[Event] Cape Town Cycle Tour 2019

[Frail. "Will forever remain "Frail"]

Rattling Time Chip.

 

"cyclists phoning in to complain about that infernal rattle of the timing chip"

 

Simple Solution.

Nobody heard of INSULATION TAPE?

Wrap some Tape 2/3 times around the Time Chip once it is on the Bracket. Easy.

[Milosh]

I feel for you.  

 

As HdB said, the seven hours cut-off is a stated rule - BUT the race organisers have flexibility to push it out...  It seems as though the cut-off time was raised to 8:00 in 2009 (looking at Racetec).  Perhaps they will still make some allowance for the wind and rain?  

 

Edit:  2010 seems to have been pushed out to 7:30 - this year's wind was (to my mind) quite similar. Perhaps a case to be made?

 

Thank you guys , will drop them a line 

[Long Wheel Base]

Sounds like you have a very cool Mom!

She has learnt over the years that if she mentions to me that she saw some or other decent car she had better have a good idea what it was otherwise I will never let her live it down. All started many years ago when someone came to her work in a Ferrari and she told me. When I asked which one her response was "a red one". She never even took a photo. I now sometimes even get blurry cell phone pictures on whatsapp of cars.

[Wayne pudding Mol]

She has learnt over the years that if she mentions to me that she saw some or other decent car she had better have a good idea what it was otherwise I will never let her live it down. All started many years ago when someone came to her work in a Ferrari and she told me. When I asked which one her response was "a red one". She never even took a photo. I now sometimes even get blurry cell phone pictures on whatsapp of cars.

I have my wife and daughter trained like this - I love cars, please don't tell me you saw a really nice red car, rather keep quiet or give me details.  My 10 year old daughter saw a yellow lamborbuggy the other day - close enough, I was impressed

[Skubarra]

I feel for you.  

 

As HdB said, the seven hours cut-off is a stated rule - BUT the race organisers have flexibility to push it out...  It seems as though the cut-off time was raised to 8:00 in 2009 (looking at Racetec).  Perhaps they will still make some allowance for the wind and rain?  

 

Edit:  2010 seems to have been pushed out to 7:30 - this year's wind was (to my mind) quite similar. Perhaps a case to be made?

 

Organisers are not going to extend the cut-off time 5 days after the event?

 

I want to say this in the nicest possible way but why would someone who didn't make the cut-off feel entitled to have an official finish time and be angry at the organisers for not giving him one. It is not as if the organisers ambushed them with an obscure rule that no-one knew about?

 

If you want to be an official CTCT finisher go out and earn it.

 

And back to the e-bikes discussion - why should people like Milosh battle their guts out to make the finish in time on their own steam but for others we say it's ok to use the ebike to make it easier for yourself. I would much rather let him have an official result than someone on an ebike.

[Vetplant]

Rattling Time Chip.

 

"cyclists phoning in to complain about that infernal rattle of the timing chip"

 

Simple Solution.

Nobody heard of INSULATION TAPE?

Wrap some Tape 2/3 times around the Time Chip once it is on the Bracket. Easy.

IMG_20190314_131657.jpg

Yep, my solution right there, though I prefer the Black Tape.

[Shebeen]

So forgive a quick rant 

 

I have loved the Capecycle tour the last two years and did 2019 with my young son, seeing the guys with multiple tours on their backs get us motivated.

 

We did it on hardtail mountain bikes with nobblies and had a hard ride with wind and rain but toughed it out to finish in 7:21 within the cutoff proper vasbyt stuff 

 

Now I am told that as we did not do it in 7 hrs it is a DNF.

 

I have got around all the other moans and groans about the event, wind or no wind, water or no water, event prices, goodie bags, seeding ,  bike transport cost, flight costs etc all bla bla bla and taken in my stride but this I cant and doubt I will be spending money on this again. 

 

 

I think you have a case to ask them to extend the cut-off time to 7:30 or even 8:00

I would motivate that it makes the event look better with more finishers.

 

They gave you a medal, you can always be sarcastic and offer to hand it back if they won't credit your time!

 

I've just done a simple histogram in Excel of the recorded finishing times on Racetec (sorry about the wonky colours, Excel was being a pain with transparent graphs):

 

CTCT.JPG

 

Some more data:

 

CTCT2.JPG

 

I think this shows how much harder this year was than last year, and also puts into perspective the amazing results some people managed.

 

It also suggests that quite a few people may have missed the cutoff, which throws out the average and medians a bit.

[Jase619]

Yep, my solution right there, though I prefer the Black Tape.

 

And if you don't want to put it over the chip, wrapping it around the mounting area before putting the chip on works as well

[Shebeen]

Organisers are not going to extend the cut-off time 5 days after the event?

 

I want to say this in the nicest possible way but why would someone who didn't make the cut-off feel entitled to have an official finish time and be angry at the organisers for not giving him one. It is not as if the organisers ambushed them with an obscure rule that no-one knew about?

 

If you want to be an official CTCT finisher go out and earn it.

 

And back to the e-bikes discussion - why should people like Milosh battle their guts out to make the finish in time on their own steam but for others we say it's ok to use the ebike to make it easier for yourself. I would much rather let him have an official result than someone on an ebike.

