[Event] Ride Joburg Road

[RobynE 🚵‍♀️]

10 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:

where you riding a Peugot Tandem ?

Yes, a silver one with gold bottle cages and gravel bars. There were at least two blue ones as well I think. 

[The Ouzo]

1 minute ago, RobynE 🚵‍♀️ said:

Yes, a silver one with gold bottle cages and gravel bars. There were at least two blue ones as well I think. 

OK, wasnt you then, I passed a white one climbing onto the M2 near the end, lady rider with a youngster on the back, contemplated shouting out hello Robyn, luckily I didnt.  

[RobynE 🚵‍♀️]

1 minute ago, The Ouzo said:

OK, wasnt you then, I passed a white one climbing onto the M2 near the end, lady rider with a youngster on the back, contemplated shouting out hello Robyn, luckily I didnt.  

If you finished in 3.31 then by the time you got to that awful M2 climb at the end we were busy hiking 🥾 the bike up Homestead 😂 But thanks for the thought! 😁 

[JJDT]

The start and end was a bit of a mess.

When we were released from the start chutes and continuing to the start I though we will be stopping at the start thus no hurry take your time...and then no stopping just go...by that time almost everybody was about gone.

The finish with the congestion...took about 5 minutes just to get the medal and a water...

This felt like a toned down event...just get it over and done with.

[betaboy]

The glory years of this magnificent event are all but gone… you won’t see 35K riders in Jozi ever again. 

[Spinnekop]

Flippen nice day out. 
Well organised in my books.  (I was part of the front bunches though so that helped....i.e zero congestion at the water and medals tables)

Number pickups was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (Can't stress this enough)
Finishing area with the podium presentation in the hall this year was better IMO.  The shade really helped.  

And looking at the Gravel Burn riders, I am glad it was sunny and warm our side..........

[Dup08]

Managed a 4:19 on my MTB, 2.4 tyres. 
Saw a lot of crashes, people swerving all over, not staying left, some more serious than others. Decided to not try and ride in bunches and play safe. Saved my legs for all the climbing as well which was nice, but perhaps kept a few too many matches.
Will aim for a sub 4 next year on the MTB again.

[The Ouzo]

45 minutes ago, betaboy said:

The glory years of this magnificent event are all but gone… you won’t see 35K riders in Jozi ever again. 

I suspect not, but dont think the glory years are over just yet, bringing it forward this year because of G20 meant it clashed with other events.

[silkman]

any idea how many entrants there were?

[The Ouzo]

5 minutes ago, silkman said:

any idea how many entrants there were?

they were saying 12000, but not sure if that included the short ride.

very far off the hey day numbers of the past.

[silkman]

that's a big drop. Entry fee is also quote expensive now.

[AfricaMike]

14 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:

I suspect not, but dont think the glory years are over just yet, bringing it forward this year because of G20 meant it clashed with other events.

Had the same thought when I saw there were 'only' 12,000 riders.  I really hope I'm wrong but with yesterday been my 19th trip around Jozi I found the Joburg 'vibe' less than in previous years.  It seems like sponsors are also in short supply with no title sponsors like in previous years - last year Virgin Active was prominent, and it made a noticeable difference.  Bike races are getting expensive and without the contribution of major sponsorships race organisers are going to find it difficult to offer a compelling event.

However, it's an absolute blast being able to ride around this city on closed roads.  I'll be back next year.  Under probably quite difficult circumstances I think the organisers did very well.  The expo was a bit disappointing but number pickup was quick and easy (if you didnt get stuck in G20 traffic experiments!) and the hospitality at the finish was awesome 🙂  See you in 2026.

[The Ouzo]

3 minutes ago, AfricaMike said:

Had the same thought when I saw there were 'only' 12,000 riders.  I really hope I'm wrong but with yesterday been my 19th trip around Jozi I found the Joburg 'vibe' less than in previous years.  It seems like sponsors are also in short supply with no title sponsors like in previous years - last year Virgin Active was prominent, and it made a noticeable difference.  Bike races are getting expensive and without the contribution of major sponsorships race organisers are going to find it difficult to offer a compelling event.

However, it's an absolute blast being able to ride around this city on closed roads.  I'll be back next year.  Under probably quite difficult circumstances I think the organisers did very well.  The expo was a bit disappointing but number pickup was quick and easy (if you didnt get stuck in G20 traffic experiments!) and the hospitality at the finish was awesome 🙂  See you in 2026.

I read and article the other day (or was it a video clip) about how the cycling industry has diluted itself with all the different types of bikes, I think more people have drifted to gravel because its the in thing right now and "safer" than road riding. 

 

We have been crying for years to make number collection easier without having to drive out to silly places and get herded through the expo, as someone that did his first 947 in 1998 and has been through the number collection / expo shuffle 21 times, it did feel rather ho-hum to simply just collect a number, but if I'm totally honest it was much more convenient to collect from Bedfordview AND the expos have been getting more and more watered down over the years anyway.

[Stefan_29]

Lekker day out, first one since 2018 and overall really impressed. Everyone was super friendly at the water stations and a great vibe all around. Started in batch N and managed a 3:40 on my mountain bike, was awesome to mix it up with the roadies on the M1 😁 

Was just a bit disappointed with the hospitality, the area was really not big enough for the amount of people. I wanted to grab a beer but ended up going home as we couldn't find a spot to sit. Will definitely be back next year (hopefully with a road bike 😂)

[Dexter-morgan]

53 minutes ago, silkman said:

that's a big drop. Entry fee is also quote expensive now.

Cape town cycle tour is more expensive.

[VALO CYCLING]

I was worried about a lot of the talk of reduced entries and funding but it seemed as good as previous years (this was #11 for me) I was in A so we started a bit to early to judge the vibe around the course. They do always seem to underestimate the post race hospitality seating area, nothing new there

HUGE shout out goes to the guy in A batch that rode with only one leg (right leg was amputated) I'll be honest and thought we won't see much of him but did he not power past me up Jan Smuts and finish in the same group as me for an approx 2:39 finish!! My mind was blown, Chapeau! whoever that was. Genuinely inspirational!

Edited October 27, 2025 by VALO CYCLING