[Event] 99er Cycle Tour

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, MongooseMan said:

Good race (for me) in %. I was one wheel in front of the crash behind me, never a nice sound to hear carbon and bodies hitting the deck.

There was a small lip where we went from old tar to new tar, and I think the bunch overreacted, braking rippled backwards, and eventually wheels touched leading to the crash. Had a mate caught up in it, he managed to finish with only the front derailleur working (and probably a mild concussion, he’s getting checked out).

We also had a few $ riders drop back to our group, they seemed to have a lot of fun (at our expense 😂). The number 1 seed would drift backwards until he decided the pace was too slow, then he’d blast off the front, and then wait for us to surge and catch him. Made for a surgy race, but all in relatively good spirits.

The tandems were honestly a bit of a pain, not sure what the solution here is, but getting a big racing group (with the racing women) mixed in with some tandems who naturally have very different momentum’s, made some bunch dynamics quite messy in the 2nd half. (Edit: just checked the results, and most of % finished ahead of the first place # pair, so we passed every single tandem).

All in all, great race, as we’ve come to expect from 99er. Great job @NicholasH and team.
 

Now to see what beta they give us 😂

Not much more to add here other than please keep e bikes out of the seeded groups. In B we had one pull a couple of outriders away from the bunch thanks to the bike being capable of travelling in excess of 50km/hr. Not on.

event organising was otherwise slick and I can’t fault anything. It felt like a 1990’s funride heyday kind of event. That’s a good thing 👍🏼.

my club mate walking away with the gravel  bike in the lucky draw was the cherry on top of an excellent day out 

[NotSoBigBen]

6 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Not much more to add here other than please keep e bikes out of the seeded groups. In B we had one pull a couple of outriders away from the bunch thanks to the bike being capable of travelling in excess of 50km/hr. Not on.

event organising was otherwise slick and I can’t fault anything. It felt like a 1990’s funride heyday kind of event. That’s a good thing 👍🏼.

my club mate walking away with the gravel  bike in the lucky draw was the cherry on top of an excellent day out 

Ai DiD you must surely be mistaken e-bikers would never ever do such a thing 🤪

[NicholasH]

18 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Not much more to add here other than please keep e bikes out of the seeded groups. In B we had one pull a couple of outriders away from the bunch thanks to the bike being capable of travelling in excess of 50km/hr. Not on.

event organising was otherwise slick and I can’t fault anything. It felt like a 1990’s funride heyday kind of event. That’s a good thing 👍🏼.

my club mate walking away with the gravel  bike in the lucky draw was the cherry on top of an excellent day out 

We will definitely take the seeding up with Finish Time. I was really under the impression that FT would move the eBikes right to the back.

As usual, timing is out of our control but we will relay the message to them

[andydude]

40 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Not much more to add here other than please keep e bikes out of the seeded groups. In B we had one pull a couple of outriders away from the bunch thanks to the bike being capable of travelling in excess of 50km/hr. Not on.

event organising was otherwise slick and I can’t fault anything. It felt like a 1990’s funride heyday kind of event. That’s a good thing 👍🏼.

my club mate walking away with the gravel  bike in the lucky draw was the cherry on top of an excellent day out 

How did that other Winelands thread go? If you are able to hang on the wheel of someone doing 50km/h then it shows you belong there so no harm no foul 😄

[DieselnDust]

1 minute ago, andydude said:

How did that other Winelands thread go? If you are able to hang on the wheel of someone doing 50km/h then it shows you belong there so no harm no foul 😄

ya ya ya but questions must be asked when you dress in all black tarmac camouflage and hide your spare battery rolled up in your yoga mat!!!

[V18]

Lekker race with lekker people all round. Beautiful day. I'm cooked. 

[mikkelz]

Great event! Such nice vibes from the volunteers and at the finish. Definitely unique to the 99er. Happy with my decision to ride in A. Pretty consistent effort throughout. 

Not sure what the lady with a B number was doing there though? 🤔

Pretty sure we weren't caught and I didn't see any other Bs.

Highlights: gravel biker with an aero helmet. Looks badass.

And another with aero socks and hairy legs. 🤣

Aero really is everything. 

[MongooseMan]

For those wondering, here's what Intervals.icu reckons the wind was doing, so if you felt like it was a slight headwind the whole way, you're not completely wrong 😂

[ChrisF]

41 minutes ago, NicholasH said:

We will definitely take the seeding up with Finish Time. I was really under the impression that FT would move the eBikes right to the back.

