The ARGUS 2025 Thread (AKA CTCT)

[Robbie Stewart]

2 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

In the 90's I was part of the motorcycle crew.

 

But my first time taking part as a cyclist was the WET one ....  Thankfully the late start of a new rider, very last bunch, meant we got drenched past UCT and to the start of the M3.  Picking up speed on the downhill towards the M3   By the time we got to Glen Cairn the rain stopped.  I stopped in Simonstown for a coffee 

 

And then the vibe improved and it turned into a lekka ride.

2020 I got a head wind all the way to Smitswinkel. I climbed that hill and thought great, time for a tail wind. Got to the top to find the wind had swung around 180° . . . going up Suikerbossie I got absolutely drenched in a cloud burst. By the time I crossed the finish line I was as dry as a cork. A week later the whole world shut down and went mad.

[Shebeen]

14 hours ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

Between 2015 and 2025 it doubled in price. It would be really interesting to map that against entrants, although i think the peak years were earlier. 2020 seems to be the time they thought screw it lets squeeze the lemon.

 

It's well above inflation, but there are other drivers behind what goes into it. 

 

https://www.inflationtool.com/south-african-rand/2015-to-present-value

 

As I always say, it is a charity event after all. 

[Skubarra]

15 hours ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

Between 2015 and 2025 it doubled in price. It would be really interesting to map that against entrants, although i think the peak years were earlier. 2020 seems to be the time they thought screw it lets squeeze the lemon.

 

The costs of hosting road events ballooned over the past few years(traffic & complying with regulations etc) easily outstripped inflation. Main reason why other than PPA & WPC league almost no-one in the WC is bothering to host road events anymore. And those that are left aren't cheap.

[The Ouzo]

14 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

In the 90's I was part of the motorcycle crew.

 

But my first time taking part as a cyclist was the WET one ....  Thankfully the late start of a new rider, very last bunch, meant we got drenched past UCT and to the start of the M3.  Picking up speed on the downhill towards the M3   By the time we got to Glen Cairn the rain stopped.  I stopped in Simonstown for a coffee 

 

And then the vibe improved and it turned into a lekka ride.

I absolutely loved the wet one. But that was because I dropped back start groups and started 30 minutes later than I was seeded. I then proceeded to pull an ever growing bunch from the Blue route to the top of Smits Winkel. Felt like a real hero.

For the rest of the ride I assisted a mate to get to the end.

[Michael S]

As someone looking to do Nr1, is the only way to get a semi decent seeding to do a seeding race? Or will other event (In my case Race to the Sea 100 and W2W) be taken into account? 
 

[Skubarra]

6 minutes ago, Michael S said:

As someone looking to do Nr1, is the only way to get a semi decent seeding to do a seeding race? Or will other event (In my case Race to the Sea 100 and W2W) be taken into account? 
 

Depends on what your definition of a semi decent seeding is... I see Race to Sea is on the racetec results so a result there should at least give you a start ahead of the backmarkers.

For a "decent" seeding it would be better to do an official seeding race. 

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, Michael S said:

As someone looking to do Nr1, is the only way to get a semi decent seeding to do a seeding race? Or will other event (In my case Race to the Sea 100 and W2W) be taken into account? 
 

 

Not many MTB events counts towards CTCT.

 

Ironically Viens&Views does, and gave me an absurd A1 start in the 99er ....

 

 

Doing Winelands in January is your best bet to quickly jump up the seeding ladder.  

 

99er is advertised as a seeding event, but it is too close ..... these results are typically not pulled through automatically, or at least it seems this way.  It does count towards the the next year's CTCT though.

 

 

Having started 2nd last in the LAST batch (blerrie outoppie refused to let me start LAST...), I can tell you that it is HECTIC traffic !!!  Not sure how I survived until Hospital bend ....

 

The 2nd time round I started around 7:00.  That worked really nicely.

 

This year a I fell back to start with a charity group.  Nice idea.  EXCELLENT vibe in the start shute, and for the first 2km ... then the group split up (it was clearly advertised they would do this).  And then I got stuck in heavy traffic until the M3, and again through Simonstown all the way past Smitswinkel .....  No issues with rider behaviour, just slow and heavy traffic ....  I will join the charity again this year, but not sure if I am falling back to ride with them  (cocky statement as my first seeding ride had 30 minutes of technicals.... so I better have a decent Winelands or I may well seed towards the back ....)

 

 

 

 

In short - if you are aiming for a sub-4, or closer to a sub-3 .... you really want to seed better than a 7:00 start.  Just makes life easier to be with faster traffic and hopefully better bike handlers.