Cape Town Cycle Tour 2024

[babse]

52 minutes ago, Jbr said:

on the same note as the person who crossed the road and the kid close to doing the same thing, between kalk bay and simon's town a guy who was probably walking his dog sat on the curb and took pictures of the bunch while his dog, on a not short enough leash was barking at us. At this point we could not see our front wheel as we had the sun straight in our eyes. That and the people taking selfies on the side of the road (sometimes more on the road than on the side of it).

Makes you realise how hectic it must be flying through the public at TdF or Roubaix. There's nothing you can do, by the time you see the danger and you brain processes the information you're already 15meters passed it.

this guy took out 2 okes mid bunch btw... 

[Phillippe Coetzee]

2 minutes ago, dexterdent said:

To get a sub-3, either be VERY fit, or get a great seeding (1A or better, not *that* hard if you do the PPA or 99er) and hope the weather plays along (some years there are 1000+ sub-3s and others <500).

I missed out this year by ~5m, but finished top20 in 1B and tried to spend some time (not a lot) in the wind to get the group average speed up a bit. I lost a full minute on the Chappies descent due to the wind, and there wasn't much group cohesion from there onwards. I keep telling myself I'm happy with the result, and I am, but it feels like unfinished business.

There were three major changes I made to go from a 3h30-3h45 rider to where I am now: Firstly, upped my training from 5 hours per week to 7-8 hours - zwift helped a lot. Secondly, get nutrition right with carbs while training and protein/carbs afterwards. Thirdly, I lost about 8kg's and now I like climbs.

Very helpful, thank you. 🙏🏼 

[dev null]

56 minutes ago, mikkelz said:

https://results.finishtime.co.za/Stats.aspx?CId=35&RId=4464

Entered: 22,116
Finished: 18,292
Fastest: 02:31:21
Average: 04:46:08

It looks like the numbers are slightly up compared to last year (comparing on RaceTec) – which is a good sign.

Still way below the numbers of previous years.

In 2010, my first, there were 28,035 finishers. From the events I completed, it looks like 2013 had the most with a whopping 31,666!

Edit: I realise now that in previous years there were no e-Bike or 42km events. And the numbers above excludes tandems (no way to get a overall total on FinishTime without manually adding them up). Each "event type" is split up on the web page above.

2013 the weather was damn near perfect. It was also my son's first race.

[Shebeen]

ebikes = don't go faster than 3:50

it's very clearly stated in the rules

Quote

3.10. The fastest time that a cyclist, using an e-bike, may complete the event is 1hr 50min for the 42km event and 3hr 50min for the 109km event. Any e-bike cyclists recording a time of less than 1hr 50min or 3hr 50min respectively will be disqualified.

 

Here is the current list of naughty boys (and girls), who need to go sit in the corner and apologise!

[FootballingCyclist]

13 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

I heard about it from a neighbour and the story was naturally very different 

you know the cyclists are cretins narrative 

I'm struggling to think of how any version other than @Jewbacca is a possibility.

Pedestrian gets knocked into by cyclists IN THE ROAD on a day where the road is closed specifically because there is a cycling race happening.  Did she push the little button at the traffic light and the traffic light went red and the little man went green and she thought it was her right of way or she was knocked on the right hand side of the road and perhaps thought that the cyclists had to stay on the left?? I'm struggling to figure out how the cyclists taking part in the race could be to blame by anyone with common sense in your neighbourhood LOL

[Jewbacca]

There is also a case of looking at the route and planning from there. A sub3 timeline has things centred around 10 minutes ish max effort, so that's Smits, Chappies, Suikerbossie etc all 10 minutes or less. 

So can you push for 10 minutes and then recover enough while pushing out enough wattage to be comfortable in the group AND eat and drink in the group without being a wobbly wheel?

Too many people can push the watts but then really struggle to control their bike while handling bottles and food etc

Reading the wheels and having good bike skills also helps. Those who can flow and predict/read where to be will use a lot less energy than those who cannot

[Mamil]

37 minutes ago, cadenceblur said:

Would also love to know, I reckon race management as well? or does this just go out of the window when you need to push to keep with the bunch? I definitely feel this is an area that I need help with - despite doing so many tours!

 

45 minutes ago, Phillippe Coetzee said:

So a serious question.

