Cape Town Cycle Tour 2022

[Mamil]

Enjoyed that. Started at 8.20 ish on gravel bike. No pressure ride. Pushed some kids in trailers. Everyone rode sensibly and courteously. Still got drenched in first 40km but dried out nicely 

[Mamil]

2 hours ago, 'Dale said:

Argus 2022, the day the angels wept 

Such a clever photograph

[mikkelz]

So glad I entered (on the 6th of Feb 😅) and bit the bullet to ride today! Started at 7:25 in 3C (that's the seeding you get for not "racing" since 2018, but alas.

There was zero co-ordination amongst the riders at the start, so I pretty much decided to put my head down and rode at a constant (my own) pace and avoid any troubles on the road.

Found a few guys who worked together well from the end of the M3 to Smitswinkel, but other than that, it was pretty much an ITT for me. Not that I am complaining - the spray from the rear tyre in front was not pleasant.

Overall, I didn't have a "time" goal as such, but kept working on maintaining a 30km/h avg. speed which I managed.

The support along the route, even in today's horrible conditions, was really great and makes this such a lekker event.

Two gripes:

- It wasn't just me, but once you got to the Grand Parade and headed towards City Hall where "B, C, D" was supposed to start (according to the map), there was no obvious signage. And it felt like they could let me more people in at a time (only one person doing the checks before letting a rider into the start area). 🤷‍♂️ But overall, it went pretty smoothly. I was there early, so was super chilled.

- Seeding. Seriously? I finished 10th in my group apparently, but how some people were seeded in the groups above me is pretty amusing. I'm not hating on the riders, it's a fun ride at the end of the day, but to see some people in 2 A, B, C, D (never mind 3 A & B) battling early on along the route makes me wonder how they got there. I am at fault though, because I know your seeding is rewarded with taking part in recent events (like I said, last rode a "race" in 2018 and how are they to know what I've done since then). My point is, it looked like a lot of people were having a tough time out there, in the groups ahead of me. 😄

Anyway, I enjoyed myself! And hope everyone else did too! Weather forecast for next year?

[APJ88]

Wet and Wild - Raced in 1B and was super impressed with the bike handling and sensible riding in the B bunch. We caught about half of the 1A group! 

109km or rain though! 

[tinmug]

1 hour ago, Robbie Stewart said:

I hope that the upcountry folks are not returning on BA or Kulula since they've been grounded indefinitely from today effective immediately.

Ouch. That's going to sting a lot of people. 

[The Ouzo]

What an awesome ride. 
made the decision to drop back a few groups and ride with a mate. With the weather I was not keen to push it in bunches. 
 

I dropped him up Edinburg and let him catch me on the M3, from there I grabbed the front of the bunch and pulled what looked like about 30 people all the way through to just before Smits. 
 

Dropped my mate up Smits again and when he finally caught me we just cruised together from there. 
I stopped somewhere up Chappies for some pics, then found a lone porter potty so stopped again and caught him just before the tolls. 
After suikerbossie I got him to tuck in behind me and just cruised along to the finish. 
 

still managed some PB’s on some segments on Chappies and Suikerbossie. 
 

only down side to the entire day is that I lost my saddle bag somewhere, only discovered it once we were done. 
 

so glad we decided to ride. 

[JulienR]

A great ride today...wet from the start but my group rode really well (1C)...again KUDOS to all the supporters standing in the rain cheering us riders...they provided a few extra watts to get through the race!

Regarding Kulula ...i booked a return trip with them...i was delayed by around 3 Hours on Friday night but they have moved me onto SAA this afternoon for my return trip to joburg. Sorry to hear their fate but happy that i was accomodated seamlessly.

 

Well done to all the brave riders today!

 

 

[JacquesJ]

1 hour ago, APJ88 said:

Wet and Wild - Raced in 1B and was super impressed with the bike handling and sensible riding in the B bunch. We caught about half of the 1A group! 

109km or rain though! 

Same here in 1A. Wish we can ride as considerate as this in the dry 😂. Was great how predictable everyone rode. 

All and all, an awesome today out! 

['Dale]

@Long Wheel Baseand his stoker came past me purring like a Porsche GT3 passing Clifton. I was running out of gel power, hehehe.

Anyone know why so many have underreading on their ascent, including me 😇

Edited March 13, 2022 by 'Dale

[Koos Likkewaan]

1 hour ago, ouzo said:

What an awesome ride. 
made the decision to drop back a few groups and ride with a mate. With the weather I was not keen to push it in bunches. 
 

I dropped him up Edinburg and let him catch me on the M3, from there I grabbed the front of the bunch and pulled what looked like about 30 people all the way through to just before Smits. 
 

Dropped my mate up Smits again and when he finally caught me we just cruised together from there. 
I stopped somewhere up Chappies for some pics, then found a lone porter potty so stopped again and caught him just before the tolls. 
After suikerbossie I got him to tuck in behind me and just cruised along to the finish. 
 

still managed some PB’s on some segments on Chappies and Suikerbossie. 
 

only down side to the entire day is that I lost my saddle bag somewhere, only discovered it once we were done. 
 

so glad we decided to ride. 

Was that you ? 
I sat next to your mate at the finish and made the (ill timed) joke about your PB up Suikerbossie due to the fact that you didn't have to carry the extra weight of a saddle bag.🙈

[Smartie]

23 minutes ago, 'Dale said:

@Long Wheel Baseand his stoker came past me purring like a Porsche GT3 passing Clifton. I was running out of gel power, hehehe.

Anyone know why so many have underreading on their ascent, including me 😇

My Garmin always shows lower elevation when cloudy and raining. Guess it has an impact on the signal. 

[HenryS]

6 minutes ago, Smartie said:

My Garmin always shows lower elevation when cloudy and raining. Guess it has an impact on the signal. 

I think Garmin uses air pressure to calculate elevation gain/loss, not the GPS signal. This weather probably messes around with that.

[The Ouzo]

21 minutes ago, Koos Likkewaan said:

Was that you ? 
I sat next to your mate at the finish and made the (ill timed) joke about your PB up Suikerbossie due to the fact that you didn't have to carry the extra weight of a saddle bag.🙈

Yep that was me. 
 

don’t stress about the comment, was about to chirp something along the same lines. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by ouzo

[The Ouzo]

35 minutes ago, 'Dale said:

@Long Wheel Baseand his stoker came past me purring like a Porsche GT3 passing Clifton. I was running out of gel power, hehehe.

Anyone know why so many have underreading on their ascent, including me 😇

Yes mine too

 

just told strava to correct and it’s back to over 1000 again. 

[mikkelz]

Yeah, my legs can accurately inform me that 744m elevation gain was definitely incorrect! 🔥

[HdB]

8 minutes ago, HenryS said:

I think Garmin uses air pressure to calculate elevation gain/loss, not the GPS signal. This weather probably messes around with that.

Yes, some use barometric pressure. On one race where we started in dry weather, it looked like I had dropped off a cliff when we rode through some rain later on