As usual, timing is out of our control but we will relay the message to them

 

Finish time follows the CTCT format with ebikes ... to some degree.

 

CTCT has a separate category for ebikes, with their times not included in the main race group.

 

For these races, ie 99er, Durbie Dash and Winelands, Finish Time includes us with the main group.  This I cost some pure analogue rider the 1325th spot.

 

The KEY difference between these races and CTCT - with CTCT the first ebikes may only start from about 30% down the field.  Thus no way they can influence the race results by towing somebody.

 

The real issue is "drivers" (I really want to use some other terms...) that enter races with bikes that have been de-restricted.

 

My average moving speed is 0,9km/h below the speed at which the motor stops assisting.  Uphills I was spinning to keep the speed as high as possible.  Steeper uphills I got out the saddle and was working those pedals as hard as I could to keep the speed as high possible ..... all while the groups were pulling a gap on me !!  Downhills I was giving it my all to recover my average speed.

 

For all of this, my restricted bike and I managed 3:01:01 moving time for the 99er..... deksils ... so close, yet so far .....  Not going to influence the results with that !!

 

 

Just dont let any ebikes start before 6:30 at 99er.  If the marchalls, either at the start or on the bikes spot an early starting e-bike, or one doing 40+ on the straights .... onto the sweeper trailer !!!  PLEASE stop the INDIVIDUALS that are trying their damdest to spoil it for the rest. 

 

 

As a side note  -  I stopped at the Philladelphia turn to help with a broken chain on a tandem ... adding about 7 minutes to my actual race time.  After that the adrenaline was PUMPING, and I managed a PB for the last 15km, into that wind.  (on a restricted bike )

[DieselnDust]

12 minutes ago, mikkelz said:

Great event! Such nice vibes from the volunteers and at the finish. Definitely unique to the 99er. Happy with my decision to ride in A. Pretty consistent effort throughout. 

Not sure what the lady with a B number was doing there though? 🤔

Pretty sure we weren't caught and I didn't see any other Bs.

Highlights: gravel biker with an aero helmet. Looks badass.

And another with aero socks and hairy legs. 🤣

Aero really is everything. 

she snuck across when no one was watching.

I've had *** with her in the past so just left her thinking that someone else can deal with her ****

[Dri]

14 minutes ago, mikkelz said:

Great event! Such nice vibes from the volunteers and at the finish. Definitely unique to the 99er. Happy with my decision to ride in A. Pretty consistent effort throughout. 

Not sure what the lady with a B number was doing there though? 🤔

Pretty sure we weren't caught and I didn't see any other Bs.

Highlights: gravel biker with an aero helmet. Looks badass.

And another with aero socks and hairy legs. 🤣

Aero really is everything. 

Saw that girl too. I was in front at the time, saw 3 people in the distance. Eventually we get closer and its 2 % men and her with a B bib. I thought 'wtf since when? ' She clearly started in the wrong batch

[mikkelz]

46 minutes ago, MongooseMan said:

For those wondering, here's what Intervals.icu reckons the wind was doing, so if you felt like it was a slight headwind the whole way, you're not completely wrong 😂

Interesting! Felt like riding with a slightly under-pressured tyre the whole way. 😅

[Wannabe]

59 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Snip Snip

As a side note  -  I stopped at the Philladelphia turn to help with a broken chain on a tandem ... adding about 7 minutes to my actual race time.  After that the adrenaline was PUMPING, and I managed a PB for the last 15km, into that wind.  (on a restricted bike )

Did you at least get the promised chocolate bar?

I felt so bad going past them, knowing I could not help as I do not carry a spare Quick Link to help.

Good on ya for stopping and helping.

Edited February 8 by Wannabe
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[mikkelz]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

she snuck across when no one was watching.

I've had *** with her in the past so just left her thinking that someone else can deal with her ****

She wasn't too difficult to find. 🫣 

I'd give her the benefit of the doubt, but if you've had run-ins with her before... 

[NC_lurker]

2 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

Not much more to add here other than please keep e bikes out of the seeded groups. In B we had one pull a couple of outriders away from the bunch thanks to the bike being capable of travelling in excess of 50km/hr. Not on.

Looks like you might've been referring to Evil Knievel on his lightweight bicycle like e-motorbike....trust me, it's better that he's off the front out of the way than anywhere near other cyclists..

[Wannabe]

Surely there is something fishy here.

2nd and 3rd place both above 70 years old. Must definitely be on unrestricted e-bikes, there is no way they can ride those times on analogue or "legal" e-bikes. 

@NicolasH

Edited February 8 by Wannabe
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