Cape Town Cycle Tour 2024

[MongooseMan]

1 minute ago, DieselnDust said:

good numbers . Your 10min power number is revealing. You definitely rode with a lot of smarts so kudos on your effort💪🏼👏🏼

Some smarts, not enough

Looking at a comparison with another mate in & who ended on 2h55, my biggest mistake was not being further forward going into Smits. Because I found the climb easy, keeping with those around me
but got to the top to realise they weren't going fast enough and had to hammer to get back on

If I'd been further forward I would have worked slightly more on the climb, but probably had an easier descent (he did 137W down there, I did 198W with many more surges). That was the beginning of the end, until I had to close another gap past Ocean View, and then got dropped out the back on Chappies

y-axis is time-gap. You can see the gaps closed over Smits & Ocean view, before the elastic snaps properly on Chappies.

[cadenceblur]

33 minutes ago, Ncayi said:

Thank you. I was in &. I last checked my FTP in October last year and it was 282w. Im due for another test but doing it is nasty work.

Thanks, interesting! 

[DieselnDust]

1 minute ago, MongooseMan said:

Some smarts, not enough

Looking at a comparison with another mate in & who ended on 2h55, my biggest mistake was not being further forward going into Smits. Because I found the climb easy, keeping with those around me
but got to the top to realise they weren't going fast enough and had to hammer to get back on

If I'd been further forward I would have worked slightly more on the climb, but probably had an easier descent (he did 137W down there, I did 198W with many more surges). That was the beginning of the end, until I had to close another gap past Ocean View, and then got dropped out the back on Chappies

y-axis is time-gap. You can see the gaps closed over Smits & Ocean view, before the elastic snaps properly on Chappies.

There’s a lot more to a result than just having the legs. Positioning at key moments is also vitally important as you are demonstrating. That’s about race strategy and realising there’s probably about 299 others blokes with the same idea , 199 of whom can actually do it and 99 are out of position. 
 

This is why it’s so important to race a few times leading up to ctct to see who you can get stuck behind and who you shouldn’t and who you absolutely can’t 👍🏼

[Jbr]

10 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Overall average power isn’t really that useful since you’re weren’t pedalling all of the time. NP is sort of useful. The data from the key features in the race are most helpful thanks

I would've said kind of the opposite, or at least that looking at both help. I find sometimes I have very high NP and low average when I'm either hard on the gas or freewheeling, whereas on a really hard race from start to finish, where you've got to pedal even on the descents, average and weighted average are a bit closer to NP.

[WaynejG]

What is the reason for the minimum time for the E Bikes? 

[DieselnDust]

5 minutes ago, Jbr said:

I would've said kind of the opposite, or at least that looking at both help. I find sometimes I have very high NP and low average when I'm either hard on the gas or freewheeling, whereas on a really hard race from start to finish, where you've got to pedal even on the descents, average and weighted average are a bit closer to NP.

Yes youre right, but that would be dependant on the course. Out in the continuously rebranded winelands route the average and NP overall are useful because you’re on the gas most of the time. Ctct it’s on off all the time so finding the places you’re on it and then comparing against your own previous race is a bette comparison that just NP and Pave. 
the nature of the course plays a role in how we should consider the data and analyse.

for ctct we have known sectors of high intensity so comparing those gives us a better idea of where we truly are than comparing the overall NP and Pave.

 You could be freewheeling a lot more at CTCT depending on race group and positioning in the bunch

Edited March 11 by DieselnDust

[JeffK]

2 minutes ago, WaynejG said:

What is the reason for the minimum time for the E Bikes? 

Its the difference between a Derny race and an Individual Pursuit on the track...

[Nick]

6 minutes ago, WaynejG said:

What is the reason for the minimum time for the E Bikes? 

To keep their speed measured and to prevent them from racing and getting tangled with / influencing the more serious unassisted riders.

[Jbr]

13 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Yes youre right, but that would be dependant on the course. Out in the continuously rebranded winelands route the average and NP overall are useful because you’re on the gas most of the time. Ctct it’s on off all the time so finding the places you’re on it and then comparing against your own previous race is a bette comparison that just NP and Pave. 
the nature of the course plays a role in how we should consider the data and analyse.

for ctct we have known sectors of high intensity so comparing those gives us a better idea of where we truly are than comparing the overall NP and Pave.

