For some teams getting an entry may have been harder than the 202km of the 2014 Coronation Double Century
On the 30 of July most of the team had an alarm set on their phones for 12:45, this apparently was very much warranted as the 200 odd entries sold out in 36 minutes. The team was amped that we had our entry secured. After the frenzy some teams now have accommodation and travel plans but no entry. This just shows that road riding is thriving in the Western Cape and that there may even be demand for another team race on the calendar.
During the rush to grab an entry before they were all sold out the event details and rule chages for 2014 were loaded onto the website here. Once we had finished the high fives and shouts of hammer we had a read through some of the rule changes. We have outlined the major ones below:
No support vehicles may follow teams for the entirety of the event.
Although this was a nice to have in the last half of the race for punctures or mechanical issues the removal of the support vehicles is a great decision for rider safety. Last year saw scenes of teams and support cars two or three abreast at some stages. The biggest impact this may have on the race would be riders choosing clinchers over tubbies in case of punctures. The teams also need to make sure they practice their tyre changing or strap some wheels to their backs. (We are not sure if this in the rules)
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| Brendon and Elbert chowing down in the 2013 stop. |
A second 30 minute break in Bonnievale.
This change to the event is probably a lot more controversial than the removal of the support vehicles. As we can see the major reason for this second break is for mechanical issues and top up of fluids. This does however break the race into 110km, 50km and 40km. This changes the dynamic of the race rather substantially for many teams.
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| Joe at the rest stop in 2013 |
Regardless of your feelings towards the new second stop it will change the dynamic of the event and I am sure we will be seeing winning times of 4:45 and the Sub 6 should now be a sub 5:40. The team is still hammering the training in the coming months and have a full schedule of racing and training coming up!
If they let Pure Savage call the shots:
To keep the badassery of the DC and for it to remain a safe amateur event what we think needs to happen is to, remove the support vehicles all together, remove the compulsory stops and just have official water stops or feeding points like at the top of Op Tradouw. Teams could leave a box of supplies at the half way point for additional nutrition if the team deems it necessary. This would level the playing field as everyone would have the same resources along the route. There will also be far less vehicles on the route at all, making it safer. It will also keep the spirit of the DC – the meanest, badass painfest on the calendar.
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