one tonner

[Mamil]

How many start groups are thereat the one tonner on Sunday

I'm nowhere near fit enough to join where I'm seeded so looking at doing ti gently in one of the late groups - anyone know how far down the alphabet it goes this year?

[StripesOfYellow]

First time racing and I'm in G, so I doubt it goes further than that.

[MongooseMan]

Weather played ball yesterday (assuming you managed to stay in a bunch for the last 40k into the headwind).

I felt the spacing of the climbs this year was nicer (Hels slightly later, and less distance after Bothmas).

Good day for our team starting in D. Managed to combine sitting in the bunch with doing some work to keep things moving, rolling in in ~5:10. Happy with that.

I will maintain that OneTonner, done hard, is harder than DC. We were off the bike for less than 5mins at the top of Bothmas, contrast to DC where you'd be getting a 40min break at that point.

Finish area was nowhere near as nice as last year, felt like we were fighting over limited benches in an industrial parking lot rather than the lush grass fields of last year. But there was enough beer at least

Edited November 3, 2025 by MongooseMan

[DieselnDust]

9 hours ago, MongooseMan said:

Weather played ball yesterday (assuming you managed to stay in a bunch for the last 40k into the headwind).

I felt the spacing of the climbs this year was nicer (Hels slightly later, and less distance after Bothmas).

Good day for our team starting in D. Managed to combine sitting in the bunch with doing some work to keep things moving, rolling in in ~5:10. Happy with that.

I will maintain that OneTonner, done hard, is harder than DC. We were off the bike for less than 5mins at the top of Bothmas, contrast to DC where you'd be getting a 40min break at that point.

Finish area was nowhere near as nice as last year, felt like we were fighting over limited benches in an industrial parking lot rather than the lush grass fields of last year. But there was enough beer at least

I was in D also. We could have been faster

[Skubarra]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

I was in D also. We could have been faster

Front half of D did 5h10 and better, I would say that is pretty decent for 180km

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, Skubarra said:

Front half of D did 5h10 and better, I would say that is pretty decent for 180km

Decent yes but we could have been faster. The group had potential for sub 5 if more okes took even a 30sec turn on the front. Most Too content to sit in the bunch and go with the flow. 
scenery was great though and that new road from the R45 to Paarl was superb.

[MongooseMan]

9 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

Decent yes but we could have been faster. The group had potential for sub 5 if more okes took even a 30sec turn on the front. Most Too content to sit in the bunch and go with the flow. 
scenery was great though and that new road from the R45 to Paarl was superb.

Out of interest, what jersey were you wearing? (Asking because I agree, if you weren’t in a savage top or a pink top then there’s only about 4 other people who took a turn 😂)

[Dri]

First time doing one tonner, so I took a more conservative approach in group B - came through in ~4:45 . Garmin says I averaged ~190 watts (normalized 220) lol, shows how little you have to do if you draft well (assuming you can keep up on the climbs, which took around ~320 watts average for 10-15 minutes up hellshoogte and botmans)

Edited November 4, 2025 by Dri

[DieselnDust]

37 minutes ago, MongooseMan said:

Out of interest, what jersey were you wearing? (Asking because I agree, if you weren’t in a savage top or a pink top then there’s only about 4 other people who took a turn 😂)

Blue city cycling club top

white Abus gamechanger

[MongooseMan]

Just now, DieselnDust said:

Blue city cycling club top

white Abus gamechanger

Ah, yes, we chatted a few times, nice ride 👊 (I was in one of the black Pure Savage tops)

[DieselnDust]

5 minutes ago, MongooseMan said:

Ah, yes, we chatted a few times, nice ride 👊 (I was in one of the black Pure Savage tops)

Likewise. My moving time was 5:07, 5:10 elapsed. Had to stop at the top of Botmas for a pee. Bladder was bouncing all over the place by then. Fortunately your guys did too and we worked lekker for a while but then we caught the wheelsuckers again eish…

Edited November 4, 2025 by DieselnDust

[MongooseMan]

2 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

Likewise. My moving time was 5:07, 5:10 elapsed. Had to stop at the top of Botmas for a pee. Bladder was bouncing all over the place by then. Fortunately your guys did too and we worked lekker for a while but then we caught the wheelsuckers again eish…

Yup, we did 4m30s at the top for bottle fills.

I did a bit of work after the downhill, but then was on my last legs for most of the headwind stretch home (didn't feel too bad about sitting in the bunch at that point as I'd done my fair share in the first half).

I did have a chuckle every time Keegan (the guy in black) rode down the line to the front to "keep things at a tempo pace". Well, I chuckled every time except when he did that for the 5k leadin to Botmas, that was not appreciated 🤣

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, MongooseMan said:

Yup, we did 4m30s at the top for bottle fills.

I did a bit of work after the downhill, but then was on my last legs for most of the headwind stretch home (didn't feel too bad about sitting in the bunch at that point as I'd done my fair share in the first half).

I did have a chuckle every time Keegan (the guy in black) rode down the line to the front to "keep things at a tempo pace". Well, I chuckled every time except when he did that for the 5k leadin to Botmas, that was not appreciated 🤣

Ya I missed that move and had to solo to catch you okes. Then just as I get onto the back he kicks again and I’m “like really bru”….got bounced off the wheel caught back on and then bounced off again and hung about 20m back. Couldn’t close it after that😂.

[bleedToWin]

It was a proper smash fest in A-group. Really hope the coverage does it justice and tells the full story!

[FranE]

Short video on Instagram Group A

@wpcyclingsnaps 

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