Cape Town Cycle Tour 2022

[mecheng89]

16 hours ago, Koos Likkewaan said:

Just entered for my first one !

I see many "rules" etc... being discussed here.

Would it be acceptable to use my mtb, spend about 5 hours on the route and just enjoy the atmosphere and scenery ?

In a word, yes. Every rider experiences their own interpretation of enjoyment from the event. Don't let the comments and opinions deter you from having fun and pitching on whatever bike the rules deem appropriate. They are just that - opinions. 

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, mecheng89 said:

Now I get upset with the TT bars. That rule is very clear on the use of those ????

If competitors were less complacent then they should be calling out the rule breakers themselves.

['Dale]

12 hours ago, Mamil said:

My feelings got hurt on the trailseeker in Wellington when some oke whirred past me at pace. It wasn't unsafe... It was his posture on the bike ranked - straight back. Hardly breathing. As if he was noodling to the shops on a town bike. It did feel like he was violating a rule somehow. That he couldn't have gotten into the forest we were in under his own steam. Irrational but that detracted from my pride???? In being there. 

When ordinary riders overtake me I don't feel that. I feel a kinship with them and a kind of admiration cos they better riders than me. 

I got dropped by an ebiker riding up the noordhoek side of black hill on Saturday. I admit I pushed hard down the descent into Clovelly to  catch him cos I knew he'd have no assist. Caught him as the road flattened out and took pleasure in dropping him to the robot. 

Childish I know but.... 

You sick puppy, @Mamil????

[Jbr]

1 hour ago, mecheng89 said:

I think this adds to the cost of the race overall, so they might not consider it. They probably convince themselves that it's not hurting anyone. But if organisers are showing such complacency in rules, next step up with would something completely bonkers. They are setting a dangerous precedent. 

for the TT bars it's pretty easy, you just explain 1 person on the start line what TT bars are, and if I'm correct every single rider comes from their chute to the start line before the start of their group, so it's really only 1 person who can look at it all morning, no need to train people for each chute.

[Skubarra]

1 hour ago, mecheng89 said:

I think this adds to the cost of the race overall, so they might not consider it. They probably convince themselves that it's not hurting anyone. But if organisers are showing such complacency in rules, next step up with would something completely bonkers. They are setting a dangerous precedent. 

Yep its a matter of priorities, with a 1000 things to pay attention to on the day organisers not really interested in actively policing minor infringements outside the racing bunch - that includes policing equipment & illegal 2nd laps & people starting in wrong groups, riding without numbers etc. They rely on people's honesty and if that fails by threats of rules being applied.

Think you will only see action being taken after an accident has happened.

Edited November 10, 2021 by Skubarra

[Pieterlab1]

18 minutes ago, Skubarra said:

Yep its a matter of priorities, with a 1000 things to pay attention to on the day organisers not really interested in actively policing minor infringements outside the racing bunch - that includes policing equipment & illegal 2nd laps & people starting in wrong groups, riding without numbers etc. They rely on people's honesty and if that fails by threats of rules being applied.

Think you will only see action being taken after an accident has happened.

Agree.

And we have been promised e-bike accidents for years now, and nothing yet.

['Dale]

To whom it may concerned

The spirit and ethos of the Cycle Tour is "the promotion of health and fitness through the sport of cycling while at the same time generating much needed funds for those who are less fortunate" (Sauce: Argus website)

Much love ????

'Dale

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by 'Dale

[ChrisF]

4 hours ago, Jewbacca said:

In instances like this I am always reminded of the lady who was about to win the gold medal at the Olympics for the walking marathon (I think it was Athens) when she received her 2nd yellow and thus, red card as she entered the stadium 400m from the end.

Is it not possible to have a few roving officials who can pull you off the course if they spot TT bars or other dodgy or illegal things?

 

 

Few volunteers at the top of the last long climbs ..... nice slow traffic.  Easy enough to spot various "non-compliances".

 

Pull over the e-bikes that are entered with normal numbers (easy if they use different colour race boards)

Pull over the TT-bar racers

 

Disqualify them, and prevent them from completing the course.

 

Do this once or twice and the level of compliance WILL improve drastically !!

 

The culture of do-what-I-want only thrives because rules are not applied.

 

 

This should not have to add any costs, as the Tour a LOT of volunteers.

Edited November 10, 2021 by ChrisF

[ObiWhanKenobi]

15 hours ago, Shebeen said:

Don't get me wrong, I'm very Pro e-bike. I rode one of the first BH demo ebikes to come into the country and knew it was the future of a new segment here. Both my parents have them now and love it.

 

But it's hilarious to see pensioners ripping the legs off their group with bikes that clearly don't fit into the stated criteria of entry and pulling sub 3 times.

Now there's a rule against it, tut tut.

 

I'm mainly bleak I missed the obvious gap to clock an officially recognised sub 2 Argus result. 

Thought: Maybe some of those ebike riders want to relive the old glory days of a sub 3 Argus 10 years back

Solution: Maybe they should start where the elite woman racing start with the shorter distance? But if the elite men catch them it will be chaotic 

There is more than a few problems, and solutions, but I do think looking at most of the pictures form our robo-racers that most of them don't have the bike skills or group riding skills that go along with the speed they are riding.