I dunno. if someone slogs it out for that long, I have no problem with the cut-off being extended. They flippen deserve the credit for vasbyting into a wind for over 7 hours.

 

2.11. Riders are required to complete the Cycle Tour course within 7 (seven) hours to be awarded a result and finishing certificate unless the race organisers determine otherwise. This time is calculated from the time the rider’s group crosses the start line. For riders’ safety and in line with the requirements of the City of Cape Town a number of cut-off points have been established along the route. Times and locations of these cut-off points will be available on www.capetowncycletour.com prior to the event date. If riders reach a cut-off point at the specified time, they may not be permitted to continue on the route and the rider and his/her bicycle will be removed from the course and transported back to the finish venue. The Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust have been granted exclusive rights to utilise the course road space for the duration of the event by the City of Cape Town and until such time that the roads have been reopened by the City of Cape Town’s Traffic department, the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust will have full control of the Cycle Tour route.

 

 

Saw someone on an ebike? report them. 

rule #1

2.1. Every rider may only ride a human powered vehicle to complete the course.

[Vetplant]

I think you have a case to ask them to extend the cut-off time to 7:30 or even 8:00

I would motivate that it makes the event look better with more finishers.

 

They gave you a medal, you can always be sarcastic and offer to hand it back if they won't credit your time!

I am a big picture kind of guy... so I am struggling to compute why they would allow you to finish on the day but not recognize it on the timing sheets as completed. What do they achieve by enforcing this? What are they trying to prevent?

 

Do they not want a guy starting in 1A to hang around and clog the route by taking way too long?

 

Maybe someone like Gerald or one of the other guys associated with organizing events can enlighten us.

[Brent]

Cut-off times ~ well thats self explanatory.

The rules state that riders must complete the route within 7 hours. This would be 7 hours from the start of their group.

The probable reason for this is that rider support and road closures need to be removed by a certain time in order for the CTCT to comply with the permissions that they have been given by the various powers that be.

There are many that stop along the route for a coffee/lunch, take in the scenery, just chill but that does not negate from the fact that 7 hours is the deadline.

Extreme circumstances have in the past given reason to extend again with permission no doubt from the powers that be to extend this deadline as was done in 2009.

The 5pm was probably from previous years when the last group went of at 10am.

 

As to ebikes, there are many many riders that do pretty much most of the route in the weeks leading up to the CTCT...perhaps ebike riders should take those opportunities to fulfill their dreams of riding round the Cape. If you need an ebike to finish the tour or make it easier then perhaps you should either not be doing this particular tour or maybe, just maybe put in some effort and training before the tour and do it on your own steam. One can become relatively cycling fit just riding on the weekends leading up to the tour with your local club or doing the local events.

Edited March 14, 2019 by Btus

[fabes]

You guys must be seriously unfit

Sub 4 is standard

What a stupid comment 

[Skubarra]

I am a big picture kind of guy... so I am struggling to compute why they would allow you to finish on the day but not recognize it on the timing sheets as completed. What do they achieve by enforcing this? What are they trying to prevent?

 

Do they not want a guy starting in 1A to hang around and clog the route by taking way too long?

 

In the bigger picture would you think is fair that someone in 1A has 10,5 hours to get an official finishing time while the guy at the back only has 7?

Edited March 14, 2019 by Skubarra

[Skubarra]

I dunno. if someone slogs it out for that long, I have no problem with the cut-off being extended. They flippen deserve the credit for vasbyting into a wind for over 7 hours.

 

 

 

 

Saw someone on an ebike? report them. 

rule #1

 

 

But surely that is a call made on the day of the race? At least that was the case in the past. I don't see the point of changing the cut-off now but I respect that others can feel different.

 

The ebike one is just in response to the "People are ignoring the rules and using them anyway so why don't the organisers just go with the change and allow it"-argument

[Jase619]

I am a big picture kind of guy... so I am struggling to compute why they would allow you to finish on the day but not recognize it on the timing sheets as completed. What do they achieve by enforcing this? What are they trying to prevent?

 

Do they not want a guy starting in 1A to hang around and clog the route by taking way too long?

 

Maybe someone like Gerald or one of the other guys associated with organizing events can enlighten us.

 

Same could be applied to the Comrades? What do they achieve by enforcing the cutoff?

 

And mind you, that's for athlete's that actually have to qualify, not just rock up and ride

 

If you just looking to complete the route, and get the medal, surely a result on an website won't detract from that?

[Milosh]

I was aware of the various cutoff at points and finish line at 17h00 as these were clearly published in the route description,   the 7hr  was in the fine print that I was only directed to when querying. ( anyone who read all the terms and conditions can throw the first stone ;-) ) 

 

I was aware of 17h00 as it was published clearly and we crawled home within that.  

  

 

Also the 94'7 , Sani2c , berg'nBish all have cutoffs and are in place as the course needs to close but do allow an earlier starter to have a bad day, mechanical and still get a finish with the tail of the field and come back the next day or keep his streak going.

 

Yes, it is a fine print rule!  but people who crossed the line after us got a finish so it really does leave a bad taste.