Cape Town Cycle Tour 2022

[The Ouzo]

6 hours ago, Shebeen said:

I have decided my ambition is to become a club21 member first and then do a first sub3.

 I am not sure if that has been done before, seems to unlikely but club21 is big now and it is an obscure thing of note. 

 

 

The goal is Club21 before I'm 50, that's 3 years and 3 CTCT left.

I'm riding stronger now than I was 20 years ago. 20 years ago I thought to do a sub 4 you HAD to suck  some wheel, sundays race showed me I can now do a sub 4 solo with ease.

Given the current increases in my fitness, I may just get to Club 21 and then do a sub 3 there after

[The Ouzo]

ThingsI learnt from this year CTCT

 

1) I can now do a sub 4 solo, with ease. Previously I thought it was only possible if I wheel sucked. Clearly training does help.

2) People give up way to easily. Parked next to a gent from JHB before the start. We chatted for about an hour, he had done about 25 tours. Then he decides to not ride and leaves. He missed a lekker ride.

3) Some people wheel suck and will thank you when they pass, others will wheel suck and just carry on

4) When I'm strong I don't mind pulling the train along. Makes me feel good.

5) Cape Town spectator support is amazing, despite the rain there were still crowds in places cheering us on.

[Kevin Simon]

8 hours ago, 'Dale said:

If your life allows, it is worth it to come a week long holiday, go see the penguins, check out Table Mountain, the museums, get a reality check at Robbens Island and enjoy our local trails and tarmac.

That is what we did. Came down for the week, and so far gone all over the place. 

[ChrisF]

Been watching the YouTube video of the CTCT.

 

Some very nice footage.

 

Very nice to see the ride from this perspective.

[DieselnDust]

SO my CTCTwent a little like this:

Thursday 10th March fly to JHB. Spend the day there in meetings and negotiations.

Fly baclk at 19h15....oh wait it's BA so it's probably delayed.... yip we leave at 20h45

Arrive in CT at 22h45, shuttle is nowhere to be found. No Uber available either.

Wait....

Eventually found a cheap  transport called Wife and Moms Taxis'. Cost me a box of Lindt balls and a bunch of flowers. Arrive home at midnight, in bed by 00h45.

Up at 6:30 drop daughter at school and head back to home office for forst meeting of the day at 8am.

Eventually get to the expo at 18h30, pick up my MTBSA Enduro Balm from Shawn. Awesome stuff, highly recommended, keep your butt softer than Sta-soft and OMO combo.

Get home at 20h00 and have dinner. Sort out MTb for the XCO in Paarl on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday morning is a lot of running around after baby sitter dropped us. Eventually my sister in law came through and off e went to Paar. Did I tell you that when you search Paarl the map locates it at the gates of Hell? Well even it it isn't its'certanly close at 42degrees C at Rheebokskloof.

13h20 start XCO and its flat out for 54 min in the heat. Oh met Babse after the race, lekker to meet you finally

left Rheebokskloof at 15h15 ish (stayed to watch the start of the Mens Elites and had a long chin wag with Maarten Tjallingii. Damn these expro's really show one how far behind us amateurs are. Lots of work ahead here.

pcik up daughter at sisinlaw and we end up staying 90min instead of 5... the evening is slipping away yet i'm chilled.

Saturday evening was rough. I struggled to sleep. It was pretty hot and humid and i was hoping we wouldn;thave rain. 

4am the alarm rings, i look outside. OV.... its wet outside. At which point I look at my wife fast asleep and I think..." hmmm maybe I just get back into bed and pretend I overslept...."

bing whatsapp message, I'll be at your place in 10min. Sh*t better get sorted. My pal picked me up at 5am and we were town by 5h40. By 5h50 I was cycling through puddles, me and bike already soaked.

In the chute I meet Babse again and and few other blokes I know. No ladies in our start group, just the mens 30-29 and 50-59.

at 6h25 we were off and not even 400m into the ride the first tangle of bars. caught behind we chased up the on ramp to get onto the back of the bunch. The pace was yo-yoing up and down making it quite unpleasant at the back. I tried moving forward but the problem with the seeding this year is the index range in the groups is too broad and we starting shelling riders outof the back of the bunch before the first pedestrian bridge already.

By Hospital bend there was already significant carnage and it was pretty stressful hanging in at the back all the time, I needed to move further forward but the problem was the surges followed by the braking. i was expending too much energy not running into riders more than trying to position myself..

Up Edinburgh I got caught behind a nother tangle of bars, had to unclip and nearly came to a stop. clip back in and sprint up the hill to catch back on. I just couldn't get there and that was the elastic snapped. I descended and the shrapnel formed another peloton and the chase ensued. Four or five of us were doing the bulk of the work and the rest just hung on having hearty conversations. We had the gap stabilised at about 30sec but without everyone working together it was never going to happen. Somewhere between Muizenberg and Fishhoek I just realised my head and heart just wasn't in it this year. Legs were fine as i did my turns and no one would follow through after. By Smits I lost my sense of humour sat up and said thats it, you boys go work for it and off the heel suckers went.

