2020 Tour de PPA

[Mamil]

Race report

 

I should be disqualified from today's Tour de PPA and my 16th place in E batch ceded to the rider in 17th spot. Like most people who profit by illegitimate means, I long for the punishment that will free me from my guilt. 

 

More about that later.

 

The Tour de PPA was extremely well organised. By this I mean that the toilets had enough paper and I didn't have a long wait in the queue. This sets the tone for a race and the PPA didn't drop the ball.

 

I lined up in E in the improved seeding lanes and bumped into BillyGoat on his aero flying machine and we chatted while the two main worries of the morning gnawed at my mind. First - I've recently acquired my first pair of road shoes and I didn't want to make the Mamil name gat by failing to clip in and causing a pile up. As it happened I clipped in first time and immediately set about holding my place.

 

About those shoes, I jumped in some Lakes, made with Kangaroo leather in Austria, yes that's right, who knew there were Austrian kangaroos? I've been making Christopher Robin jokes long past the point where everybody starts rolling their eyes at me.

 

The second worry was of course, would I hold on to the top of tiekiedraai unlike last year where I failed about 100 meters short of the top?

 

Well, either group E took it easy up that hill or I've got fitter but whatever happened, I was within spitting distance of the front of E at the top and it was a simple matter to use my substantial weight advantage to catch up to BillyGoat who came past me at 77kmph.

 

I'd kept an eye out for the injured Skubarra and as the start beep went I thought he'd probably elected to stay in bed. He hadn't and he kept me company on the rollers on Conterman's. I was in a good mood - I was feeling strong, I'd held on to Vissershok and I I knew that even if I got dropped here I'd catch on to F as they caught me in Durbanville somewhere and all I was going to do now was my level best to stay with E up the steep climb.

 

And I was doing well.

 

When I say well, I could still see the leaders of the group about 40 meters ahead of me, I'd seen BillyGoat put in a big effort on the relatively flat bit just before the last super-steep gradient, my heart rate was at 90% or thereabouts and I was just calling on my reserves to stand up and try put in a similar effort to at least be in touching distance.

 

I was hopeful.

 

And then suddenly I was weightless - almost.

 

Skubarra had his hand on my back and proceeded to show me the difference between an E batch hopeful and an A batch rider. He pushed me with what felt like superhero strength for about 40 meters (I had to drop 2 gears just to keep my own pedaling going) until I was right on the wheel of the last rider in the lead group.

 

"No point getting dropped now" said Skubs as he took his place in the group.

 

I've never been pushed before and I have to say -- I liked it.

 

I could feel BillyGoat's eyes boring a hole in the back of my head and as the relief of the downhill washed over my legs, so the guilt began to weigh me down. Here I was in the best case of all scenarios I'd sketched for myself in my daydreams about the race .... but I hadn't earned it.

 

I would have held on for those 40 meters I told myself defensively. Maybe. But I'm not sure.

 

Should I forfeit my medal? I'll let the hub be judge and jury.

 

The ride from there until the R302 was uneventful. Fast, fun, took a few turns on the front and told Skubarra that he could at least look as if he was breaking a sweat because the rest of E was on the rivet. He just laughed. We caught the tail of D and some of them joined us.

 

I kept waiting for BillyGoat to join us - I felt sure he'd be able to chase back on but misadventure had waylaid him.

 

The second defining moment came predictably when we turned onto the 302 and caught the full force of the cross/head wind. This time there was no friendly hand, in fact I suspect it was Skubarra who orchestrated the attack. I ended up fighting a losing battle for the last wheel before I would need to be over the white line. The next guy a dead wheel. and I had to go around him in the wind. I needed 600 watts for about 30, maybe even 20 seconds to get on and my legs felt numb. 

 

This and the top of Vissers reveal the biggest current weakness in my riding - the big short duration effort that's needed if I'm to respond to to situations like this. I have endurance in spades and a decent (by mamilian standards) 20, 40 and 1 hour power, I've lost a couple of kilos, so if I'm in the group I am more than OK. But these critical moments need work.

 

And I know the answer is more intervals.

