Mark Corliss Races Down in Africa

Mark Corliss writes:

Just to let you know that I finished  the Argus on Sunday in 3.58.18 – just under 4 hours again. Great ride with  35000 other riders in up to 35° heat. Have a look at my garmin file for the  route etc. I came 8423 out of 31331 finishers and 530/1972 in my age  group.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156936193

I’ve just cut and pasted most of this from Wikipedia – too hot to write anything new and I’ve got a bike to ride again this afternoon!!

The Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour (referred to in short as the Argus) is an annual cycle race hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, usually 110 km long. It is the first event outside Europe to be included in the International Cycling Union's Golden Bike Series.[1]The race is one of South Africa's three 'largest sporting events' in the world. With as many as 35 000 cyclists taking part, it is the world's largest individually timed cycle race.
The Argus sometimes forms the last leg of the Giro del Capo, a multi-stage race for professional and leading registered riders.[2]It is traditionally staged on the second Sunday of March and has enjoyed well known competitors such as Miguel Indurain, Jan Ulrich and Lance Armstrong.

In recent years the race has usually followed a scenic 109 km circular route from Cape Town down the Cape Peninsula and back. The start is in Hertzog Boulevard in the city centre, at Cape Town's main Civic Centre. It then follows a short section of the N2 calledSettler's Way, then the M3 to Muizenberg, and then Main Road along the False Baycoast to Simon's Town and Smitswinkel Bay. The route then crosses the peninsula in a westerly direction, past the entrance to Cape of Good Hope section of the Table Mountain National Park (within which Cape Point is situated). It then heads north along the Atlantic coast through Scarborough, Kommetjie, Noordhoek, Chapmans Peak, Hout Bay over Suikerbossie hill to Camps Bay and ends in Green Point.[3]
In 2009 due to strong winds: stopped at 16:30 at Chapman's Peak due to gusts up to 100 km/h that blew cyclists off their cycles. Initially the cut off time was extended from 7 to 8 hours due to the strong wind. Despite the late closure many cyclists were affected, because starting for some groups was delayed by as much as 2 hours due to extreme winds at the starting line-up.
I have ridden it three times – first in 2009 in the strong winds, and then again in 2011 and 2012. I missed the 2010 event after my accident.

Attached is a photo taken by my brother at Hout bay after the descent from Chapman’s Peak but just before the final climb up Suikerbossie which is about 1km of 10%.

The route is lined with spectators in full party mood and is amazing fun. The views as you can imagine are spectacular, especially coming over the spine of the peninsula and seeing the Atlantic. The first leg follows the coast of False Bay which is the Indian Ocean.

This year’s winners times were 2.37 for the men and 2.52 for the women.
I finished in 3.58 and was 8423 out of 31331 finishers.

See  you at Tenterden on the 24th

Mark