and the wind.

Downhill finish was awesome with empty fuel tank.

(Think I will *** no matter which way this goes)

 

Hey this site has a little star thingy if the language is a bit off colour, very cool.

Edited November 18, 2018 by Coolspin

[Tabula Rasa]

Seems they cut some sections out for riders in later batches.

Luckily I got to do the full route.

 

 

I must say I'm really disappointed , considering its my first race and 947 I was expecting to hit a wall on the "big climbs" but nothing... the climbs are not as steep as I thought(Kyalami did at least ask a few questions late on at peak heat) , I got over everything easily with a 38/23-25 mix and as a matter of fact the hard part of climbing was having to manoeuvre around other cyclists and that really hit my time hard. I regret not going out full blast from the start as my provisional time is 03:45 from a 9:17am start with 3 stops for water & 1 for tequila. I need a better batch next year that's for sure, as I was working alone all day.

 

 

The Race was good , VERY WELL organized. Not as tough as some say, or maybe it's just the reversed route? It was Great riding through the city , M1 and up past the zoo and hearing some poor oke scream to the high heavens from a cramp.

[Tabula Rasa]

Anyone cycling to start from Southern Sun Monte Casino

Glad I didn't follow througb with this idea ..the heat would've killed me no jokes.

[Tabula Rasa]

I agree with Scotty, those hills after the Kyalami Race Track just never end.

Got excited when I saw those banners saying "last hill" then we turned left and there's another hill to climb.

 

Jan Smuts is also long.

 

3min faster for me this year.

Rode a bit wiser this year.

 

Chatted with FRAIL while riding on the Race Track. Respect for riding up from CT.

that hill after exiting Kyalami was lekker ,the last hill after the left turn was annoying.

[Tabula Rasa]

That was hard and with the wind, heat and hills the second half was tough.

 

Last 5 kays were a breeze though....

The headwind on the M1 almost emptied my tank.

[kraines]

5 minutes longer than last year.

 

hills were steeper and was too moeg after the jan smuts/homestead hills to make up time on the highway.

 

Well organized at always.

 

Found this route harder than the old one. Kudos to all involved and huge respect to those who improved on last years time

[the_roadie]

Luckily I got to do the full route.

 

 

I must say I'm really disappointed , considering its my first race and 947 I was expecting to hit a wall on the "big climbs" but nothing... the climbs are not as steep as I thought(Kyalami did at least ask a few questions late on at peak heat) , I got over everything easily with a 38/23-25 mix and as a matter of fact the hard part of climbing was having to manoeuvre around other cyclists and that really hit my time hard. I regret not going out full blast from the start as my provisional time is 03:45 from a 9:17am start with 3 stops for water & 1 for tequila. I need a better batch next year that's for sure, as I was working alone all day.

 

 

The Race was good , VERY WELL organized. Not as tough as some say, or maybe it's just the reversed route? It was Great riding through the city , M1 and up past the zoo and hearing some poor oke scream to the high heavens from a cramp.

That's great. You should get the split times then aim for a sub 3 for next year. I promise you those climbs will hurt a lot more

[Jaws677]

What an awesome event. Unbelievably well organized . Reversed route was definitely easier . Managed a 4h40 with a mate , had a 30min flat tyre repair in there as well. Very happy considering my total cycling milage for the year is now 135km with today's ride .

[Pikey]

Definitely tougher in my mind. Those climbs after kyalami were .... and just when you have done those 2 climbs there’s 2 little others ( felt like mountains ) to test you.

The last part was awesome though, so fast . Still a pb with little prep,somwill take it .

 

The heat near the end was soooo warm and it wasn’t even late yet . Those ppl at the back must of suffered properly.

[Dexter-morgan]

My Garmin showed 40 deg when we finished

[Mountain Bru]

I think it's difficult to really compare the routes after a day like today. I can't remember ever doing a 947 where it was this hot and windy, and I think that will skew any comparison to previous times.

I feel like the climbs were a bit steeper this way round though, and the headwind on the M1 was rough early in the day, but it seemed to get better as the day went on. 

What I do think is a big improvement though is the finish. Not in terms of the uphills, but in terms of the sections on paving through Steyn City. I've seen a few guys come off on the paved speed humps through there, so I think the finish this way round is a possibly a bit safer. 

[W@nted]

Definitely harder than last year. Heat and headwind on the m1 played a roll, but the climb at 42km was brutal going up at pace...Very well organised???????? Even the climb to and out of kyalami was hard.

Edited November 18, 2018 by W@nted

[Alastair_S1D]

Man that was a tough one. Elites went out hard on Steyn City. Lost them by the time I got over Cedar. But there were also a lot of Elites and Juniors who also lost the bunch. We made a group of around 20 riders and got on with it. Did lots of turns on the front of our chase group. I definitely think it was a much harder ride than last year. But I still managed it 2 mins faster than last year. Official time is 2:31:20 for me. A solid lump of time off the pace of the front runners. But with this being such a large event I think the talent pool is that much larger as well! Overall happy I was just able to improve on my time from last year.

[The Ouzo]

I really enjoyed the reverse route.

The wind may have helped make the climbs in the first half feel less daunting.

I climbed onto the M1 and thought oh oh this is going to hurt. Then a small bunch came past and I hooked on. Was rather impressed with my self being able to stick with them through to wood mead.

 

The small climb up to Kyalami saw me out of juice, but I managed to muscle it around the K, then up those hills that never end and took full advantage of the last 5km.

 

I started my garmin as the batch started and recorded a 4h06, provisional result say 4h02

 

Very happy, face rather burnt.

[Tabula Rasa]

Definitely tougher in my mind. Those climbs after kyalami were .... and just when you have done those 2 climbs there’s 2 little others ( felt like mountains ) to test you.

The last part was awesome though, so fast . Still a pb with little prep,somwill take it .

 

The heat near the end was soooo warm and it wasn’t even late yet . Those ppl at the back must of suffered properly.

THAT HEAT!!!

[Tabula Rasa]

My Garmin showed 40 deg when we finished

Thanks for the tequila tip...enjoyed a few tots early on.