Gr3mlin131

Who is the orange dude in the background with the flag? Could he not have walked 10 m and fixed the cone? I think we have our latest scapegoat.

I like this actually, wonder if they can award here a we are sorry for leading you the wrong way prize, or a "pathfinder" jeyrsey even.

Most likely because the moto in front of them did not make a wrong turn. Even if she knew the course, why would she not follow the lead car? The route could have been adjusted for many reasons, and this would be the proper route now.

If you are not in a racing group it is fair game. It is just chasing time so if you can catch up and stick to them, well done on your better seeding for next time.

This was still with the old organisers, I bought my entry that I finally used this year that way. So will have to wait and see if they have the same type of deal now, or only a t shirt option.

Ditto same, by the time I passed after being dropped from E bunch there was a line of people from the garage all the way up yelling to slow down and cross it at 90 degrees. Pretty idiot proof by then. So seems the first couple of groups had to know from experience to not go parallel to a rail line when crossing. I thought this was common knowledge ????.

And then the route changed at the last moment due to the bad weather? This has happened. I would not have thought to go through the cones and not follow the car at that point. Bad luck for her into bumbling by the organisers,

So am I understanding this correctly, some people did a u turn getting onto the track and skipped the u-turn climb totally? Some of the most fun was coming down an open track after that climb.

So my day started out a bit less than optimal. Knew I had to be there early from previous races, but the road closures played havoc with Waze. Note to self, plan the route manually next time. I was surprised that they did not log the raod closures with Waze, it was done for previous iterations and then getting in is a breeze as the routing is automatic. Anyway I still got there nice and early, found a gap in silver parking and made my way to the start. Starting in group E, the start was quick. I knew I had to save the legs for the second half so let the "breakaway" go and went at tempo pace until we hit the M1. There I was caught by the quickest in F group and we flew down the highway. At 1h30 I was making my way into Kyalami. Here a few drops fell and a lot of people started to get twitchy, so I turned the effort way doen and let the big group go up the road again. Then the fun started, I hit my top speed going down Main road and from there the climing just did not stop. I chatted with any and all on a chill pace (I thought) but by the time @ouzocame past at zoo lake I was close to cramping and just nursing myself home. Had to come to a stop on the M1 when the cramps finally hit. Luckily it was all downhill from there, even the wall of wind that was the finish straight. So my race ended after 3h41 of flying into crawling. Which as a self identified sprinter is about what I expected from this course. Will be back next year with better route planning to hunt the elusive sub 3. edit : Was already typing this when you asked my time 3h41 over the line.

@ouzo Nice running into you, before nursing my cramping legs back home

Nice to see green numbers are still a thing, for mtb road double. Any of the other colours for the repeats still a thing?

I actually enjoyed the hills and more technical terain they included this year in the 25km, not just endless dirt roads. But if you were not fit enough it could be a long day out with some of the climbs. 400 odd meters over the 25km is a bit of climing, especially if the last 2km has 100m of climing to get back to the start. So from the perpective of a roadie, right amount of technical terrain for newbies, maybe some of the climbs were a bit much if you did not have the fitness or gears.

Got an email confirming my booking and an SMS with the QR code. You have to book before getting the QR code.

At least for the 25km, it was at the start and end mostly, so did not bother me that much. Gave me plenty of space to get out of the bunch and had open trails for most of the ride.

I still have mine from the first year I did the race (it was my third actual jersey back then). But I agree, these do actually look good. If I did not have an entire stack that I am not wearing enough I would get one. Also srew the rules and what others think, wear what you like. Also my original 947 jersey was when I was 20kg heavier, so looks horrible on me now, but after the 6 hours of suffering in it I am not letting go.

If you try their Whatsapp you get the following for the MTB Very bad coms from them, hopefully the actual event is better organised.

And if you need to contact them, email and whatsapp gave me no joy. But the following number at the end of the contact page got me to a human finally (tel:+27120125205)

So for anyone still waiting I finally got this link after calling https://ridejoburg.co.za/mtb-start-time. Still no info on registration etc, but apparently the mail will come through today.

You can see al the start times here https://ridejoburg.co.za/start-times/. Looks like the last group starts 08h55

Anyone have any info on the MTB number collection or seeding? The race is in two weeks and I have not heard a peep from them,

I usually try to avoid the cradle just before any big race (947, CTCT, Shova and even Comrades). But now living far away it has been quite a while since I have been there. I also realized it teaches cyclist to not be aware of their suroundings because it is considered "safe". After a few rides with my wife (new to cycling) through the suburbs, she has gotten much better at looking around and thinking for other road users, much better than after just rides in the cradle. So in theory it should be a safe place to cycle, but this robs people of the skills they will need for the rest of the roads.

Seeded for E, but might be helping push people back in X. Not fit enough to hit Sub 3 this year, might as well enjoy the ride and help others actually finish.

So just got my seeding mail. I think they must have been very generous, if the normal group names are to be believed.

The number pickup will be at the FNB stadium. The expo will be there instead of the dome Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I think Friday it is still open till 20h00. https://ridejoburg.co.za/expo/ Also want to see how they do the Covid dance around that.

Sleep in and make sure you have enough water for the heat.