 

The rest is familiar and predictable. I teamed up with a good little group of 4 and we rotated nicely in a functioning unit along the R302 and I left them on Philadelphia road, along with the dead wheel rider who annoyingly kept breaking the paceline. One of the group, a friendly mountain biker out for a road ride caught me again on Adderly and we chatted for a bit.

 

Oh one other thing - another milestone in my progression. A fellow mamil a C batcher with a Camelbak told me I can't just ride people over the white line on Vryguns road. He had left a gap and I took it. That's racing bud.

 

32kmph average - not too bad - notwithstanding that I got by with a little help from my friends

[MDJ]

Race report

 

I should be disqualified from today's Tour de PPA and my 16th place in E batch ceded to the rider in 17th spot. Like most people who profit by illegitimate means, I long for the punishment that will free me from my guilt. 

 

More about that later.

 

The Tour de PPA was extremely well organised. By this I mean that the toilets had enough paper and I didn't have a long wait in the queue. This sets the tone for a race and the PPA didn't drop the ball.

 

I lined up in E in the improved seeding lanes and bumped into BillyGoat on his aero flying machine and we chatted while the two main worries of the morning gnawed at my mind. First - I've recently acquired my first pair of road shoes and I didn't want to make the Mamil name gat by failing to clip in and causing a pile up. As it happened I clipped in first time and immediately set about holding my place.

 

About those shoes, I jumped in some Lakes, made with Kangaroo leather in Austria, yes that's right, who knew there were Austrian kangaroos? I've been making Christopher Robin jokes long past the point where everybody starts rolling their eyes at me.

 

The second worry was of course, would I hold on to the top of tiekiedraai unlike last year where I failed about 100 meters short of the top?

 

Well, either group E took it easy up that hill or I've got fitter but whatever happened, I was within spitting distance of the front of E at the top and it was a simple matter to use my substantial weight advantage to catch up to BillyGoat who came past me at 77kmph.

 

I'd kept an eye out for the injured Skubarra and as the start beep went I thought he'd probably elected to stay in bed. He hadn't and he kept me company on the rollers on Conterman's. I was in a good mood - I was feeling strong, I'd held on to Vissershok and I I knew that even if I got dropped here I'd catch on to F as they caught me in Durbanville somewhere and all I was going to do now was my level best to stay with E up the steep climb.

 

And I was doing well.

 

When I say well, I could still see the leaders of the group about 40 meters ahead of me, I'd seen BillyGoat put in a big effort on the relatively flat bit just before the last super-steep gradient, my heart rate was at 90% or thereabouts and I was just calling on my reserves to stand up and try put in a similar effort to at least be in touching distance.

 

I was hopeful.

 

And then suddenly I was weightless - almost.

 

Skubarra had his hand on my back and proceeded to show me the difference between an E batch hopeful and an A batch rider. He pushed me with what felt like superhero strength for about 40 meters (I had to drop 2 gears just to keep my own pedaling going) until I was right on the wheel of the last rider in the lead group.

 

"No point getting dropped now" said Skubs as he took his place in the group.

 

I've never been pushed before and I have to say -- I liked it.

 

I could feel BillyGoat's eyes boring a hole in the back of my head and as the relief of the downhill washed over my legs, so the guilt began to weigh me down. Here I was in the best case of all scenarios I'd sketched for myself in my daydreams about the race .... but I hadn't earned it.

 

I would have held on for those 40 meters I told myself defensively. Maybe. But I'm not sure.

 

Should I forfeit my medal? I'll let the hub be judge and jury.

 

The ride from there until the R302 was uneventful. Fast, fun, took a few turns on the front and told Skubarra that he could at least look as if he was breaking a sweat because the rest of E was on the rivet. He just laughed. We caught the tail of D and some of them joined us.

 

I kept waiting for BillyGoat to join us - I felt sure he'd be able to chase back on but misadventure had waylaid him.

 

The second defining moment came predictably when we turned onto the 302 and caught the full force of the cross/head wind. This time there was no friendly hand, in fact I suspect it was Skubarra who orchestrated the attack. I ended up fighting a losing battle for the last wheel before I would need to be over the white line. The next guy a dead wheel. and I had to go around him in the wind. I needed 600 watts for about 30, maybe even 20 seconds to get on and my legs felt numb. 

