Argus Race Pictures

Here are some pictures from my Argus Race. It was quite a tough event, and it may seem a bit repetitive to re-live it in another post on my blog, but it truly was a mammoth slog. I still have a distinct memory of the discomfort I felt going up Suikerbossie, as well as the sheer terror of the downhill sections on Champan’s Peak, with crazed cyclists whizzing past me at breakneck speed. At the same time I remember feeling the distinct pleasure of passing most cyclists on both Boyes drive as well as the uphill sections on Chappies. It was great fun on the training run the previous day, with Carlos Sales and Matt Singleton.
Can’t wait till next year's Argus.. Till then we have the Panorama, I'm already registered for the 94.7 in November and there's the famous Jock in Barberton to contend with. This should be an interesting year!



Pictures care of Carlos Sales, anonymous bystander and Actionphoto.net

Panorama Tour Stage Race

The Panorama Tour (www.panoramatour.co.za) is a multi-day team road race over 4 days in the Lowveld of South Africa. The daily stages set out from White River to the summits of the nearby mountains in Sabie and Hazyview and return to their starting points. Daily distances range from 115kms to 80kms with over 1500m of climbing each day. The final day is a 40km time trial.

I will be participating in a team called Maputo Hill Climbers together with Carlos Sales. This particular race is a first for both of us, and the large amount of climbing as well as back-to back stages will be a test of our legs and lungs. We are busy training, with the Cape Argus and Classica de Namaacha already completed. We’ll be racing as Veterans… a sign of our age!

Our Jersey for the ride

Classica de Namaacha cycle race

Sunday 21st of May was witness to another 2010 Copa Ciclismo Race. The event is a 140km slog from the Matola Total petrol station (just after the TRAC Portagem) up to Namaacha town that borders Swaziland, and then back down with a finish in front of the new Shoprite centre in Matola. Thirteen competitors took place in the event, starting off at 6.48 a.m. The weather was supposed to be sunny and cool but stayed cloudy for most of the race, dumping water and fog on the slopes of the Namacha hills. The start was slow as riders warmed up with a strong dislike for setting the pace or pushing up front. Finally Carlos Sales pushed to the front with a quick sprint that paniced the rest of the field into following along. Generally the pace was slow until the first real hill, just after the Namaacha turn-off on the outskirts of Boane. On the way up the field strung out and only reformed several km's later on the straight stretch to Mandevo, where the first casualty of the race, Gustavo, had to abandon due to a leg injury.
Mandevo is the start of the real climb up to Namaacha (total 500m climb over 16km's) and the peloton definitively split on the way up, with the star mountain climber setting a strong pace and a chase group composed of Carlos Sales, Riccardo Trinidade and someone else. The field effectively split into two and became a race for 1st and 4th place. Yours truly, after having started last on the Mandevo climb managed to reel in the second group one by one and summited ahead of Imran Akuji in the last 10 metres. The race back down was complicated by a sudden rain shower and thick fog, but the second group reformed with the likes of Mario, Imran and Angelo, swapping turns at the front and doing a bit of tactical following. The Pedreira uphill loomed in the horizon and Angelo managed to break away a few hundred metres ahead. Meanwhile Imran and Mario were playing cat and mouse until a water bottle hand-over enabled Imran to sprint ahead. Mario was hot on his wheel and didn't let him get far and, passing Angelo who was down with a derailleur problem, managed to summit ahead of Imran by half a wheel-length on the King of the Mountain crest. The descent to Boane saw Angelo catch up and again break away on the last uphill into town, catching a straggler from the first group and powering on down past the railway line, just as a railway engine was reversing and blocked the road for Mario, chasing and closing on him. Imran caught up with Mario at the blocked road and after a minute these two were off again, catching the straggler but not Angelo, as he managed to maintain his minute lead. Far ahead Carlos Sales was coming first, after having passed the leader and shaken off Riccardo, who came in 2nd with three minutes behind him. Mario and Imran were now taking turns pushing, although at the next rise in the road near the Matola water station a strong surge by Mario managed to shake off Imran. All that remained to reach the end was a long upward sloping road to Mozal, and one final uphill, but Imran was not giving up and slowly inched closer to Mario, as he in turn tried to catch Angelo further up ahead. At the Mozal-EN1 intersection Imran caught up with Mario and again a game of cat and mouse ensued on the final straight, which ended in an all-out sprint by Mario in the last 100m to seal his 4th place.

Final Classification for the race is as follows:
1º Carlos Sales
2º Ricardo Trindade
3º Ângelo Augusto
4º Mário Traversi
5ª Imran Akuji
6º Abilio Matusse


Thanks to Angelo Augusto for the photographs

Argus done and dusted

Well, the Argus came and went. 35000 entries of which around 31000 actually showed up. The wind was strong but not as bad as last year (I'm told, I wasn't there). A tough race, with losts of climbing and hills and a strong headwind for more than half the course. The "hills" will remain etched in memory.. First-off Wynburg Hill, a long drawn out affair with a head wind out of the roaring 40's, Boyes Drive near Simonstown, Chapmans peak Drive and the infamous Suikerbossie (Sugar in name only). This last hill broke the back of many cyclists, and I saw quite a few on the medic's tables getting massages for cramps. I envied them as I sucked on my bright green and disgusting popsicle that a thoughful bystander handed to me. My time was a rather pedestrian 4:21, but overall performance improved compared to my 94.7 effort. The first two thirds of the race were fine as were the climbs, but the downhills were simply terrifying, with buffetting winds and mad cyclists decending like multiple Evil Kenevils.. The tight descent on Chappies meant a few went to the wall (literally) and any advantage I had at climbing through the packs were lost going back down. The last stretch after Suikerbossie, through Camps Bay and along the last stretch in Greenpoint have to be the low-points. The wind head-on and motivation levels way down.. and overall exhaustion increasing rapidly. Lessons learnt from this Argus? Train harder. Avoid Mussels before the race. Train harder. Soon some pictures..