 You could be freewheeling a lot more at CTCT depending on race group and positioning in the bunch

Yes, agree with you for most CTCT and also mostly for MTB races, but yesterday it was on on the descents too (at least anything past constantia). Not a lot of freewheeling for me in the descents yesterday after loosing touch with the front on chappies and then again suikers 😅

[Skubarra]

35 minutes ago, MongooseMan said:

Some smarts, not enough

Looking at a comparison with another mate in & who ended on 2h55, my biggest mistake was not being further forward going into Smits. Because I found the climb easy, keeping with those around me
but got to the top to realise they weren't going fast enough and had to hammer to get back on

If I'd been further forward I would have worked slightly more on the climb, but probably had an easier descent (he did 137W down there, I did 198W with many more surges). That was the beginning of the end, until I had to close another gap past Ocean View, and then got dropped out the back on Chappies

y-axis is time-gap. You can see the gaps closed over Smits & Ocean view, before the elastic snaps properly on Chappies.

Stretch between Smits and Chappies is also where my race went south in @, but also just one of those days, many previous years the bunch regather at Misty Cliffs and only scatter on Chappies. The very big bunches didn't help, crested Smits mid-bunch only to see the front of the bunch already disappearing in the distance.

Luckily the leaders of your bunch caught me at the top of Suikerbossie so I just jumped on the train to the finish 

[DieselnDust]

12 minutes ago, Jbr said:

Yes, agree with you for most CTCT and also mostly for MTB races, but yesterday it was on on the descents too (at least anything past constantia). Not a lot of freewheeling for me in the descents yesterday after loosing touch with the front on chappies and then again suikers 😅

Yeah so in your case you have a lot of segment to analyse from yesterday. Especially when it comes to speed vs hr vs power. 
just illustrates that everyone’s race file is going to be different with different considerations. 
to compare year on year though I’ll always look for points if commonality to tell me if I’m riding better or worse. Climbs are obvious points but we can also just look at your ride yesterday and see how your power profile points were sustained for the duration of the race. That tells a lot about fitness and conditioning too. How did your 30s, 1 min , 2 min etc  vary per hour into the race for example?

[MongooseMan]

On a lighter note, my funniest moment was going up Chappies, and the guy in front of me hits a cat eye. Psssst, but then seals immediately.

I commented to him that he was lucky and responded “oh yes, that’s the 3rd one today!”

I was like (1) what sealant are you using coz that’s a great advert?

but more so (2), stop aiming for cat eyes! 😂😂

[DieselnDust]

3 minutes ago, MongooseMan said:

On a lighter note, my funniest moment was going up Chappies, and the guy in front of me hits a cat eye. Psssst, but then seals immediately.

I commented to him that he was lucky and responded “oh yes, that’s the 3rd one today!”

I was like (1) what sealant are you using coz that’s a great advert?

but more so (2), stop aiming for cat eyes! 😂😂

Was this that tall lanky bloke on a white and blue Factor? His tyre squirted sealant over the guy next to me. I felt like we were on the set of a low grade porno movie😂 

[Mayo916]

I rode in & : 2:53

Avr Power 187
Normalized 235
Coasting 37m  21.3%
60kg

I was mostly surfing wheels as I did not feel great.

Last year I paced the bunch over Smits and Chappies. This year I struggled to get to the front with the bigger bunch to help on the climbs and when I got to the front my HR was already high.
My biggest effort was at the bottom of chappies.

I did pace a bit on Suikerbossie and over. 

I finished at the back of the group as I felt guilty for not doing more work.

Edited March 11 by Mayo916

[Jbr]

15 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

 That tells a lot about fitness and conditioning too. How did your 30s, 1 min , 2 min etc  vary per hour into the race for example?

ooof, didn't go that far in the analysis. all I can say is that usually I aim to do rougly 390/400w for 3,5/4.5 mins on the main climbs, and yesterday those numbers were waaaaay below that on chappies and suikers, I pretty much did those climbs at 107% FTP 😅. Yet I somehow finished close to the front of the main bunch.  🤷

2‍98 NP / 251 avg / 284 weighted for 70kg. the gap between avg and NP says it all I think. I must say when I rolled to the front of my group at the top of Chappies willing to use my motorbike racers skills to close the gap in the descent and was hit by a block headwind I immediately regretted it 🤣

Edited March 11 by Jbr

[cadenceblur]

Some sobering insights here indeed. 

a bit analysis and thought required on my side, but always willing to learn