For the people who did it around 3 hours. I would love to work to get to something like that but I am a little in the dark.

what is the trick to the whole operation when it comes to preparation, is the amount of riding you do(km), the speed you do it at or the total you climb in your rides ?

How many km a year will be sufficient?

Any feedback will be appreciated, really trying to achieve some goals 🙏🏼

I have never done a sub three. Of the 7 I've done so far 3:08 is my fastest although this year my fitness is better than it was on my fastest CTCT.

I have found youtube channels on periodised and polarized training immensely beneficial and disciplining myself to ride in low aerobic and zone 2 on long rides has been a key part of this.

 

[dev null]

3 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

There is also a case of looking at the route and planning from there. A sub3 timeline has things centred around 10 minutes ish max effort, so that's Smits, Chappies, Suikerbossie etc all 10 minutes or less. 

So can you push for 10 minutes and then recover enough while pushing out enough wattage to be comfortable in the group AND eat and drink in the group without being a wobbly wheel?

Too many people can push the watts but then really struggle to control their bike while handling bottles and food etc

Reading the wheels and having good bike skills also helps. Those who can flow and predict/read where to be will use a lot less energy than those who cannot

That road after you crest Smits makes me wonder every year how come there not be more bad crashes. That road surface is demonic if you ride a road bike with 23mm tires pumped to 8 bar. No way I would even reach for a water bottle.

[DieselnDust]

@cadenceblurEverything starts with setting goals that are achievable. Its pointless trying to get a sub 3 when you've just started cycling and need to drop a lot of body weight while also gaining a lot of physical strength on 1 hr per day of available training time. Or maybe you're just trying to raise your ceiling, then that's a different discussion.

Every goal has to be realistic and backed up with a suitable training and nutrition plan that is sustainable. I've seen quick fixes cause more long term motivational and physical damage whilst allowing that short term goal. That is not worth it in my view. 

So here's my step by step guide. I won't break it down to sub bullets yet till you can share some information @Phillippe Coetzee

 

1. what kind of cyclist are you currently? Weekend warrior on road, mtb, gravel, or combinations
2. how long have you been cycling?
3. How many hours do you currently cycle, or spend on other physical activity?
4. Do you currently or have you in the past participated in any sport at a high level and what was that sport and how recently?
5. How many hours per week do you work and on which days?
6. Is this work stressful or do you enjoy it to the point that stress is low?
7. Is your family supportive of your sport leisure time or do you have to share your leisure time
8. How much time per week do you have for physical activity alone?
9. What are your sporting goals?
10. Do you have any health issues?

 

More detail than this would start to delve into personal information that starts to require one on one discussion with disclosure agreements. But with the above and if the moderators don't see any issue with you sharing, we can help guide you and others who are looking to raise their ceiling.

 

Step 1:  set your goals

step2: get your family on board and arrange your life around the time required to achieve the goal

step3; get help. that may be  coach or someone or bodies who have achieved similar goals and are consistent. One hit wonders won' help, consistency is key because they have been through the highs and lows and are still plugging away.

step4: start your plan, including getting nutrition going in the right direction. Ride your bike, go to gym. start small and build sustainable love for your activities. We eat an elephant one bite at a time.

Step5: measure progress. Whether that's just the number of exercises, time on the bike average speed, time improvement over a course, measure, record, measure, record, measure, record, including weight loss. everything that you can.

step 6; learn the necessary skills: whether road or mtb, there are specific skills to learn. Bike handling is one skill, bunch riding is another, following a wheel in the bunch, braking, balance, cornering etc. are all skills that make or lose time.

step 7: enter some events even if just to practice skills but also to build your confidence and get your seeding up. Races are also where you get to know other riders and how they behave. This knowledge will help you when the chips are down in key races. You will know who to follow and who to avoid. Its pointless following someone to the front of the bunch just before Edinburgh Drive when yo know they're going to blow half way up.

There are certain things I don't prescribe because everyone's circumstances are different. I don't advocate clubs although this is a good way to find  a regular riding crew. Often you get advice in clubs that is not very good and sometime you find club that are brilliant. Be discerning here and find a club with a culture and members that aligned with your goals. If you're going to spend time with people make it valuable. Its pointless being a racing snake in a leisure club.

