2022 Virgin Active Ride Joburg

[The Ouzo]

1 hour ago, SundayCycler said:

This was my first 947 and it could not have been any more miserable.
It all started with a puncture in the first 10km. Changed tubes but not even 5km down the road I got a another puncture. After using my spare tube I had no more tubes left. Thankfully another rider also stopped to fix a slow puncture and he offered his slow punctured tube (Top man). So I just used the tube with a slow puncture to just keep going.

By the time I hit Grayston, that tube also gave out. I made my way to the waterpoint close by and after some kind advice from another rider (what a champ), I got a bottle of foam from Liqui Molly that managed to plug the puncture. That is until after the waterpoint in Fourways. I stopped on the side of the road ready to give up but then a kind family sitting on the side waiting for the friends to come by, offered to ask their friends for a spare tube and without prompt, they sorted me out and sent me on my way (A big thank you to Rikus and Daan and their family and friends, legends!).

After getting to Bryanston and those never ending hills my legs started to cramp up, but after all the help from the best of people I was not going to be stopped. I soldiered on and made my way to the line, not before stopping and helping as many as I could along the way, to pay it forward.

It may have been a miserable race but in terms of the cycling community this was an amazing race. If it weren't for the kindness of strangers I would have given up long before even getting close to finishing.

Will gladly do it again. But I'll be packing at least 4 spare tubes, next time.

There was a heck of a lot of glass on the roads today

[The Ouzo]

2 hours ago, MudLark said:

We're in a bit of COVID spike at the moment, I've been off the bike a bit since flying to CT and back the end of last week. Ears blocked, a sense of tiredness, PC tends to be a bit in the minus zone (-4/-5). Even if I had entered I doubt I would have ridden today. Maybe you have the same thing.

My kids have both been sick so I’m assuming that as much as I tried to avoid it I picked something up from them. 

[The Ouzo]

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

https://live.ultimate.dk/desktop/front/index.php?eventid=5880

Official time puts me 2 minutes quicker than last year. 
but check this

[snapshot]

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

https://live.ultimate.dk/desktop/front/index.php?eventid=5880

Thank you 

[s14phoenix]

I rode from my reseeded entry in G group to a 2:53 which I am extremely happy with. With almost no group from about halfway it was tough because everything you catch is slower so there was no way other than to grit your teeth and dig deep. the steep climbs was enough to humble anyone.

The seeding seemed to be a real problem since I cannot say how many C, D ,E, and F we passed that clearly didn't belong there - I mean 15min in and we already where passing some from C. Then the dodgy car guards and parking arrangements was another problem the organizers have to addres - seemed like anyone with high viz vest could rock up and be a parking attendant. We were forced by one of those guys very early this morning(by race standards) to park at the top of Nasrec miles from the venue and very dodgy since "it is full" - once I rolled down towards the venue I could see how empty the much closer parking was and a quick call to the family meant they could actually move and be close enough to the venue to be at the start and finish and not sitting 3km away in the veld. Lots of police patrols and presence was nice to see. I miss the vibe from before COVID at the venue and I would not be taking the family with again since the venue provided seemingly nothing for the people waiting. The people that came out to support made the route very enjoyable as always. Pity the venue was disappointing.

[Frosty]

1 hour ago, The Ouzo said:

Official time puts me 2 minutes quicker than last year. 
but check this

When they flipped the route, I had the same time (to the second) on both routes.

When someone asks which way was easier, I could objectively say, “neither”.

[Mett]

Fun day out ! .Sending wishes to the lady who got her wheel wedged in the drain/grating on the first left turn and had a very nasty fall, hope all is alright.

Disappointed that there was only Coke Zero at the end?, or was that just me?  Took me close to 30 min before I could send some sugars back in my body. Lots of congestion exiting the field at the finish AND no beers at the bottom beer tent for a good 30min. tbh the after race vibe wasn’t as good as I hoped, both down stairs and up.

and agreed to the dodgey car guards.