The category of "E-Bike" needs to be enjoyed, not raced. Otherwise they need to put those kwaai PPA ooms on an E-bike and they must pace the E-bike group to the stated rules like a flock of sheep. 

[Pure Savage]

26 minutes ago, ObiWhanKenobi said:

Thought: Maybe some of those ebike riders want to relive the old glory days of a sub 3 Argus 10 years back

Solution: Maybe they should start where the elite woman racing start with the shorter distance? But if the elite men catch them it will be chaotic 

There is more than a few problems, and solutions, but I do think looking at most of the pictures form our robo-racers that most of them don't have the bike skills or group riding skills that go along with the speed they are riding.

The category of "E-Bike" needs to be enjoyed, not raced. Otherwise they need to put those kwaai PPA ooms on an E-bike and they must pace the E-bike group to the stated rules like a flock of sheep. 

Ok, now we talking, those PPA ooms love a good rule book!! 

Racetec should just remove any results before the legal 3:50. That will probably put an end to all this.

[Jbr]

Just now, Pure Savage said:

Ok, now we talking, those PPA ooms love a good rule book!! 

Racetec should just remove any results before the legal 3:50. That will probably put an end to all this.

yes, that !

Everyone wants to go out have fun their own way. No need to pull people over for pissing people off. They're probably just fooling themselves trying to prove they can do a sub3, as long as they're not putting anyone at risk and I seriously doubt they are as dangerous as some of you say.

Just let them do their thing if it makes them happy. I kind of feel sorry for those who use their ebikes to cheat instead of using them for what they're for, which is just having fun you wouldn't be able to have on a normal bike.

Just enforce the rules on the timing sheets at least they had their good time out, they just can't brag about it (they probably still will with their strava time, like they probably already do with all the KOMs they get by saving their rides as "normal bike" rides) but who cares...

[The Ouzo]

27 minutes ago, Jbr said:

but who cares.

I care.

 

I've worked damned hard on my fitness to get a sub 4, some oke then comes along on an scooter and does a sub 3 without sweating, this same oke will probably also not disclose the motor assist part to his mates. The seeding and official times will not say it was an e-bike. More guys doing this will push me further back in the seeding index meaning later starts at the fun ride world champs.

(B.T.W. I feel if you can do a sub3 on an e-bike you should be able to do the event on a normal bike)

Yes its a fun ride, but at my level it is THE ride of the year, the one that I work towards every year. The guys in question make a mockery of the hard work I've put in.

At what point does it then become more about the guy with the most money rather than the guy with the most fitness on the day ?

 

I have no issues with e-bike being used with-in the confines of the latest set of rules, heck I suggested to my dad the other day to get one so we can ride together (if we do this I'll be riding with him rather than him riding with me if that makes sense).

[Jbr]

I'm all for scraping the results off on racetec if the time is below the minimum time for ebikes hey. For those who enter as "normal bikes" and race on ebikes, okay these ones must be stoned but it's really hard to police for the organiser, not all ebikes are easy to spot.

At the end of the day most of us only look at their times and maybe compare it to the winning time ? Worrying about positions outside of the top 20 is a bit pointless isn't it ? I mean, as long as we're talking about dropping 2 or 3 spots to cheaters, if it's 20 maybe it becomes a bit more a problem.

Personnaly I think I finished +6,5 mins behind the winners, my goal was +5 mins, I'm still pretty happy and going for a closer time in march. But if I look at the final result I see some of the 1A guys finished in front of me, I'm not going all mad because these guys didn't get a 10km/h neutral zone at the begining of the race like we did. I lost maybe 4 spots because of that, but it doesn't change anything, maybe I'm 65th instead of 60th...not a big deal.

What's a few cheaters doing to your precious seeding ?

Edited November 10, 2021 by Jbr

[The Ouzo]

8 minutes ago, Jbr said:

What's a few cheaters doing to your precious seeding ?

A few cheaters - nothing.

the problem comes in when its not policed and becomes the norm, then you have hundreds or more doing this, plus the inevitable train that slots in behind them pushing you further back the seeding field.

Have you ever been seeded that far back ? Have you ever had to ride in the mid day heat or wind ?

Its a very different race in the alphabet soup at the back

[Jbr]

fair point

[Sid the Sloth]

20 hours ago, Shebeen said:

Don't get me wrong, I'm very Pro e-bike. I rode one of the first BH demo ebikes to come into the country and knew it was the future of a new segment here. Both my parents have them now and love it.

 

But it's hilarious to see pensioners ripping the legs off their group with bikes that clearly don't fit into the stated criteria of entry and pulling sub 3 times.

Now there's a rule against it, tut tut.

 

I'm mainly bleak I missed the obvious gap to clock an officially recognised sub 2 Argus result. 

You know, you can rent a motorbike and these roads are open to vehicles every day of the year except one! I wonder, following the average legal limit across all roads +10% and allowing for a 2 minute wait at chappies toll booth how long it would take