Power meters are nice to have but not essential at the beginning. When looking for the last 1% then I will say its is essential. At least have a heart rate monitor. These are relative cheap today with many players in the market.

 

I've probably missed a few points but the above are points of consideration that should spark some healthy conversation 

[NickGM]

33 minutes ago, openmind said:

Interval training and learn how to ride in a bunch. Ride as many other road races as you can to get a seeding that will put you into an actual racing bunch instead of having to do an ITT slalom-ing through the masses. 

Yesterday I rode a 3:49 with my son starting from group 7E. In 2021 I did a 2:48 starting in the vets racing group. I worked much harder yesterday. 

There it is. @Phillippe Coetzee I got my first road bike about 7 years ago but before that rode MTB a lot and was fairly fit. I just didn't understand how my friends (who were on the same level as me) could go out and ride weekend races at average speeds > 35kph and when I did my little solo franschoek road ride (75km) on sundays I would be happy if I could average over 28kph. I didn't understand how it was possible (which I think is where your head is at now). But I did my first few races and my seeding got better. After about 4 races I was riding in 1A and I remember after the first hour of riding I looked down at my garmin for the first time and saw that we'd ridden 37km already. We did that whole 100km route at 36.5kph and I didn't actually feel that tired. It was a huge WTF moment. Had I gotten much better? No, not really. I was still riding solo to franschoek at an average of 28kph.

Getting to the point where you can join a fast group does take a lot of work obviously. You need to be fit and you need to climb up the seedings. Riding > 200km per week, intervals, being light (ie: diet) - all very important. But my point is, riding in a fast bunch added another 8-9kph for free.

Disclaimer: my best is 3:11 but I seem to pick the wettest windiest CTCTs to give it my best go, and also I'm just not that strong of a roadie! The point remains though.

Edited March 11 by NickGM
disclaimer

[Kom]

17 minutes ago, dexterdent said:

To get a sub-3, either be VERY fit, or get a great seeding (1A or better, not *that* hard if you do the PPA or 99er) and hope the weather plays along (some years there are 1000+ sub-3s and others <500).

I missed out this year by ~5m, but finished top20 in 1B and tried to spend some time (not a lot) in the wind to get the group average speed up a bit. I lost a full minute on the Chappies descent due to the wind, and there wasn't much group cohesion from there onwards. I keep telling myself I'm happy with the result, and I am, but it feels like unfinished business.

There were three major changes I made to go from a 3h30-3h45 rider to where I am now: Firstly, upped my training from 5 hours per week to 7-8 hours - zwift helped a lot. Secondly, get nutrition right with carbs while training and protein/carbs afterwards. Thirdly, I lost about 8kg's and now I like climbs.

I was in 1A and missed the sub 3 by 36 seconds.

only 21 riders in our batch of 341 finishers went below 3.

i took a minute off my chappies record yesterday hanging onto that group but got dropped in the decent. (A PB that stood for >4yrs)

there is fitness and then there is endurance-fitness that i dont think ive worked hard enough for.

next year we try again 😁

[waveduke]

A lot of people are complaining about FinishTime but seeing the splits for each segment is highly interesting I think.
Never noticed that on Racetec.

[cadenceblur]

3 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

@cadenceblurEverything starts with setting goals that are achievable. Its pointless trying to get a sub 3 when you've just started cycling and need to drop a lot of body weight while also gaining a lot of physical strength on 1 hr per day of available training time. Or maybe you're just trying to raise your ceiling, then that's a different discussion.

Every goal has to be realistic and backed up with a suitable training and nutrition plan that is sustainable. I've seen quick fixes cause more long term motivational and physical damage whilst allowing that short term goal. That is not worth it in my view. 

So here's my step by step guide. I won't break it down to sub bullets yet till you can share some information @Phillippe Coetzee

 

1. what kind of cyclist are you currently? Weekend warrior on road, mtb, gravel, or combinations
2. how long have you been cycling?
3. How many hours do you currently cycle, or spend on other physical activity?
4. Do you currently or have you in the past participated in any sport at a high level and what was that sport and how recently?
5. How many hours per week do you work and on which days?
6. Is this work stressful or do you enjoy it to the point that stress is low?
7. Is your family supportive of your sport leisure time or do you have to share your leisure time
8. How much time per week do you have for physical activity alone?
9. What are your sporting goals?
10. Do you have any health issues?

