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For Cape Town, the Cape Argus Pick ‘n’ Pay Cycle Tour is one of the biggest shows on the annual calendar. If you’re riding it, you might be reassured to know you’re not the youngest, oldest, fattest, fittest, most famous, or oddest person to have done so. You’ll be fine!
Economic boost to the country: It's estimated the tour will put R400-million into the country's economy this year, with the Western Cape being the chief beneficiary (this figure includes flights, hotel stays, etc). Cape Town Tourism says that of the estimated 35,000 riders this year, about 2,500 will be foreigners, and that of all riders, just over two thirds are from outside of Cape Town.
Youngest person ever to have ridden: Bradley Pickering Dunn rode the Cycle Tour on the back of his father’s tandem at the age of four, in 1988.
Oldest person ever to have ridden: Japie Malan, born in on July 15 1919, finished the 2007 Cycle Tour in a time of 05:48:18. That puts him just a few months short of his 88th birthday at the time
Hottest temps recorded: 41 deg C in 2002, when the race was stopped due to a real threat of dehydration and heatstroke. Considering the temperamental Cape weather, it is surprising that the Cycle Tour has only had to be stopped one other time: last year (2009), eventually, though only after many cyclists had completed it. The tour was later dubbed the “Tour of Storms”, due to thunderous winds of over 100km/h which pushed cyclists over, some even before they’d started out.
If you walked the route at 7km/h, it would take about 15 hours 45 minutes.
If you drove the route in a car, at the speed limit: A normal vehicle with average traffic conditions would be hard pressed to get around in under 2 hours 45 minutes. So the lead cyclists are probably a bit faster than a car would be.
Greatest number or participants: Entries have grown steadily over the years, topping 2,000 in 1983, 3,000 in 1985 and then leaping to over 15,000 in 1991. The 20th Cycle Tour - in 1997 - attracted 30,000 riders, and since then entries have never dropped below the 30,000 mark. The greatest number of finishers was in 2004 – the year the Cycle Tour route returned to Chappies – when 31,219 cyclists completed the race.
Number of watering holes: 20
Liquid down cyclists’ throats: 50,000L of Powerade, 160,000L of Coca-Cola and 100,000L of water. For that, 50,000 kg of ice and at least 450,000 paper cups are used.
Medical support: on race day, 25 doctors and 300 physios man the route. They treat about 1,000 cases on the day: roughly 600 cyclists en route and the remaining 400 at the finish line. Before the race, there is also support: Medi-Clinic screened over 4,000 cyclists for undiscovered risk factors at the Cape Argus Lifecycle Expo in 2009. They performed cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure tests. At the 2010 Cape Argus Lifecycle Expo they aim to test 5000 cyclists.
(Heather Parker, Health24, March 2010)
Source: Cape Argus Pick ‘n’ Pay Cycle Tour
