Another 94.7 race is finally over.. This was the 15th edition of the Cycle Challenge, everyone’s race as they like to call it. Although not every race in the world can boast a commentator like Phil Ligget, the “Voice of Cycling”. But above all it is a litmus test for cyclists all over South Africa and surrounds to battle it out against other cyclists. The Clube de Ciclismo de Moçambique was present again this year, although with a slightly reduced complement. Here are their results:
| Patrick Verissimo | 97.4 | 2:43:31 | D |
| Mario Traversi | 97.4 | 2:53:56 | A |
| Carlos Sales | 97.4 | 3:03:27 | K |
| Francisco Nobrega | 97.4 | 3:04:16 | E |
| Simon Wright | 97.4 | 3:34:45 | E |
The “numbers” don’t tell the full story though. For that one must dig a bit deeper. Group D was a massive group with 500 odd cyclists, containing Patrick, a few Swazi riders, and a lot of South African riders bent on carnage. Patrick managed a fantastic 2:43, just 2 minutes behind the leaders of his group, and the best time of any Moz Club cyclist this year, and probably 3rd or 4th time overall Club time through the ages.. Mario (that’s me) on the other hand started in the altogether more rarefied “A” group (13th start group of the day…) with some seriously competitive cyclists who tore the peloton apart in their attempts at a best time. He (I) managed a “disappointing” sub 3, just a minute over last year’s time, so no personal best improvement, and the group position was nothing to write home about either. It was only the finish line coming when it did that avoided me coming in with Patrick’s D group, because B and C had already thundered past! Carlos on the other hand managed to get into group K, and through the “traffic” of slower riders coming off the front groups managed just over 3 hours, but more importantly came in 10th out of his whole group, and shaved off 20 minutes off his previous PB (personal best for those in the know..) so a big round of applause for his effort. Chico also missed on breaking the sub 3 barrier, but also put in a personal best time, beating his previous time by one and a half minutes, and that is considering that his previous best was done on the 3km shorter course. Simon finished a little bit over his personal best time, so still has a target for next year. Let’s hope his road bike sees some more riding action this year.
The next cycling appointment is the Cape Argus on the 11th of March, just 16 weeks away. For any of you who have any doubts, the Argus is the world’s largest cycle race, and perhaps also one of the most beautiful. I know that many who didn’t take part in the 94.7 this year are “saving” their legs for the Argus, so we should see a massive number of riders from the club taking part. Our Swazi brethren are organising a Coach option, and have extended an invitation to us to go down with them, so we might even try and field a super-group once down there. There is also talk of doing a “double”. But most importantly we’ve seen a shift in power amongst the Club riders, and some challenges being laid down ahead of next year’s Argus. For starters there is the Sub-3 prize, which I believe has not been done by any Clube Ciclismo riders, although if I may have wronged any of my readers then please send appropriate Racetec results or copy of your timing certificate, to set the record straight. And then there will be the title of fastest club cyclists. This is no Copa Cicilsmo event. This is no 94.7. This race is the BIG one, and to be considered a racer of renown, you need to complete it and do well. So get out there during the holiday season and start laying down those base miles, because it’s going to be a long 110km race in March…
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