[Event] Tour de PPA

[Mamil]

4 minutes ago, NC_lurker said:

Hold on a moment...there seems to be a weird correlation here but I'm struggling to figure out what it could be 😉

Shoving my pump into people who misbehave spokes.

[ChrisF]

What a ride 

 

The wind spread out the field.

 

I was giving it stick from the start, having already warmed up on the ride to the venue.

 

Only 33 seconds in Zone two, rest in zone 3 and 4. 

 

Some photos along the Phisantekraal section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had a nice dice with a roadie on the downhill after Paarl Farms.  My tucking away at 67km/h he was still accelerating.  Did catch him on the next uphill.

 

Caught up with @BMCfan before Windmeul.  Thanks for the chat.  And the roadie dissapears on the downhill toward Nelsons Creek.

 

 

And then it was a suffer fest back into the wind ....

 

At least the views were amazing ...

 

 

 

Along Adderley I had the rare fortune to provide a slip into that wind to an A-group rider.  

EDIT - Dankie Du Toit, dit was lekker.

Sure, that is the truth, but obviously not the full truth .... but why spoil a happy moment with all the facts.

 

VERY happy with my stats.

PD for 40km

PB for 100km

Second step on the podium for e-bikes ... if they had a podium 

 

It was one of my hardest rides, but man I enjoyed it !!!

Edited Monday at 10:22 AM by ChrisF

[DrPayne]

Is the same start used at this race the same every year? In A batch it felt very dangerous… even with the vehicle setting pace in the neutral zone. Downhill right angle turns… deep manholes… more speed bumps than I can count. I wasn’t close enough to the front to see… but judging by the pace it also seemed like the neutral zone actually ended whilst we were still in those dangerous suburb roads…

Crosswinds and pace that makes you feel like you are bleeding out your eyeballs don’t do well to keep the riders on the left lane of the road but the Marshalls did their best to keep us behaving. Well done to all of them. 

Not a great day out for me… I got shot out the back of the group like a chicken laying an egg with 10km to go. So close yet so far… Ended up 8 mins off the leaders and 6 mins off the group. Kudos to the guys in the breakaway they built up a good gap today, they were almost 5 mins ahead at one stage. 

[ChrisF]

BIG thumbs up for the motorcycle marchalls !!

 

They were excellent at keeping the groups safe from vehicles.  And letting the vehicles know when it was safe to pass.

 

With some of the slower groups I would catch and pass the motorcycle, and greet them as passed.

[ChrisF]

4 minutes ago, DrPayne said:

Is the same start used at this race the same every year? In A batch it felt very dangerous… even with the vehicle setting pace in the neutral zone. Downhill right angle turns… deep manholes… more speed bumps than I can count. I wasn’t close enough to the front to see… but judging by the pace it also seemed like the neutral zone actually ended whilst we were still in those dangerous suburb roads…

Crosswinds and pace that makes you feel like you are bleeding out your eyeballs don’t do well to keep the riders on the left lane of the road but the Marshalls did their best to keep us behaving. Well done to all of them. 

Not a great day out for me… I got shot out the back of the group like a chicken laying an egg with 10km to go. So close yet so far… Ended up 8 mins off the leaders and 6 mins off the group. Kudos to the guys in the breakaway they built up a good gap today, they were almost 5 mins ahead at one stage. 

 

What was the wind like when you finished ?

 

By 10:00 the wind along Adderley was BRUTAL !!

[MongooseMan]

4 minutes ago, DrPayne said:

Is the same start used at this race the same every year? In A batch it felt very dangerous… even with the vehicle setting pace in the neutral zone. Downhill right angle turns… deep manholes… more speed bumps than I can count. I wasn’t close enough to the front to see… but judging by the pace it also seemed like the neutral zone actually ended whilst we were still in those dangerous suburb roads…

Crosswinds and pace that makes you feel like you are bleeding out your eyeballs don’t do well to keep the riders on the left lane of the road but the Marshalls did their best to keep us behaving. Well done to all of them. 

Not a great day out for me… I got shot out the back of the group like a chicken laying an egg with 10km to go. So close yet so far… Ended up 8 mins off the leaders and 6 mins off the group. Kudos to the guys in the breakaway they built up a good gap today, they were almost 5 mins ahead at one stage. 

Yes, always the same

Though I “think” previously the A batch neutral extended for the full 5k, not sure why they ended it at the Vissershok circle this time.

At least they seemed to apply the neutral consistently across the batches this year, last year the tandems and B caught A in the neutral zone because they weren’t neutralised.

[DrPayne]

Just now, ChrisF said:

 

What was the wind like when you finished ?

 

By 10:00 the wind along Adderley was BRUTAL !!

I crossed the line at around 9, the wind was pretty bad by then. I was riding completely solo at that point too so it was horrible. Between 95km and 105km my average speed dropped by 3.5kph 😔

[DrPayne]

8 minutes ago, MongooseMan said:

Yes, always the same

Though I “think” previously the A batch neutral extended for the full 5k, not sure why they ended it at the Vissershok circle this time.

At least they seemed to apply the neutral consistently across the batches this year, last year the tandems and B caught A in the neutral zone because they weren’t neutralised.

They should neutralise all racing groups until they get to wellington street. Last year must have been an absolute nightmare… I saw in last years results that some B riders set the fastest times. 

