[Event] King Price Race to the Sea

[MORNE]

3 hours ago, splat said:

I am bit nervous about the weather (rain).
Somewhat skittish after all the ATP and TB war stories

nah man...your bike is nice and new and shiny.

Go make it secondhand in the mud 

🤪

[TyronLab]

7 hours ago, splat said:

I am bit nervous about the weather (rain).
Somewhat skittish after all the ATP and TB war stories

Don't be. Rode the TB in the rain and with the right kit and some semblance of logic you and your bike will be fine. 

A lot of people complained about needing to do major repairs after all of the mud and water, but I also saw a bunch of people pressure washing the bejeesus out of their muddy bikes' linkages/shocks/BB/hubs halfway through the race... my "cheapo" Rapide wheels and BB bearings are still smooth as silk after having sloshed through the same gunk.

Disclaimer: I ride a rigid steel mtb, so YMMV.

Edited August 30, 2022 by TyronLab

[Kom]

Gusting doesnt seem to be as bad anymore in the Saturday forecast

 

[WaldoZ]

23 hours ago, splat said:

I am bit nervous about the weather (rain).
Somewhat skittish after all the ATP and TB war stories

These roads (from what I understand) are big gravel roads and not the small farm roads like at ATP or TB so should drain better. If anything I think it will only be a drizzle at the start so any wetness should be fine. I'm actually doing a rain dance right now... helped us on the result sheet at ATP 🤷‍♂️🤪😂

[WaldoZ]

2 hours ago, Kom said:

Gusting doesnt seem to be as bad anymore in the Saturday forecast

 

Hopefully the wind can help blow away all the mushroom clouds we will see in that last 40km 😂 🤯 

[Kom]

20 hours ago, WaldoZ said:

Hopefully the wind can help blow away all the mushroom clouds we will see in that last 40km 😂 🤯 

Im seeing a tailwind that might help a little 😆 

[WaldoZ]

2 minutes ago, Kom said:

Im seeing a tailwind that might help a little 😆 

You are seeing a tailwind for the first 120km... that is not the problem area 😜

[Kom]

2 minutes ago, WaldoZ said:

You are seeing a tailwind for the first 120km... that is not the problem area 😜

Windy seems to show there is a wind direction change from Caledon, but not sure i understand the data in this view i.e if its relative to travel direction - hopefully the downhill home negates the wind what ever its doing.

[WaldoZ]

3 minutes ago, Kom said:

Windy seems to show there is a wind direction change from Caledon, but not sure i understand the data in this view i.e if its relative to travel direction - hopefully the downhill home negates the wind what ever its doing.

From 120km to 145km you have 5 punchy climbs into a headwind. Those who went too hard in the leka tailwind will be praying not to blow up here. If you are just fun riding then you will have a leka time, if you are racing in your age category or overall you will be wondering why you went so hard in that first 120km and wishing you did it differently. 

[Me rida my bicycle]

Yip first 120km was all fun and games last year, people flying by and packing up before the last waterpoint 🤣

I hope this "blaf" goes away tomorrow. Bikes all sorted and ready for the ride. 

To those who think it's a downhill or wind at your back on the home stretch is in for a nasty surprise. 

I have never been in Stanford /Hermanus area that the wind did not try to break us. 

It's a great event, well stocked water points and lekker gees. 

[splat]

That was a great event!
I thought that it was very well organized and I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

And most of all, I am very grateful that it didn't rain.
There are parts of that course that would been terrible on the GG.

Edited September 4, 2022 by splat

['Dale]

Julle maak 'n man lus. I wanna roll to the Sea next year. 😍

[Danger Dassie]

Nice one with Matt Beers taking the inaugural SA jersey for gravel.

Will be cool seeing the Saffa stripes rolling around in international competition with some podiums. Specialized better stock up on them Crux steeds! 

[Andymann]

So that was interesting - we drove down last week from Gauteng and returned yesterday.

It was different to what I expected - I was expecting Race to the Sun bunches and a lot more Chirp - I was with A-bunch to about halfway up the climb and then never saw another bunch until right at the end - most of the route I rode alone or had maybe one person passing me, or me passing them.  My Wife started 10mins ahead of me with the racing Ladies and we honestly thought that given what happens in Race to the Sun we would catch up to each other by the first or second Water Point.  I never saw her again until the end.

Wasn't an issue in the beginning but the last 40kms it was really soul destroying having no-one to chat to, to keep the motivation going.

I might go back again - we went in with Race to the Sun type training which is way different to what you need for this race - we didn't do nearly enough hills, so I would change things a bit.  And I will definitely fit different tyres to the MTB!  The Gravel bikes just destroyed us!

I

[milky4130]

1 hour ago, Andymann said:

So that was interesting - we drove down last week from Gauteng and returned yesterday.

It was different to what I expected - I was expecting Race to the Sun bunches and a lot more Chirp - I was with A-bunch to about halfway up the climb and then never saw another bunch until right at the end - most of the route I rode alone or had maybe one person passing me, or me passing them.  My Wife started 10mins ahead of me with the racing Ladies and we honestly thought that given what happens in Race to the Sun we would catch up to each other by the first or second Water Point.  I never saw her again until the end.

Wasn't an issue in the beginning but the last 40kms it was really soul destroying having no-one to chat to, to keep the motivation going.

I might go back again - we went in with Race to the Sun type training which is way different to what you need for this race - we didn't do nearly enough hills, so I would change things a bit.  And I will definitely fit different tyres to the MTB!  The Gravel bikes just destroyed us!

I

something I've been hearing a lot, Joburg doesnt have hills. Well Done nonetheless.