[Event] Gryphon 99er Cycle Tour 2020

[Schmorglebot]

I was one of a small handful of Savages who started in A Batch. After missing out on One Tonner last year and Paarl being relatively 'easy' from a seeding point of view this was going to be the last stab at an improved start group for Argus.

 

The group rode relatively conservatively from the start, don't get me wrong - the pace was high and guys were sending it, especially on the downhills but there was without a doubt some reserves being kept for Vissershok. Managed to crest that precipitous climb with the front of A... A short soiree through back through the Burbs, but by the time we arrived back on the R312 a couple of guys decided it was time to open up the taps and drop some rockets... The group dwindled to around 5 or 6 guys and by the time we arrived at the R44, examining the Strava segments my heart rate had been 176 for 25 kilometers..

 

Herman, the guy in the purple/pink Ciovita gear and the $ guy in Absolute Motion gear sorry I couldn't do more turns but by that stage I was so deep in the red zone I should have been hospitalized.

 

We caught the back group of % on the R44 just before the Vryguns turn -  a couple of fellow Savages were also in this group. The pace eased off slightly, athough the aforementioned gentleman above were playing a strategic cat & mouse game off the front on most of the rollers - stretching the field out in order shed some more members off the bus... 

 

At around the 5-6km to go mark a couple of guys really kicked again and by this stage I was more than happy to not respond... Was not expecting the last usual 99r climb up Odendaal which was absolutely harrowing and I crawled over the line for a 7th in A Batch and a small bump in my seeding!

 

Quick beer and then headed back out to fetch the Mrs who was also riding. Good day out, thanks to the organisers and congratulations everyone on finishing   

 

Here's my take on proceedings, very similar experience to Cookie88:

 

I was in A as well and I thought the pace was quite spicy up until Contermanskloof where things regrouped and people began thinking about what was ahead. I tried to inject some pace into things by gapping the group on the front and having a smooth safe solo decent on the first downhill. Once we picked up Paul Smuts ($ guy in the Absolute Motion kit) I knew he was the man to watch. He is off the charts strong and would make anyone cry on Vissers. 

 

I managed to crest with him and a good bunch of us regrouped on the decent. From then on the tempo was fairly high and the guys doing the bulk of the work were fairly vocal about how they felt about people sitting on (btw I really appreciate being berated because I'm not as fit or as strong as you, so thanks). 

 

The gutter was real on the R312 and people were getting shelled out the back. I did some work when I saw the front but I was cooked until we caught %. The beasts towing us didn't sit on and went straight to the front of %. 

 

The intensity lifted briefly on Vryguns and Slent but it was on the M58 that the attacks started coming thick and fast. A good couple of times there was a breakaway of about 3-4 riders but thanks to a few carefully timed super-tucks we always closed the gap.

 

The big kick came on the climb to Spes Bona where about 5 or 6 of us managed to break free and it was a free for all to the line. I started my sprint a bit late and only managed 2nd in my group but honestly I was just happy to get over the line

 

It's my second time doing the 99er and I must say that having the climb up front certainly makes things a lot spicier. Last time people were trying to save their legs for the final climb and the pace was pretty pedestrian, then all hell broke loose and then the race is done.

 

Big kudos to the MVP's doing the big watts

[Schmorglebot]

Absolutely Horrible.

 

Was ill in the week(coughing and very snotty) But by Friday I felt better so I thought I would be ok. My Saturday went a little something like this:

 

- Woke up late.

- Never had beakfast

- Arrived at 5:50 and finished getting dressed and ready just after 6.

- Had to try make my way through what seemed like a million cyclists all standing waiting to be loaded in the start chutes, Just made it, fortunately I actually ended up in the front of the bunch (D).

- Started ok, sat mid bunch as there are still a few very bad bike handlers in the bunch, especially descending the fast sections from the start till the turn to Vissers,

- Turn right at Vissers, group came to a stand still, I was in the wrong gear, tried changing, Dropped chain which got stuck between crank arm and big blade, had to stop(no it was not me who caused the sudden stop, my stop didn't inconvenience anyone fortunately)

- Bunch wasn't too far ahead but burnt quite a few matches trying to close the gap, eventually gave u and Sat up and waited for the front of E to catch up, which they did right on top.

- joined the front of E through the winding roads an then right past Fisantekraal. Going over the 2nd little ditch in the road, my Garmin mount literally broke off, mount and Garmin went flying, had to allow the guys to pass and turn around to go and find my Garmin Fortunately no cars had come past as it was in the line where the cars right wheels would've probably  smashed it.

- waited for next bunch, Sat comfortably till the final drag up the R312 where I could feel my illness was not as cured as I thought it was, I started coughing up some really nasty hard green chunky phlegm(sorry guys), So decided to Sit up rather and maybe latch on to a slower bunch.

- Sat alone until just after the Boland Landbou school where a few guys caught up, Sat with them till half way up Slent Rd where 2 guys shared a few choice words because 1 was not doing his turn in the paceline, 1 guy decided to attack the bunch, I joined(I know I'm an idiot) and we worked well together till about halfway along Klipheuwel where my legs just couldn't anymore because my chest was also saying no no. I sat up and apologised for not being able to continue and he went on his merry way.

- I dragged myself to the finish line, feeling crap in both legs but refusing to stop unless my legs locked which they fortunately didn't do. My mind was in a very very dark place.