[MongooseMan]

1 minute ago, DrPayne said:

They should neutralise all racing groups until they get to wellington street. Last year must have been an absolute nightmare… I saw in last years results that some B riders set the fastest times. 

Last year was a whole thing, go read the thread 😂

[DieselnDust]

5 hours ago, ChrisF said:

What a ride 

 

The wind spread out the field.

 

I was giving it stick from the start, having already warmed up on the ride to the venue.

 

Only 33 seconds in Zone two, rest in zone 3 and 4. 

 

Some photos along the Phisantekraal section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had a nice dice with a roadie on the downhill after Paarl Farms.  My tucking away at 67km/h he was still accelerating.  Did catch him on the next uphill.

 

Caught up with @BMCfan before Windmeul.  Thanks for the chat.  And the roadie dissapears on the downhill toward Nelsons Creek.

 

 

And then it was a suffer fest back into the wind ....

 

At least the views were amazing ...

 

 

 

Along Adderley I had the rare fortune to provide a slip into that wind to an A-group rider.  

 

Sure, that is the truth, but obviously not the full truth .... but why spoil a happy moment with all the facts.

 

VERY happy with my stats.

PD for 40km

PB for 100km

Second step on the podium for e-bikes ... if they had a podium 

 

It was one of my hardest rides, but man I enjoyed it !!!

Well that’s a wild swing of emotion…..😂

[MongooseMan]

Seeding has been done

beta=0.94

winning time=2:26 (Would have thought Stefan de Bod had an index very close to 0, but 🤷😂)

Edited Monday at 04:36 AM by MongooseMan

[ChrisF]

8 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

Well that’s a wild swing of emotion…..😂

 

Hiehie .... 🤣

 

Part of me still thinks it sucks to be relegated to the back, just because I am on an ebike.  My G or H seeding is as special to me as the rider that moved from C to B.

 

 

But then ....

 

Winelands, Durbie Dash etc, I start in my seeding group.  I get passed by a few roadies on the flats.  I catch some of them on the climbs.  But mostly a long solo ride.

 

Yesterday was fun to consistently having a carrot just up the road, and in sight .... one chase after the other.  One long sprint !  It certainly is a different type of FUN.  Though a few spots it was tricky to pass groups so big that they were well over the middle line ....

 

As for ebikes start position .... the gent with his 3:03 reinforces the discusions around the policing of ebikes and keeping them out of the racing bunches .... thanks to these riders all ebikers now have to be treated the same .....  I understand and respect the need for clean racing up front.  Just pissed off that a very small number of ebikers are now impacting the race for all ebikers.

 

It is what it is .... and with these 3:03 racers, the rest of us will have to start at the back.

[andydude]

1 hour ago, ChrisF said:

 

Hiehie .... 🤣

 

Part of me still thinks it sucks to be relegated to the back, just because I am on an ebike.  My G or H seeding is as special to me as the rider that moved from C to B.

 

 

But then ....

 

Winelands, Durbie Dash etc, I start in my seeding group.  I get passed by a few roadies on the flats.  I catch some of them on the climbs.  But mostly a long solo ride.

 

Yesterday was fun to consistently having a carrot just up the road, and in sight .... one chase after the other.  One long sprint !  It certainly is a different type of FUN.  Though a few spots it was tricky to pass groups so big that they were well over the middle line ....

 

As for ebikes start position .... the gent with his 3:03 reinforces the discusions around the policing of ebikes and keeping them out of the racing bunches .... thanks to these riders all ebikers now have to be treated the same .....  I understand and respect the need for clean racing up front.  Just pissed off that a very small number of ebikers are now impacting the race for all ebikers.

 

It is what it is .... and with these 3:03 racers, the rest of us will have to start at the back.

Sounds like you had fun! Well done 😀

Was Deon not legit an eBike in the eBike group? Or are you saying be was, but slipped into an earlier start group than what he was supposed to be?

I always feel sorry for marshalls having to play police. You would think us people would do the right thing. But again, having seen how the A group rides that idea also kind of flies out of the window!

[ChrisF]

22 minutes ago, andydude said:

Sounds like you had fun! Well done 😀

Was Deon not legit an eBike in the eBike group? Or are you saying be was, but slipped into an earlier start group than what he was supposed to be?

I always feel sorry for marshalls having to play police. You would think us people would do the right thing. But again, having seen how the A group rides that idea also kind of flies out of the window!

We were chatting about the 3:03.

 

I have no idea who he is, or how he managed that time.

 

It is possible he is using one of the e-road-bikes that provide assist to 42km/h.  Even then, very good ride for him.  Well done Deon.

 

But at those speeds he could impact the results of the mid groups if a few riders grab his slip .... 

 

thus we all have to start at the back to not influence results.

[Dri]

3 hours ago, MongooseMan said:

Seeding has been done

beta=0.94

winning time=2:26 (Would have thought Stefan de Bod had an index very close to 0, but 🤷😂)

What could have been for B batch

[Skubarra]

29 minutes ago, andydude said:

Sounds like you had fun! Well done 😀

Was Deon not legit an eBike in the eBike group? Or are you saying be was, but slipped into an earlier start group than what he was supposed to be?

I always feel sorry for marshalls having to play police. You would think us people would do the right thing. But again, having seen how the A group rides that idea also kind of flies out of the window!

There was an ebike that came flying past B group on Adderley, don't know if the group caught up with him again - doubt it. Clearly that gentleman was exempt from starting at the back with the other ebikes...