CTCT (Argus) nr 35 English (Sien Afrikaans onder)

8 March 2026 is time for the CTCT (Argus) cycle tour again. This will be my 35th one! I went to Green Point on Friday 7 March to collect my number. I went by again on Saturday to visit the CANSA stall, which I missed on Friday. There I bought a new CANSA top and Leillani also give me sunblock and so other goodies. 

 

On Friday 27 February I fell with my mountain bike and hurt my left hand. I am currently wearing a “brace” and, although nothing is broken, my hand is quite sensitive. So I decided that I will have to take it “easy” on Sunday and adjust my target to under 5 hours instead of 4 hours! I also decided that it would be better to, like normal people, drive to the start by car rather than riding to the start on my bike in like I have done for the past few years. 

 

I left home at 05:45 and parked in Canterbury Street just above the Castle. Movement through to the start area went smoothly and then it was the big wait until 07:12, my start time. The weather looked very favorable and there was no wind. The weather forecast predicted a storm force South East for Simon's Town, so we will just have to see what it looks like when we get there!

 

At the start I remain "calm" and tackle Eastern Boulevard very calmly.

At Hospital Bend the South East showed some teeth, but not too badly. I cycle down the hill carefully. I don't want to add problems with my sore hand or get involved in someone else's "accident"! Where in the past I have "flown" down the hill past Constantia, I now kept left and let the others "fly" past me. At Jubilee Square in Simon's Town I am 11 minutes behind 2025's time and at the Cape Point turn-off, 15 minutes. It looks like I will get in under 5:00. 

The ride through Scarborough and Sun Valley goes well. I lose more time on the descents than on the ascents. This is because the pace is calmer when we go uphill. I also pass a number of people on the hills, just so they can “fly” past me on the way down again! 

We tackle the “big climb”, Chapman’s Peak. It’s actually two climbs. Chappies 1 is 1.48 km, with 61 meters of ascent and an average gradient of 4.09% and a maximum of 8.96%. Chappies 2 is 1.85 km long, with 94 meters of ascent and an average gradient of 5.09% and a maximum of 15.1%! These two takes me 19 minutes to master. Quite a decent pace. Down the other side and through Hout Bay goes smoothly.

Now only Suikerbossie remains. It takes 12 minutes to master the 1.61 km with 122 meters of ascent. From here to the finish line it is mostly downhill!

It takes me 31 minutes to cover the last 16.5 km. At the end of the proceedings I am very happy with my 4:21, my slowest CTCT (Argus). Now at least I have a goal that I can try to beat in 2027 and I should be able to do it!