The ARGUS 2025 Thread (AKA CTCT)

[Valdi Pereira]

16 hours ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

the event has diminished

"Diminished." Yeah, looked at this thread yesterday and couldn't find the right word to describe how the Argus/CTCT has changed over the years. Glad they have new sponsors onboard. Hopefully it will have a positive impact.

Number #22 next year. Only 19 officially recorded as I missed the cut off times, although I made it to the finish line. I have the distinction of being the first to the line after the cut off one year. So, there's the guy from SuperSport  shoving a mic at me asking, "What happened?" I can tell you a lot goes through your mind. Should I tell him it all went wrong months ago because of inadequate base training? How about the WIND? Perhaps it was the fact that no matter how many gels I consumed I felt flat? How long did I really take to fix that puncture?  Or should I just admit I'm really not that great at cycling?

In the end, I just shrugged, said it was just one of those days, thanked the organisers and sponsors, commended my fellow riders for the great vibe and promised to be back the following year.

I must say, it gave me new appreciation for pro sportsmen/woman who following a loss are leaving the field of play and walk straight into a field side interview. I'm sure there's a lot going on behind that tight smile...  

 

[ChrisF]

17 hours ago, Valdi Pereira said:

"Diminished." Yeah, looked at this thread yesterday and couldn't find the right word to describe how the Argus/CTCT has changed over the years. Glad they have new sponsors onboard. Hopefully it will have a positive impact.

Number #22 next year. Only 19 officially recorded as I missed the cut off times, although I made it to the finish line. I have the distinction of being the first to the line after the cut off one year. So, there's the guy from SuperSport  shoving a mic at me asking, "What happened?" I can tell you a lot goes through your mind. Should I tell him it all went wrong months ago because of inadequate base training? How about the WIND? Perhaps it was the fact that no matter how many gels I consumed I felt flat? How long did I really take to fix that puncture?  Or should I just admit I'm really not that great at cycling?

In the end, I just shrugged, said it was just one of those days, thanked the organisers and sponsors, commended my fellow riders for the great vibe and promised to be back the following year.

I must say, it gave me new appreciation for pro sportsmen/woman who following a loss are leaving the field of play and walk straight into a field side interview. I'm sure there's a lot going on behind that tight smile...  

 

 

2023 played out differently for us .....

 

I finished around 11, and was happy with my day.

 

After my Coke I called a friend, we met up and found a coffee shop to wait for the two slower riders.

 

M joined us after lunch at the coffee shop.

 

There was a nice rythm developing of out of towners (SA) and overseas cyclists stopping in for coffee ... minimal personal boundaries .... "how was your ride", followed by insights into how visitors experience Cape Town and the CTCT .....

 

After lunch we got the call that our 4th person had a bad day ... bike on the trailer, and she is waiting for the bus to bring them back ....  DAMNNNN....  it was a long wait until the bus finally got back after 17.00 .... allowed a lot of time to be a tourist for one day in my own backyard .... 

 

 

 

As much as each of us have our reasons for thinking the event is diminishing (jip, you replied to a wider view), most of our guests are happy.

 

 

Many moons back I was one of the backup motorcycles .... so had a glimps into the efforts to put this show together.

 

 

As a cyclist my views on the following :

1. Route ... I LOVE this route and its views.  The safety of closed routes are much appreciated.

 

2. VIBE .... now that on its own is reason enough to do it.

 

3. Price .... as a local the roughly R350 premium is not a decider for me.  As someone that travels to other events, the "day cost" is on parr.  I much rather look at our upcountry friends that spend a significant amount on transport and accomodation ... the increase in these costs are hardly insignificant.

 

 

I now put in leave before and after the CTCT weekend to soak up the vibe with our friends.

Edited October 23 by ChrisF

[Jase619]

4 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

2022 played out differently for us .....

 

I finished around 11, and was happy with my day.

 

After my Coke I called a friend, we met up and found a coffee shop to wait for the two slower riders.

 

M joined us after lunch at the coffee shop.

 

There was a nice rythm developing of out of towners (SA) and overseas cyclists stopping in for coffee ... minimal personal boundaries .... "how was your ride", followed by insights into how visitors experience Cape Town and the CTCT .....

 

After lunch we got the call that our 4th person had a bad day ... bike on the trailer, and she is waiting for the bus to bring them back ....  DAMNNNN....  it was a long wait until the bus finally got back after 17.00 .... allowed a lot of time to be a tourist for one day in my own backyard .... 

 

 

 

As much as each of us have our reasons for thinking the event is diminishing (jip, you replied to a wider view), most of our guests are happy.

 

 

Many moons back I was one of the backup motorcycles .... so had a glimps into the efforts to put this show together.

 

 

As a cyclist my views on the following :

1. Route ... I LOVE this route and its views.  The safety of closed routes are much appreciated.

 

2. VIBE .... now that on its own is reason enough to do it.

 

3. Price .... as a local the roughly R350 premium is not a decider for me.  As someone that travels to other events, the "day cost" is on parr.  I much rather look at our upcountry friends that spend a significant amount on transport and accomodation ... the increase in these costs are hardly insignificant.