Road condition , road closure, mechanical support and water point staff were all top notch. 

 Oh, I was tailing a ballie for a couple meters and he sent one out of his nose which I received all the blowback . When I proceed to tune him next time move to the side , he said “ f0£ off I shouldn’t be up his arse”. I legit think he did it on purpose, is this a common thing? Yrr

[TheoG]

It was my first one, aimed for under 4 hours.  Had some bad cramps to the end but still managed to get home at 3:49 officially.  Very happy with that ... 😁

Edited November 21, 2022 by TheoG

[NotSoBigBen]

12 hours ago, MudLark said:

It's very unusual to get that many punctures in such quick succession. You could try some hardshell tyres. See the link below. And always carry a Park Tool punture repair kit (small but works well) and a small pump anyway.  Tubeless is an option but has its downsides too. Maintenance is one. A different option is use a tube with sealant designed for tubes. See the Ryder product.

https://www.continental-tires.com/bicycle/tires/race-tires/gator-hardshell

Over time I have learnt that it is quite common to have a few punctures in a row and more so during races .... often riders are in a hurry not wanting to lose time, understandable,  and don't check the tyre carefully for the reason for the original puncture. Quote often that is embedded glass or other nasty! Generally not that easy to find.

 

My personal approach to punctures is firstly don't rush the time is gone sit down take your time, you may have avoided the thing in the tyre that caused the puncture but might then pinch the tube anyway. Most important run your fingers, CAREFULLY, round the inside of the tyre of its not something obvious even have a very careful look around the outside of tyre ... a piece of glass is not that easy to see!

 

That's my experience and approach ... use it don't, use it 🤪

[eala]

10 hours ago, s14phoenix said:

I rode from my reseeded entry in G group to a 2:53 which I am extremely happy with. With almost no group from about halfway it was tough because everything you catch is slower so there was no way other than to grit your teeth and dig deep. the steep climbs was enough to humble anyone.

The seeding seemed to be a real problem since I cannot say how many C, D ,E, and F we passed that clearly didn't belong there - I mean 15min in and we already where passing some from C. Then the dodgy car guards and parking arrangements was another problem the organizers have to addres - seemed like anyone with high viz vest could rock up and be a parking attendant. We were forced by one of those guys very early this morning(by race standards) to park at the top of Nasrec miles from the venue and very dodgy since "it is full" - once I rolled down towards the venue I could see how empty the much closer parking was and a quick call to the family meant they could actually move and be close enough to the venue to be at the start and finish and not sitting 3km away in the veld. Lots of police patrols and presence was nice to see. I miss the vibe from before COVID at the venue and I would not be taking the family with again since the venue provided seemingly nothing for the people waiting. The people that came out to support made the route very enjoyable as always. Pity the venue was disappointing.

Very accurate description of my own observations. I parked at the same spot and battled to find my way back to my car . At least i had a post race warm down . I had to literally stand behind my car boot until the helpers got the message that i don,t need their help to load my bike . My time was 30 min slower than last the last event .The last 30 km is really hard and i am a cyclist . I feel sorry for the last bunches . It seems OK until Bryanston ,then the climbs start  .The people next to the road were magic and it does encourage you to keep slogging on . I am now convinced that Johannesburg has no flat land anywhere but the inhabitants are great 

[MudLark]

18 minutes ago, NotSoBigBen said:

Over time I have learnt that it is quite common to have a few punctures in a row and more so during races .... often riders are in a hurry not wanting to lose time, understandable,  and don't check the tyre carefully for the reason for the original puncture. Quote often that is embedded glass or other nasty! Generally not that easy to find.

 

My personal approach to punctures is firstly don't rush the time is gone sit down take your time, you may have avoided the thing in the tyre that caused the puncture but might then pinch the tube anyway. Most important run your fingers, CAREFULLY, round the inside of the tyre of its not something obvious even have a very careful look around the outside of tyre ... a piece of glass is not that easy to see!

