I haven't done this race in years purely because I just haven't been racing. When I saw the entry fee of R345 I almost decided against entering again but did so anyway. R345 is a lot. While I did not enter this race for a loaded goodie bag, I was left surprised when, yesterday afternoon, when I picked up my race number, that was all I got. Just the number. No safety pins, no pamphlets, nothing but a number. Perhaps I've been spoilt by some of the off-road races of late which have spoilt us in this regard. There will probably be no shortage of pamphlets stuffed under my car's wiper blades come race day. It is a fact though that costs have increase everywhere, so we can't expect to pay 2006 prices. These costs are passed on to us, and as mentioned in a previous post, road races are not exactly that popular anymore. MTB races have also become pricy. So I'll reserve final judgement until after the race once I've been able to experience all the elements (safety, water points etc.) Regarding seeding and number collection. I do not believe that seeding should be managed by an event's company. Surely this should be handled on a provincial level if not national. What is the purpose of CGC again? These seeding statistics should then be made available to any official event. The trouble is the capturing of these statistics is handled by private companies so it cannot easily be centralised into an official cycling body, unless said cycling body subcontracts these services. Number collection at only one venue is certainly not great. There is a well known cycling store in almost every suburb. Perhaps, as part of the event registration process, cyclist could pick a collection point from a list of these shops. The numbers could then be distributed to these collection points. Any late entries can be handled on the day and queries regarding reseeding via telephone or, better yet, a web portal. Anyway. It's going to be a hard day in the saddle. I'm preparing mentally for that half nelson bum-lock.
