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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
DMC GIRO DEL CAPO DIARY (Stages 1-5): TRAFFIC
By David McCann
16 Mar 2004,
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Saturday’s final stage started in, and raced through some of the townships in Cape Town, and the transfer to the start passed through some scenes of unbelievable poverty. The most striking thing perhaps is that in spite of living in makeshift wood and tin huts that most of us would think too small for a garden shed, how cheerful all the people here are, never having known any different way of life.
The race itself was again a mixture of the bunch being kept nicely together by David George’s team, and the bunch suffering in nasty crosswind stretches. But in the main it was uneventful. I decided I was not going to fall off again so stayed out of the final charge. As we raced into Cape Town with 5km to go, we hit a traffic jam, but, unlike in the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia, the bunch just raced on through it, all lined out in between the cars. Crazy stuff. It only last a 100 metres or so but it was enough to string the race out as we hit the final short climb of the race.
I was stuck behind but Paul (Griffin) and Eugene (Moriarty) were in the small front group racing for the win. Eugene was perfectly placed in 6th going down the short twisty decent back into the town centre, which was a bit of a pain since the first dozen or so riders all zigged when they should have zagged and went off course. They were only following the lead car who got a bit confused! It did however move Griffo, who went the right way, up into the top 10, where he finished.
I ended the stage and then noticed how sore my leg was. The dry gauze dressing that the doctor had put on was flapping about and only stayed on due to the dried blood it was stuck to. In fact, the pain was almost worse than after the crash. Not much fun, this bike racing lark!
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| TT start from Langkawi |
Day 4: UNCOMFORTABLY NUMB
Owww! Did I say ‘get off lightly’? Make that aching all over and couldn’t sleep a wink. Any aspirin and ibuprofen that I took after the stage I gave myself, which, of course, meant I forgot to take any before bed. So I woke up throbbing. An afternoon start was merciful, so I got to lie in and not-sleep a bit longer. The hillclimb had a really beautiful setting, rising up from a trendy coastal area to a point giving a spectacular panorama over the whole enormous city on one side, and a view of the ocean and Nelson Mandela’s island prison on the other.
I rode one time up the hill, just to see if I could make the legs ache so much that they might go numb (no luck) and a stunning coastal ride for a warm up. Then it was on with the Ireland skinsuit and 5.5km of pure hellish agony. I put myself through torture and levels of pain I had not experienced since the last time I had crashed a few days before a time trial and decided that I was in enough pain without being foolish enough to add to it. I rode a nice steady hard tempo and almost managed to enjoy myself, but not quite. Oh alright, I did enjoy it, and I am ashamed.
David George finished right up there in the TT as usual and took the leaders jersey. I nearly reached for my crucifix when I saw all the Barloworld stars were in fact the Anti-Lance, churning the big ring at 50 revs out of the saddle almost all the way up the climb. I think they probably succeed where I had failed and did indeed make their legs completely numb. Ouch!
The glorious lie in was a false friend though, as the late start meant wonderful rush hour traffic on the way back. Managed to read an entire book though, which was good.
Short stage, short diary. How perfectly ironic.
David ‘Sackcloth’ McCann.
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Day 3.
THANK GOD I CRASHED!!
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| These Tour de Langkawi crash injuries were muuuch smaller! |
Hmm, I never imagined typing could hurt so much, but with no skin left on your knuckles, there isn’t much that doesn’t. We started at 9:30am close to downtown Cape Town today, and traffic meant we had to wake for breakfast at 5:30 am and leave just after dawn. (As I’m sure you all do on your holidays.) Anyway, after somehow dislocating my hip in the van and being unable to move for 10 minutes (It eventually popped back in) we had a entertaining start out by the docks, crossing railway tracks and negotiating rows of cats-eye type things (shiny metal objects the size of half- footballs) that were strewn across the road. Surely we aren’t going to finish back in the same road, as the programme says? I mean, surely no sane commissaire would allow that sort of dangerous finish, which puts riders safety so negligently at risk?
Anyway, as luck would have it, we had a straight tailwind out so not gutter sniping. Just half an hour of frantic attacking with the 2 paddy-Davids (McCann and O’Loughlin) trying our hearts out to get up the road. Soon enough the Barloboys took control and things settled down.
Of course, then we turned right. A long drag of a KOH and a hideous crosswind split the group to bits. Yet again I am amazed by the lack of race craft in international bunches and, of course, it was left to me to start the second echelon. As we spread 15 riders across the road, we easily cruised up to the first group, watching, amused, as the majority of them insisting on swinging in the gutter with no shelter whatsoever. Definite masochism going on there.
