Cape Town Cycle Tour History 2010 - 2018
Continuing my history of the Argus...
My sister, Norma, came to stay with me the night before. When we woke the wind was already whistling through the trees and Norma needed a lot of persuading to get going. Thanks to her I had my first proper breakfast (ever?) of toast and coffee and we cycled thriugh to the start. I took off at 7:10. Once again we detoured over Boyes Drive with the wind alternating between howling and dead calm. I again hit a wall around Bakoven and really battled the last kilometers. This was my 21st consecutive Argus so I treated myself to a beer in the beer tent, something I don't think I had done before. Then Norma and I rode back to Camps Bay and had lunch at the Sandbar. If I'm not mistaken I got a puncture in Clifton on the way back!
The black certificate below confirms my 21st tour. It says that in the 33rd year of the tour I was the 549th cyclist to reach 21 tours.
Toast and honey and a coffee for breakfast, cycled through to the start and left at 7:10. Lovely calm day. An easy ride punctuated by three stops for leaks plus the dreaded Boyes Drive. Lunch with my sister Norma at Sanbar in Camps Bay. My first year in my coveted 21 jersey, and the perfect Argus.
Breakfast had now progressed to cereal, banana and coffee! Cycled through to the start and left at 7:42. It was a particularly hot day and the pace seemed slower than usual. Indeed, Suiker Bossie was like an oven with people actually walking up the hill. I ran low on drinks and I dare say was a bit dehydrated because I didn't take a single leak even at the end! I also cramped badly during the last few km's. Norma and I had a beer in the beer tent and then back to Sunbird (formerly the Sandbar) for a few more.
I was now living in Hermanus so I drove up to stay with my sister Norma on the Saturday. The weather was fine and hot with a gentle south-easter. Had a breakfast of FutureLife, toast and coffee and cycled through to the start, leaving at 7:16. Windy through Fish Hoek but otherwise uneventful with a single stop to leak. Living in Hermanus with no car I had done a great deal of cycling, and in fact I was probably over-trained, accounting for my rather disappointing time. Four of my last five rides had been over 4 hours.
Still living in Hermanus, driving up to Norma on the Saturday afternoon. A light breakfast, cycle to the start and set off at 7:20. It was blowing quite steadily although it didn't seem to affect me much. Only one stop along the way, although Suikerbossie was very hot and I did battle from then on. Had a beer with Norma in the beer tent and was treated to lunch in one of the hospitality tents. Cycled back to Bar One (formerly The Sandbar!) and had a few more beers.
I was now living in Somerset West, so I drove up to Norma's place on the Saturday afternoon. My brother Paul was out from Perth to ride as well, so all three of us rode through to the start together. I took off at 7:24. This was the year of the Fire Ride, where the route had been shortened to just 47km, turning round at the end of the Blue Route. Everybody was relaxed and saying they were going to take it easy and have fun, but I took off like a rocket and decided to race flat-out. Afterwards, I met Norma in the beer tent for a cool one, although it was only 9am. Then back to Mynt (formerly Sandbar and Sunbird and Bar One!) for yet more beers and a particularly festive wind-down. That evening we had a great after-party at Norma's house.
This was the first year that the Expo was held at the Cape Town Stadium, and it was pretty poor. I again drove up on the Saturday afternoon to Norma's house, where my brother Paul was back for a second year. I rode through to the start and set off at 7:17 on a beautiful day. Norma and I had a beer afterwards, but Paul was so far behind us that we didn't wait. It was also my worst ever overall position. We had a pleasant celebratory braai in the evening. As it happened, it was my last proper Argus!
This was to have been the 40th anniversary Argus.
The race was cancelled around 7am on the day, which meant that we went through the entire
preparation phase anyway.
I drove through from Somerset West to Camps Bay on the Saturday afternoon but it wasn't until 18:00 when I was
preparing my kit that I realised I had left my timing chip at home. We had no choice but to drive back to SW and fetch it.
Still later that evening I discover that I had left my cycling shorts at home! What a cock-up! Sunday morning I rode
through to the start in a howling gale only to discover when I got to town that the race had been cancelled.
The picture shows part of the chaos at the start with cyclists (and Portaloos!) being blown all over the place.
In September 2017 I contracted encephalitis which severly impacted my balance. As
a result I couldn't ride at all. However, I had already entered the Argus (2018) and so a few weeks before the race
I jumped on my MTB to see how I felt: I felt OK! So I rode the Argus on my MTB (that‘s me in the picture
below wearing a skull jersey!). Alas, with literally no training I took immense strain. Also, because of my balance
problem I had to stay well clear of other riders, and ended up walking most of the hills. Indeed, I felt
obliged to rest several times at the side of the road. Well, I eventually made it to the end and collected my
40th anniversary medal. My time was 7:26 but because I had come in well before 5 o‘clock, I thought
I was home and dry.
Not so. Not only did they disqualify me but they deleted my entry from the results so that today there is no
record of me ever having done the 2018 race. The reason for this is a stupid Rule 11 which states that everyone
must complete the race in seven or less hours. This in turn is because the last starters at 10:00 have only
seven hours to finish. So what?
I was so upset by this that I wrote to the organisers to complain
(see here) and was told in true bureaucratic fashion
that "rules is rules". Well, change the goddamn rules then!
I finished 28 consecutive Cape Town Cycle Tours.
As a result I have a wealth of data which I share below.
Overall Positions: This shows my finishing position both overall and within my age group at the
time. It shows within what percentage of the winning time I came in, so a low percentage indicates a
high position. For example, between 1994 and 1997 I was within the top 6% of finishers.
Average Speed: From a PB in 1995, a slow but consistent slowing down.
Total Finishers: This shows the total number of finishers over the years. A steady
climb from 1990 to 2001 and then a plateau, no doubt due to the fact that the number of entrants was
capped at 35 000. The maximum reached 32 130 in 2015, and I suspect it is going to start dropping off.
Age Group Finishers: Obviously my age group has got older and older, from 40-45 in
1990 to 65-69 in my last ride.
You can click on the graphs to get a bigger picture. Note that the charts only document up to 2016 because 2017 was cancelled and in 2018 I was disqualified and my stats were deleted from the record.