- I crawled over the finish line in my worst time of 3:29 and just after I finished and sat down, started coughing like a TB patient.

 

I will never ride a race again if I was sick in the week leading up to the race, I have learnt my lesson. 

 

Yikes! That's some bad luck! Chest infections are never any fun but exerting yourself while you're sick can have some just awful consequences like myocarditis and other cardiac related complications. Definitely a wise move to err on the side of caution next time you're ill during race week. Glad you made it through!

[Arrie]

quick question, with the old route you could sit with your bunch all the way to vissershok and then lose a minute or 2  to the end if you not a good climber, with the new route if you lose your group on vissershok, the whole race changes for you which makes it tougher in my opinion however the Beta for this year is 1.21 and 1.33 last year and the winners time was also not adjusted as much as last year. I dont remember having bad weather last year's 99er. So why would the Beta be lower this year?

[Skubarra]

quick question, with the old route you could sit with your bunch all the way to vissershok and then lose a minute or 2  to the end if you not a good climber, with the new route if you lose your group on vissershok, the whole race changes for you which makes it tougher in my opinion however the Beta for this year is 1.21 and 1.33 last year and the winners time was also not adjusted as much as last year. I dont remember having bad weather last year's 99er. So why would the Beta be lower this year?

 

A) quality of the field 2019 vs 2020 (did 2019 also clash with the SA's?) 

 

and

 

B) different base events - 2019 CTCT the conditions were very different to the 2018 CTCT. Seeding group indexes now also changed so hard to make a like-for-like comparison

[thisismyotherbike]

Absolutely Horrible.

 

Was ill in the week(coughing and very snotty) But by Friday I felt better so I thought I would be ok. My Saturday went a little something like this:

 

- Woke up late.

- Never had beakfast

- Arrived at 5:50 and finished getting dressed and ready just after 6.

- Had to try make my way through what seemed like a million cyclists all standing waiting to be loaded in the start chutes, Just made it, fortunately I actually ended up in the front of the bunch (D).

- Started ok, sat mid bunch as there are still a few very bad bike handlers in the bunch, especially descending the fast sections from the start till the turn to Vissers,

- Turn right at Vissers, group came to a stand still, I was in the wrong gear, tried changing, Dropped chain which got stuck between crank arm and big blade, had to stop(no it was not me who caused the sudden stop, my stop didn't inconvenience anyone fortunately)

- Bunch wasn't too far ahead but burnt quite a few matches trying to close the gap, eventually gave u and Sat up and waited for the front of E to catch up, which they did right on top.

- joined the front of E through the winding roads an then right past Fisantekraal. Going over the 2nd little ditch in the road, my Garmin mount literally broke off, mount and Garmin went flying, had to allow the guys to pass and turn around to go and find my Garmin Fortunately no cars had come past as it was in the line where the cars right wheels would've probably  smashed it.

- waited for next bunch, Sat comfortably till the final drag up the R312 where I could feel my illness was not as cured as I thought it was, I started coughing up some really nasty hard green chunky phlegm(sorry guys), So decided to Sit up rather and maybe latch on to a slower bunch.

- Sat alone until just after the Boland Landbou school where a few guys caught up, Sat with them till half way up Slent Rd where 2 guys shared a few choice words because 1 was not doing his turn in the paceline, 1 guy decided to attack the bunch, I joined(I know I'm an idiot) and we worked well together till about halfway along Klipheuwel where my legs just couldn't anymore because my chest was also saying no no. I sat up and apologised for not being able to continue and he went on his merry way.

- I dragged myself to the finish line, feeling crap in both legs but refusing to stop unless my legs locked which they fortunately didn't do. My mind was in a very very dark place.

- I crawled over the finish line in my worst time of 3:29 and just after I finished and sat down, started coughing like a TB patient.

 

I will never ride a race again if I was sick in the week leading up to the race, I have learnt my lesson. 

 

I can see you had a difficult race, this might be the first post in 813 where you didn't have a single "LOL" in there 

[Pure Savage]

Our little race report from the race is up!!

 

http://bit.ly/Savage99er

 

 

All facts almost 100% true. [emoji1787]

 

[JohanDiv]

 

All facts almost 100% true. 

 

 

Why spoil a good story with facts I say!

[NC_lurker]

Why spoil a good story with facts I say!

If it's on the internet then it must be true!

..oh wait, or is that Facebook?

[Pure Savage]

Why spoil a good story with facts I say!

Timing and splits were all correct, got that from Strava flyby, the perceived effort is debatable!!

[HelloRyanFowler]

X

Edited February 14, 2022 by HelloRyanFowler
Already answered

[alleyne]

I was A group and it was chaos when we were caught by B. I just missed the riders who went down on the train tracks, hope they are okay!

Looked like it was 3 or 4 with one being a pure savage rider. Chatted to mate afterwards and he said there were matts over the tracks on the right hand side of the road but not on the left where we crossed.

[Jbr]

3 minutes ago, alleyne said:

I was A group and it was chaos when we were caught by B. I just missed the riders who went down on the train tracks, hope they are okay!

Looked like it was 3 or 4 with one being a pure savage rider. Chatted to mate afterwards and he said there were matts over the tracks on the right hand side of the road but not on the left where we crossed.

same when we went over it, and there was a sign in the middle of the road before that caught us off guard..

[DieselnDust]

pal of mine went down in the Agroup on those rain lines. He's ok, sore shoulder and hip with roasties but thats all. Some minor damage to the bike