 

More detail than this would start to delve into personal information that starts to require one on one discussion with disclosure agreements. But with the above and if the moderators don't see any issue with you sharing, we can help guide you and others who are looking to raise their ceiling.

 

Step 1:  set your goals

step2: get your family on board and arrange your life around the time required to achieve the goal

step3; get help. that may be  coach or someone or bodies who have achieved similar goals and are consistent. One hit wonders won' help, consistency is key because they have been through the highs and lows and are still plugging away.

step4: start your plan, including getting nutrition going in the right direction. Ride your bike, go to gym. start small and build sustainable love for your activities. We eat an elephant one bite at a time.

Step5: measure progress. Whether that's just the number of exercises, time on the bike average speed, time improvement over a course, measure, record, measure, record, measure, record, including weight loss. everything that you can.

step 6; learn the necessary skills: whether road or mtb, there are specific skills to learn. Bike handling is one skill, bunch riding is another, following a wheel in the bunch, braking, balance, cornering etc. are all skills that make or lose time.

step 7: enter some events even if just to practice skills but also to build your confidence and get your seeding up. Races are also where you get to know other riders and how they behave. This knowledge will help you when the chips are down in key races. You will know who to follow and who to avoid. Its pointless following someone to the front of the bunch just before Edinburgh Drive when yo know they're going to blow half way up.

There are certain things I don't prescribe because everyone's circumstances are different. I don't advocate clubs although this is a good way to find  a regular riding crew. Often you get advice in clubs that is not very good and sometime you find club that are brilliant. Be discerning here and find a club with a culture and members that aligned with your goals. If you're going to spend time with people make it valuable. Its pointless being a racing snake in a leisure club.

Power meters are nice to have but not essential at the beginning. When looking for the last 1% then I will say its is essential. At least have a heart rate monitor. These are relative cheap today with many players in the market.

 

I've probably missed a few points but the above are points of consideration that should spark some healthy conversation 

Mr B, perhaps we should have a coffee catch up, as we know each other! I don't think that sub3 will ever materialize, but constany improvement is always a focus for me.

[DieselnDust]

10 minutes ago, FootballingCyclist said:

I'm struggling to think of how any version other than @Jewbacca is a possibility.

Pedestrian gets knocked into by cyclists IN THE ROAD on a day where the road is closed specifically because there is a cycling race happening.  Did she push the little button at the traffic light and the traffic light went red and the little man went green and she thought it was her right of way or she was knocked on the right hand side of the road and perhaps thought that the cyclists had to stay on the left?? I'm struggling to figure out how the cyclists taking part in the race could be to blame by anyone with common sense in your neighbourhood LOL

Boet this is the lentil curtain. I have no doubt she was at fault but when I got home yesterday my taartie neighbour accosts me and starts yelling about cyclists being irresponsible knocking a woman down in Kalk bay  yada yada.

All I said to her was "I'm tired and I'm going to take a nap. After you've taken your calmettes ask yourself what event as happening today and why would someone cross a road with 20000 + cyclists charging along it.  This is also a community where peoples cats go missing daily and these cat owners have not yet realised that one cat has more than one home where it decides to get fed. 😂

[DieselnDust]

2 minutes ago, cadenceblur said:

Mr B, perhaps we should have a coffee catch up, as we know each other! I don't think that sub3 will ever materialize, but constany improvement is always a focus for me.

let me know when you free to chat. I can't say that it will never materialise as I don't know how hard you've really tried

[dexterdent]

9 minutes ago, Kom said:

I was in 1A and missed the sub 3 by 36 seconds.

only 21 riders in our batch of 341 finishers went below 3.

i took a minute off my chappies record yesterday hanging onto that group but got dropped in the decent. (A PB that stood for >4yrs)

there is fitness and then there is endurance-fitness that i dont think ive worked hard enough for.

next year we try again 😁

Sounds like an epic result finishing in the top 2.5% of a huge race, beating a lot of people with intimidating symbols on their back, and with a position that in some other years would have been a 2h55 with the same effort. Well done, and see you next year trying to break the arbitrary 3hr barrier that somehow still means a lot