 

That's my experience and approach ... use it don't, use it 🤪

I am lucky and have never had a puncture during a road event. I have also learned the hard way about needing to make sure there is nothing still stuck in the tyre. That was in pouring rain too!

Mostly now on the road I ride a gravel bike with very tough but fast rolling commuter tyres which although not TL tyres have with success been set up as tubeless.

As for glass, I did the JUMA one year and hit a big piece of glass in one of the water courses. That was about 1/3rd of the way into the race. I lost all air in about 2 seconds - tubeless setup. I borrowed three or four tubes and still ended up walking the last 200m or so to the finish line. I had to use a piece of plastic to keep the tube from protruding through the hole but they still only lasted so long. 

[MudLark]

8 minutes ago, eala said:

Very accurate description of my own observations. I parked at the same spot and battled to find my way back to my car . At least i had a post race warm down . I had to literally stand behind my car boot until the helpers got the message that i don,t need their help to load my bike . My time was 30 min slower than last the last event .The last 30 km is really hard and i am a cyclist . I feel sorry for the last bunches . It seems OK until Bryanston ,then the climbs start  .The people next to the road were magic and it does encourage you to keep slogging on . I am now convinced that Johannesburg has no flat land anywhere but the inhabitants are great 

Yes, it's not an easy last one third. And last year there was a heck of a head wind on the last bit towards the finish line. But not nearly as bad as the N3TC event!

Edited November 21, 2022 by MudLark

[stringbean]

Ride JHB has become the premier racing event in SA.

Seriously impressed with the organising,prize money,big names it attracts.

A bit embarrassing coming from Cape Town how watered down the Argus Cycle tour has become.Just a fun ride around the mnt with YouTube coverage.

They could at least put some of the profit back into the riders like JHB is doing.

[Dexter-morgan]

14 hours ago, SundayCycler said:

This was my first 947 and it could not have been any more miserable.
It all started with a puncture in the first 10km. Changed tubes but not even 5km down the road I got a another puncture. After using my spare tube I had no more tubes left. Thankfully another rider also stopped to fix a slow puncture and he offered his slow punctured tube (Top man). So I just used the tube with a slow puncture to just keep going.

By the time I hit Grayston, that tube also gave out. I made my way to the waterpoint close by and after some kind advice from another rider (what a champ), I got a bottle of foam from Liqui Molly that managed to plug the puncture. That is until after the waterpoint in Fourways. I stopped on the side of the road ready to give up but then a kind family sitting on the side waiting for the friends to come by, offered to ask their friends for a spare tube and without prompt, they sorted me out and sent me on my way (A big thank you to Rikus and Daan and their family and friends, legends!).

After getting to Bryanston and those never ending hills my legs started to cramp up, but after all the help from the best of people I was not going to be stopped. I soldiered on and made my way to the line, not before stopping and helping as many as I could along the way, to pay it forward.

It may have been a miserable race but in terms of the cycling community this was an amazing race. If it weren't for the kindness of strangers I would have given up long before even getting close to finishing.

Will gladly do it again. But I'll be packing at least 4 spare tubes, next time.

I took long 2 tubes for my wife's bike, 2 tubes for my bike(80mm valves) and 6 bombs, fortunately did not need any of them, my wife eventually did a 3:57, 25minute better than her previous one of 2019

[The Ouzo]

11 hours ago, Mett said:

Disappointed that there was only Coke Zero

have to agree. Apparently Coke is trying hard to push Coke Zero onto the market, but a sporting event where you need the sugar afterwards is not the place for this. I had a few sips and then chucked the rest. Thank fully i had a bottle of energy drink in a cooler box in my car.

[The Ouzo]

23 minutes ago, stringbean said:

Ride JHB has become the premier racing event in SA.

Seriously impressed with the organising,prize money,big names it attracts.

A bit embarrassing coming from Cape Town how watered down the Argus Cycle tour has become.Just a fun ride around the mnt with YouTube coverage.

They could at least put some of the profit back into the riders like JHB is doing.

There is still room for improvement from the organisers side, but overall well put together.