Tour de Gold

[Guest]

Hmm, anybody know much about this race. I've entered it as my first race in training for the 94.7, but from the online entry site it looks like it might be really small. From the descriptions given it sounded pretty large. I also encouraged a number of friends to enter with me. Now I am a little worried we'll basically be cycling around Jo'burg on our own... (Especially seeing as it looks like a bit of a tough one)..

 

[Guest]

Don't worry, people will enter closer to the time. Most good cyclists love hard challenging races as this gives you a good idea of your fitness and progress.

One thing that may be a problem is safety.

 

[Mampara]

So who rode this race and how was it? I decided not to ride it because of all the road works on Witkoppen.

 

[Rhodent]

Well I did this one. It was my first ever Race and quite cool. The witkoppen road thing wasn't too bad as all the cars were going slowly, just meant we had to go single file. It must have been tougher for the faster guys as they wouldn't have wanted to string out. The race was pretty easy until some ridiculous hill about 80km's in, Clover hill or something... MADNESS, I had friends who've done the Jock mentioning that it was the hardest hill they'd seen. Was quite nice for me though as it allowed me to get away from everyone as they all got off (Glad I still have that third chainring in front, hadn't used it since I bought the bike until that climb). Spent the last 30 km's on my own in time trial mode... Well, more like survival mode but it was just a little faster than everyone else in the same mode. Ended in 4h09mins, pity to miss the 4hours but I was only hoping for 4h30 so it was nice. Tough race though, had a lot of complaints at the lack of watering points...

 

[Vo2]

Well done Rhodent! 4h09 is a good time over that distance.

 

[Jaco]

Well done Rhodent - given the winning time of 2:41 that gives you a index of about 35!<br /><br />Also decided not to do the race bacause of the roadworks on Witkoppen - drove there yesterday afternoon and there was barely enought space for a car. <br /><br />If Witkoppen is sorted out next year and more people enter I'd definitatly like to do it. By the way, how many participants were there?

 

[Rhodent]

Thanks guys. The championchip system said there were 449 people so pretty small in the end. Certainly noticed the lack of size over the last 30 km's, pretty large gaps between people and no-one to cycle with. There seemed to be lots of people complaining about the race directly after finishing, but half an hour later there were a number of the same people saying they would be returning. Only people I wouldn't recommend this race to would be inexperienced tandems, lots of singles were walking up the Golf Club Terrace hill (can't remember where exactly it was on the route, about 30 km's from the finish is all I remember, anyone know the exact location, would love to include it in training)

 

[admin]

[quote author=Rhodent link=board=15;threadid=785;start=0#21212 date=1033027804]<br />Thanks guys. The championchip system said there were 449 people so pretty small in the end. [/quote]<br /><br />yeah damn thats small huh!

 

[GearGrinder]

Thanks guys. The championchip system said there were 449 people so pretty small in the end.

<br />small wow in my club sometimes only 10 people turn up for races!! even in bigger clubs i go to sometimes they would not have much more than 100 or so i think

 

[admin]

[quote author=Gear Grinder link=board=15;threadid=785;start=0#21216 date=1033030269]<br />small wow in my club sometimes only 10 people turn up for races!! even in bigger clubs i go to sometimes they would not have much more than 100 or so i think<br />[/quote]<br /><br />I've lost count of the amount of times i've rode of scratch with only one or two other guys in club races, 30-40 riders is pretty normal across 3 or 4 grades in country vic (well it was a few years ago ) <br /><br />cheers

 

[Vo2]

In SA a race of 449 cyclists is considered small. Standard rides turn out more than 2000 cyclists! Some rides go up to 35 000 cyclists! And we have only TWO international cyclists! It doesn't make sense...

 

[GearGrinder]

that sure is weird vo2 that you have tons of cyclists yet only one international. here we have no where near that many cyclists and lots of internationals., Stuart O Grady, Brad McGee , Baden Cook ,etc ect. Is the level of competion there much lower?.<br />are most weekend warrior types with mirrors?

 

[admin]

[quote author=Vo2 link=board=15;threadid=785;start=0#21218 date=1033030637]<br />In SA a race of 449 cyclists is considered small. Standard rides turn out more than 2000 cyclists! Some rides go up to 35 000 cyclists! And we have ONE international cyclist! It doesn't make sense...<br />[/quote]<br /><br />no none what-so-ever

 

[Rhodent]

I think the cycling scene might be a little young here. From what I can gather it seems as if SA races have only been getting big for the last 5-10 years so I don't think there are enough families getting kids into the sport (Most guys starting at a later age?). So saying, we have a couple of good Mountain Bikers out there (Greg Minnaar?) and a number of SA cyclists are trying to break through (Not helped by mr Hunter saying that there wasn't a current SA cyclist capable of doing a TdF). If this sort of enthusiasm carries on I think we should see some great cyclists once the current keen cyclists get some grown kids. In a lot of sports the real core strength comes from the families getting kids involved early (You look at olympians in many disciplines and they tend to have a parent involved in a similar sport etc). It all takes time

 

[pothole]

No, I don't agree that cycling as a sport in SA is still young. Lets see what's on offer (prize money) in the local races. (Not the top 5 or 6 sponsered ones) but the other that keeps cycling going. You pay up to R100 on entry fees. I estimate that 20% is getting back into cycling and the rest into the pockets of the orginizers and charities.

 

[Rhodent]

Hmm, I don't know if the entry fees are a big problem. I';ve mentioned before the costs of closing roads and getting traffic police involvement and I get the idea this is where a lot of the money goes. I'd hat to know what the 94.7 is going to cost for full road closure. <br /><br />I will agree though that there needs to be more sponsorship of the sport here. Whether or not it comes from the entry fees or just from the lottery (Ha Ha, like anyone is going to see that money) or gov't. The top guys need to have the freedom to train and spend all their time on cycling in order to succeed. That really is one of the biggest features of Aussie sport. Academy's for everything. I hear that a while back they decided they wanted a formula one world champion and so just started throwing money at the most talented young drivers...

 

[admin]

the problem with cycling is you cant chage an entry fee for people watching like you can with soccer and other sports like that.....imagine how much the TDF would make if they could charge a 'gate fee'<br /><br />cheers