[Event] Velddrif 222 Velddrif

[CraZyCupCake]

4 hours ago, Rouxenator said:

Well done to Sue Kirk and the rest of the team! You all pulled off a perfectly organised ride. I have had my share of inaugural rides and this ranks amongst the best of in terms of planning and execution. Also huge thanks to all the towns and their traffic departments as well as the marshals. I was really impressed with how this played out.

As for the actual ride, load shedding resulted in us pulling up to the start at 7:01 but thankfully the start was delayed until 7:10. I was surprised when I saw 2°C on the way there - but it was confirmed soon as we started to move - it was blooming cold.

I did my own thing on the hardtail and kept a steady pace of 26km/h, soon a whole bunch of roadies seems to have formed behind me with the odd one popping in for a chat every now and then. I did see 1.4°C on the way to Piketberg but one guy said his Garmin showed 0.1°C at some stage. So a very chilled first stretch. Soon as we crested the Piketberg climb the roadies dropped me, my setup just is not that fast downhill. I did have my 2.35 knobbies at 3 bar but that is about as far as I went in terms of changing things VS my normal setup.

Excellent marshalling through Piketberg. On the other side I saw a lady with a mechanical issue from a far. As I came closer I saw it was a much more involved breakdown as her crank was lying on the ground I jokingly said "I would have loved to help but unfortunately I left my welder at home today". After a second or so she burst into laughter and said, thanks, that helps. The road from Piketberg to Redelinghuis was new to me, but beautiful. I rode solo most of the way - as planned. 

Stopped for a water fill up and banana at the Redelinghuis waterpoint and while I was there someone laughed "Oh is that the welder guy". All round the vibe from fellow riders and organisers was positive and encouraging. Took a long time to reach Elandsbay, I was anticipating the climb, went past faster than anticipated. Coming closer to Dwarskersbos the roads became more and more familiar. The last stretch from Dwarskersbos to Veldrif was a treat as I ride that road a lot. I took a left at he finish back to the start to complete the 222km.

I do hope this event returns to the calendar next year, at the price it is excellent. The cold and the distance reminded me of a 30 something me doing Transkaroo, altough 40 something me will never do something like Transkaroo again, this 222km ride is a more accessible challenge.

 

Saw a few other MTBs at the start, but never saw them come past me so I think I may have been the first MTB to finish?

 

Sun starting to make things a little more cozy

 

Heading towards Redlinghuis

 

This Kombi has seen better days

 

My own home made medal waiting for me at the Riviera hotel

I was one of the guys that came along side to say Hi(and dropped you on the decent😁)you were very strong on that ride.nice meeting you.

[FootballingCyclist]

Congrats to @Sid the Slothfor finishing 3rd yesterday.

[DJuice]

54 minutes ago, FootballingCyclist said:

Congrats to @Sid the Slothfor finishing 3rd yesterday.

Almost in the money!

Well done @Sid the Sloth

[babse]

1 hour ago, FootballingCyclist said:

Congrats to @Sid the Slothfor finishing 3rd yesterday.

@Sid the Slothjou yster... share some detail

 

apparently you were more keen on beating your teammate than actually winning the race 🤷‍♂️

[Sid the Sloth]

Thanks guys.

Firstly, @Jewbacca you were larger than expected. Kilt looked good though.

Secondly a short race report - after a very chilled first 50km with a lekker wee stop the skinny bois lit it up on the climb to Piketburg which did a fair amount of damage to the group. We went into feed zone 1 a few km later with just under 20 I believe and we had a nice rolling paceline with no one skipping turns, and all 5 of us Cycling Friends in the group.

We attacked again at the second feed zone and eventually about 10 guys were together going to the Elands climb. On the climb we hit the accelerator a bit with my team mate Reece opening up about the first half while I pulled the second half-ish until Jaco took over, before peeling off and inspecting the damage. We needed to take a small group but gently squeeze off the guys in the bunch so that chasing back was unlikely and we executed that well. We were left with 5 which reduced to 4, all cooperating.

Attacks started with just under 15km to go and we tried our best into the head wind but unfortunately neither Reece nor myself could shake the other two for very long, we ended up going into the last km as three, when Reece opened up his sprint a bit early as there were no distance markers after 3km left. I let the wheel go but Jaco jumped across to Reece. I tried to come round but unfortunately the legs weren't so keen to sprint after 217 km! 

All in all it was a decent day out and an impressive performance from our young team which I am proud of. As every race for me has been going lately a lot was learnt, hopefully I can stand on the top step soon.