 

This and the top of Vissers reveal the biggest current weakness in my riding - the big short duration effort that's needed if I'm to respond to to situations like this. I have endurance in spades and a decent (by mamilian standards) 20, 40 and 1 hour power, I've lost a couple of kilos, so if I'm in the group I am more than OK. But these critical moments need work.

 

And I know the answer is more intervals.

 

The rest is familiar and predictable. I teamed up with a good little group of 4 and we rotated nicely in a functioning unit along the R302 and I left them on Philadelphia road, along with the dead wheel rider who annoyingly kept breaking the paceline. One of the group, a friendly mountain biker out for a road ride caught me again on Adderly and we chatted for a bit.

 

Oh one other thing - another milestone in my progression. A fellow mamil a C batcher with a Camelbak told me I can't just ride people over the white line on Vryguns road. He had left a gap and I took it. That's racing bud.

 

32kmph average - not too bad - notwithstanding that I got by with a little help from my friends

 

Well done David! Going from strength to strength   Tough conditions out there today!

 

Love your race reports!

[Arrie]

Seedings has been updated

[Sbloomer]

I could post a race report from K group.  Alas no-one gives a sh*t about the back markers :)

['Dale]

I could post a race report from K group.  Alas no-one gives a sh*t about the back markers :)

 

The race report from the lower seeded groups make for the coolest reading.

Bring it on.

 

It would've been a tough day for the less fit weekend warriors.

Respect.

Edited February 23, 2020 by 'Dale

[Mamil]

I do

 

I could post a race report from K group.  Alas no-one gives a sh*t about the back markers :)

[MDJ]

Seedings has been updated

 

Wow, that was fast - I can see the revised seeding on the PPA site, but not on Racetec. I wonder if they will consider these for CTCT 

[Mamil]

Hmmm - Beta of 1.36

[Arrie]

Hmmm - Beta of 1.36

Adjusted winners time by 10min and the last 2 years the winners time was 2.40 something and wasn't adjusted much so i think its a fair beta

[DieselnDust]

Seedings has been updated

 

 

What seedings?

 

I see its the PPA seedings. inching closer to the big time LOL

 

If my tactics were as good as my legs today then we might have made it

Edited February 23, 2020 by DieselnDust

[Pure Savage]

What seedings?

PPA.

 

If your seeding is horribly wrong this will probably help for a reseed.

[Mamil]

PPA

 

What seedings?

[Pure Savage]

Race report

 

I should be disqualified from today's Tour de PPA and my 16th place in E batch ceded to the rider in 17th spot. Like most people who profit by illegitimate means, I long for the punishment that will free me from my guilt.

 

More about that later.

 

The Tour de PPA was extremely well organised. By this I mean that the toilets had enough paper and I didn't have a long wait in the queue. This sets the tone for a race and the PPA didn't drop the ball.

 

I lined up in E in the improved seeding lanes and bumped into BillyGoat on his aero flying machine and we chatted while the two main worries of the morning gnawed at my mind. First - I've recently acquired my first pair of road shoes and I didn't want to make the Mamil name gat by failing to clip in and causing a pile up. As it happened I clipped in first time and immediately set about holding my place.

 

About those shoes, I jumped in some Lakes, made with Kangaroo leather in Austria, yes that's right, who knew there were Austrian kangaroos? I've been making Christopher Robin jokes long past the point where everybody starts rolling their eyes at me.

 

The second worry was of course, would I hold on to the top of tiekiedraai unlike last year where I failed about 100 meters short of the top?

 

Well, either group E took it easy up that hill or I've got fitter but whatever happened, I was within spitting distance of the front of E at the top and it was a simple matter to use my substantial weight advantage to catch up to BillyGoat who came past me at 77kmph.

 

I'd kept an eye out for the injured Skubarra and as the start beep went I thought he'd probably elected to stay in bed. He hadn't and he kept me company on the rollers on Conterman's. I was in a good mood - I was feeling strong, I'd held on to Vissershok and I I knew that even if I got dropped here I'd catch on to F as they caught me in Durbanville somewhere and all I was going to do now was my level best to stay with E up the steep climb.