Left turn, and it was ceasefire and the other groups caught back up fairly easily. At the top of the course, 3 small laps with 3 VERY fast hot-spot sprints passed quickly - but painfully - and then it was a fantastic headwind all the way back. The crosswind was a little easier on the way back since it was mostly downhill. I got the second line going sooner, and it was followed by more headwind. So 5km to go and we accelerated into the lunatic harbour area for a BMX-style bunch sprint. I did my best to keep DOL (David O’Loughlin) up to the front as the whole bunch negotiated some slick 45degree switches across all the sets of railway tracks at 35mph. A bunch of guys that has refused to call potholes, cars or other hazards all week (very bold boys indeed), no marshal or warning whistle, and a just plain dangerous bit of road for the finish of a flat stage all conspired to have me rolling down the South African road at high speed, leaving it a good few souvenir patches of skin. I had no idea what hit me, but apparently it was a shiny football that dived under my wheels.
I had the luxury of being miles down on GC, so although I bounced back on the bike (Davey Tip no.93 - Bounce up so quickly that you don’t notice how much it hurts until after you get going again), I just had to roll in to the finish all on my ownsy. I got less than 500metres up the road when I saw how lucky I had been; basically, if I hadn’t crashed where I did, I could have been in the horrendous crash involving a parked car. I actually turned in the road to check that the 2 guys who were not moving were conscious before I continued.
I got off lightly with just a few deep cuts and some pain. The sight of people lying badly hurt on the road was quite sickening, and knowing it was due to negligence really makes me angry. As bad as it is for cycling to lose races, unsafe races simply shouldn’t be allowed. Sport simply isn’t worth that much. The shame is that it takes the threat of compensation claims to spur the officials into action, the fact that people may get badly hurt seems doesn’t seem to matter as much as few quid.
Anyway, I’m sore everywhere but counting my blessings and because I practice falling off enough, I roll down the road pretty nicely nowadays.
5km TT tomorrow. Just what the doctor ordered…
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Giro Del Capo, Day 2.
Who said this was a “flat race”? Good one. Griffo’s altimeter gave over 7000 feet of climbing today. 9 laps of straight up and straight down a 7km climb. No flat.
I was pretty sure that if you had the cojones to go for an early break, it could work out. I even thought of going with it myself, but the lingering after-effects of my recent bout of lazy illness meant I sat in the bunch and spectated again today. Not much too see though, as it was a case of sitting behind Sean Sullivan and Jock Green of Barloworld riding tempo all day. I think I actually would have slept through a couple of laps, had the road not been so damn bumpy. Sore backside tonight, I’m afraid.
The push for position each time on the narrow twisting hill was fun, though, and a few guys were still keen on bouncing into the dirt at the side of the road. After the wearing down process of the day, the guys up front started to come back one by one, and in the end only 2 guys survived ahead of the bunch. Team Lamonta got a well deserved stage win.
I say ‘the bunch’, but after an up-tempo last couple of laps, where the pink jersey, Kannemeyer, stretched his legs and led up the hill, the bunch split to pieces and only 24 of us were left to sprint for 3rd. Jens Heppner managed to beat me by a whisker in the sprint for ‘last man in the group’ which really bugged me- I must need more race miles.
DMC.
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Giro Del Capo.
Day 1:
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Now that was not pleasant. As the Carl Zberg would say, Probably the best crosswinds in the world.
After an unexpected top-15 in the Tour of Langkawi, I had the dilemma of whether to go for some form and get a really good result in this race, or stick with the planned build up for form later in the season. Well, a throat infection that lingered too long, followed by a serious bout of lazybasditis meant it was too be the latter. But, Hey, South Efrica: Sun, sea, sand and a handy race to get some good miles in, right?
Not quite.
The first stage had a nice circuit ensuring plenty of changes of direction of the horrendous wind. So, first a huge, freewheeling-at-60kph, tailwind start with a couple of very bad timed punctures from Eugene and Kieran meant they were in for a long day of fruitless chasing. Then left turn, BANG, ridiculous crosswind with guys constantly getting blown off the road into the ditch in front of you, while the super psyched South Africans plus a few other greyhounds went instantly up the road, never to be seen again.
Well, actually, battling into the headwind, they were only about 800metres in front of us at times, but at the snails pace we were doing that was over 2 minutes. A really bizarre experience to be going that slow and still suffering.
Anyway a bit of daydreaming next time we hit the crosswind stretch, and there I was stuck in the wrong half of the bunch, with nothing to do but try and stay awake, avoid the acrobats using deep section front wheels, and dread how long it would take us to get the headwind slog into the finish over with (Absolute aaaaaages). The plus was that I had plenty of time to appreciate the great crowd at the top of the climb and the beautiful mountains on the horizon.
So, I think today is best forgotten. Tomorrow, as they say, is a problem halved.
David.
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