DieselnDust Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 I have been thinking about the current format for the CTCT and just how silly it is to have the Pro men and women start so early in the morning. Currently the back markers are starting at the back and occupying the roads till 4:30pm? Why not start the Pro's Men at 13h00 and ladies at ladies at 13:00 IF the main fun ride starts at 6:00am around 95% of the back markers are in .the other 5% can be handled through imposing a more stringent cut off of 6hrs or via a motorcade travelling ahead of the peleton by 10min to clear the road. Once the pro racers are through the roads are opened to traffic again.the advantage is more of the men and women races will be watched and more of the participants will get to see the finish.Its a draw card to keep more people at the Race village which could also help alleviate the traffic. Maybe the more riders will prefer to ride off to find a suitable vantage point to watch the Pro race. I'm just thinking there's a better way to structure the day's racing?
Alouette3 Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 If you want a pro rider to do a 6 hr Argus, start them at 13:00! A large percentage of the riders are doing it for the fun of it and the congestion they case in the later groups makes doing a good time very very hard. Pros will spend their race calling "Passing on the left..."
Hairy Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 Can you imagine the chaos when they start to catch up to the slower bunches, but get what you are saying. Another one to consider is running the event over two days (Will never happen with road closures) and let the faster groups/cat riders and the pro's race on the Saturday ... they can then also ride as celebrities in the more festive groups on the Sunday. I have been thinking about the current format for the CTCT and just how silly it is to have the Pro men and women start so early in the morning. Currently the back markers are starting at the back and occupying the roads till 4:30pm? Why not start the Pro's Men at 13h00 and ladies at ladies at 13:00 IF the main fun ride starts at 6:00am around 95% of the back markers are in .the other 5% can be handled through imposing a more stringent cut off of 6hrs or via a motorcade travelling ahead of the peleton by 10min to clear the road. Once the pro racers are through the roads are opened to traffic again.the advantage is more of the men and women races will be watched and more of the participants will get to see the finish.Its a draw card to keep more people at the Race village which could also help alleviate the traffic. Maybe the more riders will prefer to ride off to find a suitable vantage point to watch the Pro race. I'm just thinking there's a better way to structure the day's racing?
babse Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 Maybe make it a 2day festival. Pros or first 3/4 groups only on saturday. Therefore very little road closures will be required. Sunday racing can go as planned but with the earlier starts.
Pure Savage Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 If anything the pro's should finish at the top of signal hill.
Owen Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 Maybe the Pro Men and Women on Saturday afternoon. I would also includes 3 veteran racing categories (30+ / 40+ / 50+) with a limit of 100 per start group. No need for water tables. Just rolling road closure. Sunday could then be spent giving your time to riding in charity groups.
DieselnDust Posted March 11, 2019 Author Posted March 11, 2019 Can you imagine the chaos when they start to catch up to the slower bunches, but get what you are saying. Another one to consider is running the event over two days (Will never happen with road closures) and let the faster groups/cat riders and the pro's race on the Saturday ... they can then also ride as celebrities in the more festive groups on the Sunday. the idea is to rearrange the start so that the fun ride cats are all gone by 8am.the bulk of the field is finished around 5hrs so most will be off the road by 13h00.If the Pro's leave at 13h00 they finish at 15h30; 15h45 which is 7.5 hrs after the last start group. The cut off is 7 hrs anyway so they won;t be ploughing into large groups of slow moving back markers.At most there may be 100-150 riders scattered between Camps Bay and the finish line. they can easily be marshalled out of the way.
Beard Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 I think another reason they start the pros first think apart from the clear route ahead and not having them fight their way through much slower packs is a bit of insurance from the organisers... Its a bit of a generalisation but the weather is usually the tamest first thing (cooler and calmer) and then deteriorates as the day goes on... well mainly the SE wind or heat depending on the year. The main event is the Pros and the less things that could interfere with that, the better for the organisers even if it doesnt suit some riders.
SoloCyclist Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 Pro riders wouldn't be able to handle the afternoon wind and heat ..... (Just teasing) Sent from my SM-A605F using Tapatalk
Spinnekop Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 Bad idea DieselInDust. Catching up to slower riders in a "pro" race just spells out chaos and crashes. Funriders deserve better. Maybe the Pro Men and Women on Saturday afternoon. I would also includes 3 veteran racing categories (30+ / 40+ / 50+) with a limit of 100 per start group. No need for water tables. Just rolling road closure. Sunday could then be spent giving your time to riding in charity groups. This is the better idea. Take the top 200 riders, men and woman (I could exclude age cats and just use seeding)and race them on Saturday afternoon. It doesn't need to be the CTCT route necessarily. Just a course where they can race it out to determine the pro winner of the CTCT. Sunday is then reserved for fun and charity. With the Giro del Capo it was like that in a way.
vulgar Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 CTCT has been going for 40 odd years starting early hours...winning recipe for them.I wld suggest:1. Moving the date earlier or later in the month,just feels like 2nd wknd in March is always dooms day. If we haven't had that wind yesterday we wld have had the Rain to contest with, that fell later and killed my braai aspirations...en brannawyn trein OR 2. Giro del Capo 3 stages only....TOGH has lost its appeal....sadly
Skubarra Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 the idea is to rearrange the start so that the fun ride cats are all gone by 8am.the bulk of the field is finished around 5hrs so most will be off the road by 13h00.If the Pro's leave at 13h00 they finish at 15h30; 15h45 which is 7.5 hrs after the last start group. The cut off is 7 hrs anyway so they won;t be ploughing into large groups of slow moving back markers.At most there may be 100-150 riders scattered between Camps Bay and the finish line. they can easily be marshalled out of the way. Interesting idea The one problem though is the road closures - this means they will have to keep Hospital Drive & M3 closed until the afternoon where now it is probably opened again in the late morning (same reason we don't race the course in reverse) Same problem when you do it over 2 days - can't see organisers getting road closures for 2 days in a row
Spinnekop Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 Also. Taking DieselInDust's suggestion to the books..... Take away the "pro" groups.....you gain 27minuts. Or do you? Because the same amount of people will still enter and still need to get off the line. So yah....the fist seeded group will start at 6....not 6:27...... But 35000 devide by batches will still give you the backmarkers. Why are they starting late? Because the did not train and got a seeding Because they do not care. Either way.....now that I think about it......this is just another baiting thread from DieselInDust
Spinnekop Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 Interesting idea The one problem though is the road closures - this means they will have to keep Hospital Drive & M3 closed until the afternoon where now it is probably opened again in the late morning (same reason we don't race the course in reverse) Same problem when you do it over 2 days - can't see organisers getting road closures for 2 days in a rowPros don't do full road closure. Rolling road closure works PERFECT.
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