The Quest for a Second Sub-3 Argus Part 2 - Mission Accomplished!

At the end of January the seeding for the CTCT was sent out, now there were 2 more races on the calendar to prepare for the CTCT. But then out of the blue I got invited to do the Tour of Good Hope(TOGH), a 5-day stage race in the week leading up to the CTCT. 5 days of cycling, 600km, about 6000m of climbing - not ideal tapering before a big event! But this is also an amazing cycling opportunity that cannot be missed so there I was, having fun cycling every day in Paarl from Monday to Friday killing off any realistic attempt at a Sub-3 Argus!


I was given the advice that the best thing to do on Saturday before the race is to not rest, but to go for another(!) ride - a light spin to work out the lactic acid built-up in the legs during the TOGH. The legs felt fine during the light spin but by now I have cycled 8 days in a row in the lead up to race day, cannot imagine that this is the ideal approach recommended by sport scientists!

Sunday morning was windless, ideal conditions for a sub-3. But unlike my previous post I was now relieved to start in a slightly slower group (1B) even if the group was too slow for a Sub-3. I felt I had no chance holding on to the faster groups with tired legs anyway. I was quite relaxed and my plan was just to stick with 1B for as long as possible and see if I can finish near the front of the group.

Someone forgot to inform 1B though that we were supposed to be a slower group and from the get go the pace was lightning fast out on the first climb on Nelson Mandela Boulevard! I nearly got dropped within the first kilometer of the race.

I managed to hold on down Hospital Bend, past UCT, up Edinburgh drive and then onto the Blue Route. I was just sitting at the back of the group, staying out of trouble. Near the end of the Blue Route with 20km's done I noticed we were averaging about 38km/h! Unless there was a massive headwind once we turn north after Cape Point the Sub-3 was on for this supposedly slower group!

We passed through Muizenberg, Kommetjie and Simonstown without incident. The only thing I recall is the dodgy mtb'er somehow always ending up ride in front of me stressing me out with his erratic riding, couldn't wait for this oke to be dropped from the group. Just after Simonstown,  I started looking for a gap to move closer to the front of the group ahead of the Smitswinkel climb where I was certain the group would split. However we were suddenly caught by 1C and things got a bit hairy as the massive crowd of cyclists combined. I was boxed in on the left back of the group as the Smits climb started, not exactly where I wanted to be, but luckily space opened up and I managed to crest Smitswinkel within the front 3rd of the group.

Start of Smitswinkel Climb

However on the fast downhill past Smits the mass of riders closed up again and soon I found myself at the back again, just not riding aggressively enough on the day to hold my position. To make things even more complicated we caught 1A just before Redhill so now we were a massive combined group of 1A, 1B and 1C making for dangerous situations on the narrow roads. However we were now over the half-way mark still averaging around 38km/h, even with 2 big climbs coming up - Chapman's Peak and Suikerbossie - we were now comfortably on target for a Sub-3.

Chapmans Peak

As we approached Chappies I was again at the back of the massive combined group but as we hit the start of the Chappies climb after the Noordhoek Farm Village - like a diesel engine that takes a long time to warm up my legs finally kicked in! I passed what felt like 100's of riders on the climb giving me a gap between riders before the descent into Houtbay. I now had the whole road to myself on the twisty descent and riding with less caution round the corners I managed not to get caught & passed like in 2014.

Suikerbossie

In Hout Bay I caught a small group and up Suikerbossie we again passed a few riders, by now there was a mix of about 5 bunches around us. I was vaguely aware that there can't be too many 1B riders ahead of me, the most important thing though that there were 18km's left with 30minutes to go and most of it was downhill or flat, meaning barring any disaster a Sub-3 was guaranteed today. Ironically instead of making you relax, this brings a different kind of "please-don't-mess-this-up-today" stress!




Our little group was doing a decent job descending down the Llandudno side of Suikerbossie but a fast tandem pulled a number of riders we dropped on Suikerbossie back into the group and as we progressed towards the finish line the group grew again as we picked up stragglers along the way.

Homestretch! - Don't mess this up!

About a kilometer before the finish line the red mist descended and the group started sprinting for the finish line. I got caught behind a small crash and most of the group chased away ahead of me,but I was quite happy with a mediocre group position with a second Sub-3 mission accomplished! A time of 2h51m in perfect conditions - I can't quite see myself ever beating this time! So lesson learned - tapering is completely overrated...