 

And I was doing well.

 

When I say well, I could still see the leaders of the group about 40 meters ahead of me, I'd seen BillyGoat put in a big effort on the relatively flat bit just before the last super-steep gradient, my heart rate was at 90% or thereabouts and I was just calling on my reserves to stand up and try put in a similar effort to at least be in touching distance.

 

I was hopeful.

 

And then suddenly I was weightless - almost.

 

Skubarra had his hand on my back and proceeded to show me the difference between an E batch hopeful and an A batch rider. He pushed me with what felt like superhero strength for about 40 meters (I had to drop 2 gears just to keep my own pedaling going) until I was right on the wheel of the last rider in the lead group.

 

"No point getting dropped now" said Skubs as he took his place in the group.

 

I've never been pushed before and I have to say -- I liked it.

 

I could feel BillyGoat's eyes boring a hole in the back of my head and as the relief of the downhill washed over my legs, so the guilt began to weigh me down. Here I was in the best case of all scenarios I'd sketched for myself in my daydreams about the race .... but I hadn't earned it.

 

I would have held on for those 40 meters I told myself defensively. Maybe. But I'm not sure.

 

Should I forfeit my medal? I'll let the hub be judge and jury.

 

The ride from there until the R302 was uneventful. Fast, fun, took a few turns on the front and told Skubarra that he could at least look as if he was breaking a sweat because the rest of E was on the rivet. He just laughed. We caught the tail of D and some of them joined us.

 

I kept waiting for BillyGoat to join us - I felt sure he'd be able to chase back on but misadventure had waylaid him.

 

The second defining moment came predictably when we turned onto the 302 and caught the full force of the cross/head wind. This time there was no friendly hand, in fact I suspect it was Skubarra who orchestrated the attack. I ended up fighting a losing battle for the last wheel before I would need to be over the white line. The next guy a dead wheel. and I had to go around him in the wind. I needed 600 watts for about 30, maybe even 20 seconds to get on and my legs felt numb.

 

This and the top of Vissers reveal the biggest current weakness in my riding - the big short duration effort that's needed if I'm to respond to to situations like this. I have endurance in spades and a decent (by mamilian standards) 20, 40 and 1 hour power, I've lost a couple of kilos, so if I'm in the group I am more than OK. But these critical moments need work.

 

And I know the answer is more intervals.

 

The rest is familiar and predictable. I teamed up with a good little group of 4 and we rotated nicely in a functioning unit along the R302 and I left them on Philadelphia road, along with the dead wheel rider who annoyingly kept breaking the paceline. One of the group, a friendly mountain biker out for a road ride caught me again on Adderly and we chatted for a bit.

 

Oh one other thing - another milestone in my progression. A fellow mamil a C batcher with a Camelbak told me I can't just ride people over the white line on Vryguns road. He had left a gap and I took it. That's racing bud.

 

32kmph average - not too bad - notwithstanding that I got by with a little help from my friends

Would not worry about the push, the rough miles come later!! Sounds like you had a blast!!

 

How do the shoes and cleats feel vs old ones?

[Mamil]

It's an amazing difference. From the first ride I felt better on the bike and more power too. It feels like my feet are more stable on the pedal which makes sense given that there's a bigger contact area?

 

Love my lakes.

 

 

Would not worry about the push, the rough miles come later!! Sounds like you had a blast!!

How do the shoes and cleats feel vs old ones?

[Arrie]

PPA.

 

If your seeding is horribly wrong this will probably help for a reseed.

Mine is horribly wrong, how would i go about getting a reseed?

[Pure Savage]

It's an amazing difference. From the first ride I felt better on the bike and more power too. It feels like my feet are more stable on the pedal which makes sense given that there's a bigger contact area?

 

Love my lakes.

you going to laugh, but after 4 sets of shimano road pedals and 8 years, Friday was the first time I realized you could tighten the clip in vibe on the pedal. I was just buying new ones each time it became loose.