“Wind plays havoc at Argus – Sport24.co.za
Cape Town – Winds of up to 60km/h wreaked havoc at the Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour on Sunday, collapsing tents and scaffolding.
A woman broke her arm when the breakfast tent at the start of the race collapsed with her inside, said joint operations manager for the event Brad Geyser. She had since been taken to hospital to have the broken limb set.
Geyser said: “The wind did a lot of damage. We didn’t expect it to be this strong.”
The start of the race itself was delayed 54 minutes because of the wind, with wind speeds of 40km/h measured at Chapman’s Peak and 60km/h elsewhere on the route, he said.
Scaffolding erected at the Allan Gray building, near the finish line, collapsed, crushing three cars, but injuring no-one. A tent at the finish line also came down.
Most of the structures erected for the race at the start and finish lines had to be taken down because the wind was so severe, said Geyser.
The Greenpoint stadium construction site, where most of the hospitality tents were erected in sandy ground, became a “dust bowl” which the fire department had to water down, he said.
Geyser said heat was not a problem during this year’s race, because the wind had a “cooling effect”.
In some areas there was such a wind chill factor that cyclists had to be warned not to stop.
In one of the nastier incidents, a woman cyclist hit the tar face first in the Perdeberg, breaking both collar bones and sustaining scratches on her face.
Another cyclist’s ribs were crushed when he came off down Chapman’s Peak. A Doctor on a motorcycle immediately attended to him and he was taken to hospital right away.
Although 35 000 cyclists entered this year, only 25 600 started the race, said the organisers. The wind had resulted in much slower times than usual, they said.”
I too took part in this years Argus Epic. I was meant to start at 08.42 but due to the delays only got going closer to 10.00. I’m sitting here at my PC with very sore legs and odd sun tans but a generally satisfying feeling that I completed what is going down as the toughest Argus ever. The excessive wind as well as the addition of Boys Drive to the route certainly made for different prospect compared to the past 3 tours that I’ve taken part in. Well done to all those that completed the race… Next event on the calendar is the Two Oceans half marathon.
For a good overview of the race have a look at the following link: photo slide it includes pics of Matt Damon who also completed the race.
Original Post on Cape Towns Source for News and Events: Cape Town Argus 2009