 

 

I now put in leave before and after the CTCT weekend to soak up the vibe with our friends.

 

I can confirm that the entrance fee is a marginal portion of the costs of traveling down and having a great week in Cape Town. It is starting to creep up on the R1k mark though, will be a rough year on this thread when it breaks that mark. I am predicting a R949 and a R999 first, so a number of years before that happens.

Maybe for the 50th celebration they can take it back to the an entry fee from years gone by. . . . wishful thinking I know.

[Prince Albert Cycles]

Who can remember when the route was shortened to the end of the Blue Route ?
was fires or protests I think 

what year was that ?

[Iwan Kemp]

6 minutes ago, Prince Albert Cycles said:

Who can remember when the route was shortened to the end of the Blue Route ?
was fires or protests I think 

what year was that ?

2017?

Edited October 22 by Iwan Kemp

[HdB]

6 minutes ago, Prince Albert Cycles said:

Who can remember when the route was shortened to the end of the Blue Route ?
was fires or protests I think 

what year was that ?

It was 2015 if I am not mistaken

Edited October 22 by HdB

[The Ouzo]

6 minutes ago, Iwan Kemp said:

2017?

I think 2017 was the cancelled year

[Iwan Kemp]

12 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:

I think 2017 was the cancelled year

Ah, yes Then it was 2015 when it was shortened. 

[Shebeen]

anyone able to ADD a person on their system? trying to enter as a tandem

 

just keeps on returning errors and refershing.

not refreshing

[ChrisF]

2 hours ago, The Ouzo said:

I think 2017 was the cancelled year

 

Correct

 

A buddie was doing it, with his wife and some family.  They were halfway from Stellenbosch when they got the message.

 

Dont think they did it again, as a family group.  Early 2020 the two of them left for Canada ....

 

[Spinnekop]

21 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Correct

 

A buddie was doing it, with his wife and some family.  They were halfway from Stellenbosch when they got the message.

 

Dont think they did it again, as a family group.  Early 2020 the two of them left for Canada ....

 

2017 was the last time I "participated".
Warmed up from Houtbay where we stayed to the start line where we actually did start and the group was stopped down the blue route.  Cycled back to the start and then cycled back to Houtbay.
Managed to do 87km and it actually turned out to be a stunning nice day

Edited October 22 by Spinnekop

[droo]

3 hours ago, Prince Albert Cycles said:

Who can remember when the route was shortened to the end of the Blue Route ?
was fires or protests I think 

what year was that ?

2015 the peninsula was on fire, 2017 disaster management said it was too windy (!) and and there were protests on the route.

I was sitting outside my flat with one shoe on and got the message that they'd canned it.

Didn't do another one till '22.

EDIT - seems I'm not alone, looking at the numbers there were 32k finishers in '15, down to 26k in 2018 and less than 16k in '22. I wonder how much of this was caused by the cancelled year.

I guess this goes a long way to explaining the increased entry fees, fixed costs will only go up and need to be shared among a smaller pool of riders. Glad they've managed to get headline sponsors again, hopefully this can bring costs down a bit in the coming years and maybe get numbers up a bit again.

Edited October 22 by droo

[droo]

And since nobody's asked yet...

What's the wind going to be like on the day?

[HdB]

21 minutes ago, droo said:

Didn't do another one till '22.

EDIT - seems I'm not alone, looking at the numbers there were 32k finishers in '15, down to 26k in 2018 and less than 16k in '22. I wonder how much of this was caused by the cancelled year.

Our group was next to start when they cancelled it.

That kinda burst the bubble a bit. It was also quite windy in 2009, or hot in other years, or rainy, but it always carried on. I haven't skipped any, but since 2017 it is a lot less exciting knowing that even if I have already started it could still be cancelled.

But also, I think people in general are a bit exhausted - everything is "INSANE", "NEED TO SEE THIS" clickbait headline with a dumbface thumbnail, trying to compete for attention.

[The Ouzo]

yep I hope the new headline sponsors and maybe this prelude thing can keep the race going for years to come. It has become a yearly ritual for me to do it, and I'd like to keep doing it for many many more years.

[Wannabe]

46 minutes ago, HdB said:

Our group was next to start when they cancelled it.

That kinda burst the bubble a bit. It was also quite windy in 2009, or hot in other years, or rainy, but it always carried on. I haven't skipped any, but since 2017 it is a lot less exciting knowing that even if I have already started it could still be cancelled.

But also, I think people in general are a bit exhausted - everything is "INSANE", "NEED TO SEE THIS" clickbait headline with a dumbface thumbnail, trying to compete for attention.

We were in the same start group then. We were already lined up when the decision to cancel was announced. To say I was slightly peeved is an understatement, because even today I'm still convinced 2009's wind was a lot stronger. (was also the year I was best prepared, did an 3:30 the wind notwithstanding)

My goal was to do 21 in a row, but the two cancelled races put an end to that. Then I had a back operation in Feb this year and could not ride. This means my goal to have my 21 in the bag before I turn 60 is now "blown" away. So, 61 sounds like a good number to do 21, is it not?