Pacing myself toward Scarborough and picking up some shrapnel, we ended up catching all those guys who were hanging on and then dropped most of them again. In this small peloton i found some comfort and motivation. We stayed together till the last km when I said enough is enough no sub 3 this year but getting home safely was far more top of mind.

Although I enjoyed riding in the rain I can't say I enjoyed racing it. I've trained a fair bit in the rain over the last 6months so it wasn't the conditions that put me off but rather the way other riders behaved in the conditions. ts easy to pick out the guys who have raced together often and have the experience. thrown into the mix was a lot of inexperienced riders, particularly in the 30-39 group.Ut was easy to tell the lack of experience due to the number in the top left corner of their numbers.....

2, 3, 4 cycle tours.

Indoor trainers have made it easier to get fit but don't improve bike handling skills. On the run from Millers Point to Smits I got bunted off the road onto the gravel 4 times by riders just barging their way through. Not lekker or maybe I just don't have that win 1000th place at all costs attitude anymore. 

finished with a 3h08min and not regretful about that one bit. Happier to not have ended the ride in hospital or with a broken bike. I hope the seeding returns to normal next year and that there's fewer cancelled races so that the less experienced guys can get in some more racing time.

Maybe more people should join clubs and learn about race craft and etiquette from the more experienced riders (I can highly recommend City Cycling Club). For me number 24 is done and dusted and I'm looking forward to 2023 to get my 25th anniversary edition

[mecheng89]

14 hours ago, TNT1 said:

Mathieu says hi.

PS says hi.

 

[DJR]

Ha ha, I still maintain that wearing white on a day as wet as Sunday is a very "inconsiderate" thing to do.......to everyone behind you. White is good for photo shoots though.🤪

[tjommies3]

Had a good few laughs reading this thread. Glad that most of you enjoyed the day, and I hope that those who crashed are well on their way to recovery. My last of 12 Argus tours was in 2009, and I'll never do it again but these stories take me back. To the first timers, you will always say "I'm never doing this again", especially if conditions weren't great but you'll need to see if you can improve on your time, or your position or beat your training buddies. SUB 3s are not elusive, even for a weekend warrior. I wanted my 1st within 5 years of the event, didn't get it, but I was successful in my 6th attempt (despite having a bad build up - crashing on Oukaapseweg in a race, having mild concussion, and having to get a new bike 2 weeks before the big day). So...NEVER GIVE UP.

[Iwan Kemp]

15 hours ago, DJR said:

Passed a guy in WHITE bibs somewhere on the M3 - decided I want to stay ahead of him at all costs. Sunday was NOT the day for white kit! Come to think of it, NO day is right for white cycling shorts! (Maybe a night ride could be the exception?)

A night ride, yes. On your indoor trainer. Behind locked doors. Lights off. And even then, only with all your other bibs in the wash and all you have is a goody bag bib that happens to be white...

[NickGM]

22 hours ago, Shebeen said:

I have decided my ambition is to become a club21 member first and then do a first sub3.

 I am not sure if that has been done before, seems to unlikely but club21 is big now and it is an obscure thing of note. 

 

 

Unless @ouzo beats you to it!

[Thomo]

48 minutes ago, tjommies3 said:

... but I was successful in my 6th attempt (despite having a bad build up - crashing on Oukaapseweg in a race, having mild concussion, and having to get a new bike 2 weeks before the big day). So...NEVER GIVE UP.

Sometimes enforced rest can do one the world of good.!

Keep reading the thread ... it may inspire you to make a return. 😊

[Long Wheel Base]

23 hours ago, Shebeen said:

I have decided my ambition is to become a club21 member first and then do a first sub3.

 I am not sure if that has been done before, seems to unlikely but club21 is big now and it is an obscure thing of note. 

 

 

I think I was club 21 before my first sub3. 

[The Ouzo]

2 minutes ago, Long Wheel Base said:

I think I was club 21 before my first sub3. 

yes but you've been doing the tour since you were 3  

[bleedToWin]

I'm on 19 tours. Hoping for my first sub 2h40 before (or when) reaching 21 tours... 😀

[Faseegh]

20 hours ago, Jbr said:

 

2nd tour,  2021 (4:30 on mtb), 2022 (3:20 on a roadie) great race with hectic conditions! Happy with the result and the event

[Scary Rider]

20 hours ago, MORNE said:

to paraphrase @DieselnDust, you probably caught a OMO bubble in the mouth....

🤢

That gave me a proper laugh! Almost frothing/bubbling at the mouth😁