Reversed Route 94.7 2018

[Spoke101]

I found the guys that can't corner at speed as bad as the guys that can't bunny hop a speed bump.

 

I was fortunate to be off my group just before the Mandela bridge - so was able to go almost full speed through the right hand corner after the bridge.

 

I agree, we all went far left after the bridge and that first right-hander was shocking but now where near as bad as the Moray Dr corner!!! nearly got taken out was one guy drifted out about 2 meters!!!

 

The last corner off Mnandi was super sketchy coming into it at about 85kph luckily I was at the font but then nearly got taken out on the last circle to the finish! I think the old finish was safer for the racing guys.

[Spoke101]

The E Bikes also irritate me.

Never saw any yesterday but have ridden in a bunch with E Bikes and when there's a hill they just create chaos !!!

 

I think at the 94.7 they should start 20min before the Elites.

Like that nobody will even know that they there.

 

Even with a 20min head start they will be caught before half way. Remember the motor cuts out above 25kph it not chipped.

[Flemish Lion]

Agree - VCs same story... many have no clue how to corner!! Kyalami track and finish a great example messing up my possible top 10

 

But then again... some SA races only have 4 corners in 100 km!!

 

I prefer the old route as it's a more accurate reflection of the winners 'climbing' strength (except the winners from break-aways!!) not how much risk he/she is willing to take!

[agilwolf]

I see the time on the Racetec website are a bit "faster" than their app was showing yesterday.

 

Does anybody know where the time started ?

Normally it starts as the gun goes off but then there was the timing mat after the "neutral" zone.

The Racetec App was 1min faster than my Garmin, Ractec website is 3min faster than my Garmin.

Normally my Garmin time is between 30-60 seconds slower than the Racetec time.

 

Time started as we crossed the first set of matts on Erling Rd, just as we came out of Riversands.  Time in the neutral zone did not count.

[Frosty]

I agree, we all went far left after the bridge and that first right-hander was shocking but now where near as bad as the Moray Dr corner!!! nearly got taken out was one guy drifted out about 2 meters!!!

 

The last corner off Mnandi was super sketchy coming into it at about 85kph luckily I was at the font but then nearly got taken out on the last circle to the finish! I think the old finish was safer for the racing guys.

Aah, yes... Moray Dr.  I went far right and stayed on the outside and was lucky there weren't any drifters.

 

I also liked the section in Kyalami around the go-kart track - but had a bike marshal in my way on one corner.

[Spoke101]

Agree - VCs same story... many have no clue how to corner!! Kyalami track and finish a great example messing up my possible top 10

 

But then again... some SA races only have 4 corners in 100 km!!

 

I prefer the old route as it's a more accurate reflection of the winners 'climbing' strength (except the winners from break-aways!!) not how much risk he/she is willing to take!

A top 15 is not a bad result but I know the feeling, got pinched in that last circle and went from 2nd to 5th.

[Tabula Rasa]

I never thought that I will see an e bike on the wheel of a road bike. Yesterday I did on the m1, guess his battery got flat. Couple of minutes later he got dropped.

 

Just a bit of rant, IMO, there very many inspirational riders out there yesterday all shapes and sizes and some with disabilities, how can one possibly enjoy the race riding with your e bike ?

 

On a lighter note, enjoyed the route. Hope the route stays the same for next year.

I have to say It was weird watching 1 or 2 guys just breeze through climbs whilst the majority of riders were begging for mercy.

[Morne Heystek]

my two cents on E bikes please don,t shout keep left faster riders coming on the right.unless its from your own power coming up the hill  ,i will make way in no time. 

[Spinnekop]

Agree - VCs same story... many have no clue how to corner!! Kyalami track and finish a great example messing up my possible top 10

 

But then again... some SA races only have 4 corners in 100 km!!

 

I prefer the old route as it's a more accurate reflection of the winners 'climbing' strength (except the winners from break-aways!!) not how much risk he/she is willing to take!