Thanks to Myriad and WP Cycling for a great event. 

Apologies in advance if I got anything wrong. Mind goes a bit blurry over almost 6h of racing!

Edited June 27, 2022 by Sid the Sloth
grammar

[Sid the Sloth]

8 minutes ago, babse said:

@Sid the Slothjou yster... share some detail

 

apparently you were more keen on beating your teammate than actually winning the race 🤷‍♂️

Not at all, we are both fairly new to racing and don't really back ourselves for the sprint so we were trying hard to go a bit further out. We never closed each other's attacks, just following wheels, and then countering. It is definitely a skill that takes some practice! Hopefully our "finisher" Shameeg can teach us some tricks

[Sid the Sloth]

6 minutes ago, Sid the Sloth said:

Secondly a short race report 

My humanities brain calls that a short race report compared to the usual lengthy essays covering politics, philosophy and economics lol 

[babse]

9 minutes ago, Sid the Sloth said:

Not at all, we are both fairly new to racing and don't really back ourselves for the sprint so we were trying hard to go a bit further out. We never closed each other's attacks, just following wheels, and then countering. It is definitely a skill that takes some practice! Hopefully our "finisher" Shameeg can teach us some tricks

hahaha pulling your leg... you okes are ysters, kudos on the super effort!

[Jewbacca]

@Sid the Sloth hahahahaha I was not the guy you're thinking of.... I don't think so anyway.... My beard is still black. 

The larger fellow overtook me at 160km. He was looking helluva strong at that point while I was ded.

You guys rolled past me on that long flat road between the aid station and dwarskersbos. 

Shirt open head down, basically crawling. I think I was overtaken by a commuter on a 1993 Avalanche Reflex towards the end.

You did wave, so maybe I am just bigger than you thought! hahaha

I was particularly impressed by your team car with spare bike. I felt like I was part of something that should be on telly

[DJuice]

7 hours ago, Rouxenator said:

It would have been prudent of me to have been overdressed - but I was not - which is why I felt that cold to the bone.

I was easy to spot, green and white shirt, MTB baggies, hardtail bike with home-made white-wall front tyre. The idea was not to white-wall it, it's just that the tyre has seen 9000km and now the rubber on the sidewalls is starting to come off so I used silicone sealant to fix it. 

In my mind I have this ultimate Bikehubber bike race across africa with very little resources featuring @Jewbacca, @Rouxenator, @copperhead (RIP) (by the way Greg is doing great!), @FRAIL K, winner takes all.

[Jewbacca]

2 minutes ago, DJuice said:

In my mind I have this ultimate Bikehubber bike race across africa with very little resources featuring @Jewbacca, @Rouxenator, @copperhead (RIP) (by the way Greg is doing great!), @FRAIL K, winner takes all.

I'm in!

['Dale]

Respect, julle weekend warriors. Showing up in the heart of winter for a double century race in the heartlands of the West Coast district, yoh. The headwind in the final 60 Kim’s sounds like the perfect tester for teamwork, grit and ultra-endurance. 

 

[Denis Dell]

So my question is, as a newbie to the sport, what other nice road bike events exist?  I am seeing a lot of gravel and MTB events, but not so many road cycling.

[Mamil]

Tour du cap 

Paarl cycle tour

99er

DC

Dunno what happened to the PPA sportifs?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DieselnDust]

2 hours ago, DJuice said:

In my mind I have this ultimate Bikehubber bike race across africa with very little resources featuring @Jewbacca, @Rouxenator, @copperhead (RIP) (by the way Greg is doing great!), @FRAIL K, winner takes all.

Funny you mention copperhead , I saw him today at a bike shop. Indeed he is by all appearances , doing great

[Sid the Sloth]

5 hours ago, Jewbacca said:

@Sid the Sloth hahahahaha I was not the guy you're thinking of.... I don't think so anyway.... My beard is still black. 

The larger fellow overtook me at 160km. He was looking helluva strong at that point while I was ded.

You guys rolled past me on that long flat road between the aid station and dwarskersbos. 

Shirt open head down, basically crawling. I think I was overtaken by a commuter on a 1993 Avalanche Reflex towards the end.

You did wave, so maybe I am just bigger than you thought! hahaha

I was particularly impressed by your team car with spare bike. I felt like I was part of something that should be on telly

Yep I thought it was you there, I am correct, I think I just imagined the size of person that happily rides tiny bicycles.
 

There was a giant on a Giant we caught later… huge oke.