You know what would make this race PERFECT?

 

Same route and direction as yesterday....but you finish on the top of the climb after Kyalami.

 

Then just free downhill to the parking area.  10km cool down.

[MudLark]

I thought that the Steyn City bumps were very well prepared with the added tar and are about as good as you ever going to get.

 

I think that everything that could reasonably done had been done but even so, when I went past, one bloke had come off over those humps onto his face. They had him on a stretcher and loading him into an ambulance – his bike was in pieces on the side of the road. It looked really bad. I didn't hit those speed humps at full tilt – 85 km an hour or thereabouts just struck me as being a bit too much risk, so I throttled back down that hill. Speaking personally, I found some of the rumble strips on the downhills in the Kyalami area a lot more hairy. I was head down and got caught by surprise by them while pushing on pretty fast. I hit about three of those groups of rumble strips before I was able to move over to the right and get off them. But I was also very impressed with the amount of marking that had been done on the roads to warn riders of defects, grooves and so forth in the roads. If you had your eyes open, were paying attention and not taking unnecessary risks, you should have been pretty much okay.

[scotty]

This was my post in another thread from 11 October:

 

 

2:26 was the Carnival City Macsteel National Classic - they did 2:25:56

2:14 for the 947 - 2:15:26 for yesterday's winner.

 

 

If you did the CCMNC, how did your time compare between these two events?

3:31 for CCMNC, 3:48 for 947, time would have been similar but I rode 947 conservatively, stopped at few WP and rode very slowly past those spraying water on the route. Only once I was convinced the spectators who claimed there were no more climbs were not BS me did I speed things up a bit. 

[Flemish Lion]

I've done 12 editions of 94.7 and all but 1 I made in sub 2.30. Failed 1 was back in 2006 in $ (elites).

 

Times are determined by your group - trick is to keep up with them which I failed to do in 2006!

 

In 2007 I got 2nd in A, leaving the elites for the elites

 

Cycling is such a relative sport

[Craai]

I think that everything that could reasonably done had been done but even so, when I went past, one bloke had come off over those humps onto his face. They had him on a stretcher and loading him into an ambulance – his bike was in pieces on the side of the road. It looked really bad. I didn't hit those speed humps at full tilt – 85 km an hour or thereabouts just struck me as being a bit too much risk, so I throttled back down that hill. Speaking personally, I found some of the rumble strips on the downhills in the Kyalami area a lot more hairy. I was head down and got caught by surprise by them while pushing on pretty fast. I hit about three of those groups of rumble strips before I was able to move over to the right and get off them. But I was also very impressed with the amount of marking that had been done on the roads to warn riders of defects, grooves and so forth in the roads. If you had your eyes open, were paying attention and not taking unnecessary risks, you should have been pretty much okay.

 

How does the saying go? You can't win a race on a descent, but you can certainly lose it.

[Andymann]

 

Kudu's to the guy I passed riding a Unicycle on the M1, cant have been easy. 

 

That's my mate Wayne - or Uni-Wayne as he is known.  Quite a character.  His wife was on the back-to-back Tandem.  Think they were both riding for Team auSOMEtism.

[bored girl]

3:31 for CCMNC, 3:48 for 947, time would have been similar but I rode 947 conservatively, stopped at few WP and rode very slowly past those spraying water on the route. Only once I was convinced the spectators who claimed there were no more climbs were not BS me did I speed things up a bit.

Looked for you Scotty. Longest ride since 947 2016 for me. I liked the new route, stopped at waterpoints and slowed down for water buckets. Expired after the race track. Lack of endurance kicked in. According to racetec results (after just being loaded) 3:45:54. Quite happy with that since I didn't put much effort in training

[Furbz]

Thanks, I thought that was the case.

 

I presumed that there was some sort of neutralizing for the VA guys, as it would've been very hard for the commissaire to prevent leaching onto the faster VB groups..

 

oh ya. i even got pulled out of the 3rd group of VC riders