Scott24

TNose E.....That was me.....was very frustrating !!

Dirt-rider......I was actually very close to the front and finished as one of the top ladies with a 1hr50 time....yes i still received a dodgy poisonous Take 5 packet juice but my sister who finished the 40km race in 2h25......no juice. How do you explain being sent in the wrong direction by a marshal (actually the race organizer)? There was no dodgy tiny orange marker board at that point as we converged on the point from 3 directions. I had completed direction 1 and 2 and was approaching from direction 3 with at least another 15 riders and we were all sent back from where we came????

Well I entered the 40km race at Northern Farms yesterday.....what a rip off of an event!! The race entry fee was R120-00. What did we get for this? Not much. We got a dodgy little goodie bag that had the usual stuff in - disposable razor, sample packet of sweets and a bar of soap. At the start line we were told that it is a non-timed event. This was not published on entrytime on the page for the race. Also at the start line, the race organizer gives the few riders at the front verbal directions. At first T-junction turn right, go under bridge and then at next T-junction, turn left. Seriously?? What happened to marker boards?? There were very minimal of this along the route. Very badly marked route. We were in the leading group and when we got to the one marshal point, the actual race organizer sent us back saying we had gone the wrong way......only to end up back at him having gone the correct way. He got confused as you approached that marshal point from 3 directions, so he sent us the wrong way. This seriously messed us around as we lost quite a few positions like this. First water point was not set up yet when we passed it and the second water point was like 6km from the finish. And at the finish, they ran out of water/juice for the guys that were still coming in with reasonable times. Seriously not impressed !!! What happened to the days when you paid your entry fee, got a decent goodie bag, free t-shirt, well organized event with lots of water points which were well stocked and at the finish you were given a whole bottle of juice (either powerade / energade). Now you lucky if you get a paper cup of dodgy juice. Scott242009-11-08 23:41:57

I really enjoyed this race. Felt it was really well organized from every aspect. The water points were also amazing. Every water table gave you an option of an energy drink or water. And most of the stops had bananas. As for some of the other stops, the selection of goodies was endless. The people that manned the stops were also incredible. Hats off to people that volunteer for that. Nothing was an effort for them and they voluntarily offered to refill bottles and stock you up on bananas. Brilliant race - loved every second of it!!!

I thought it was an enjoyable race, quite tough though. I think the marshalling was quite good. There were always marshalls at all of the road crossings trying their very best to stop the taxis from just driving straight through. I saw two very bad crashes......one quite early on with the licensed riders.....guy rode into barrier and flipped over......hope he's ok, looked hectic. And then much later on when we turned off the N14 with the sharp ben and the pavement in the middle, a lady that we had been riding with for quite a while rode straight into the pavement and fell over onto the other side....I hope she is ok too. Road races are scary......way too many possible mishaps....the sand and bush for MTB are MUCH better. I did a 3h10, was quite disappointed as I really wanted to do a sub 3. Oh well.....back to the drawing board.

Gosh but you guys can moan alot. This was my first Monster - granted I only tackled the 45km this time around but that was because I took a few things into account. 1) I looked at the race profile for the 75km race with the total ascent and the terrain and I knew I was not fit enough for that. 2) A small give away was the race's name - Magalies Monster. That scared me half to death as well. I loved the race and i will definately be back next year to do the 75km having adequately prepared myself for the event. I completed the 45km race in 3h22. I was 120th overall, 5th female and 3rd subvet. So was quite pleased with the result. As for the supposed lack of medical personnel at the event. I am a Paramedic (studies for 4 years) and I have to say that whether the medics that usually do the standbys are present or not really makes no difference in my life. The medics placed at the events usually have up to 4 weeks of medical training and anything bigger than a small scratch is way beyond their capabilities. Just recently I saw one of the standby medics dabbing a rider's fractured nose with massive abrasions with a swab of cotton wool and the good old faithful savlon. Until proper paramedics are placed at events, I personally would not stress that no medics are present. Anyway....that is my 2 cents worth for the day. More; Harder; Faster!!!

This message goes out to all the idiots that ride the wrong way on the single track routes at Northern Farms and then still have the cheek to expect you (the person going the right way) to move off the track. You are a danger to all around you. When you enter a MTB race, have you ever been routed back against traffic on a single track? No - reason being.....it is dangerous. And what is scary is that it is not only the takkie brigade who are guilty of this (which might be exusable) but club riders such as the 2 idiots from Cycle Lab on Saturday. Come guys, lets follow the route markers as if we were in a race.....not that challenging a task.

What happens if the rider directly in front of you brakes hard for no reason????? and you then get taken out trying to get around them????? Who's fault is it then?

Can only be roadies (all so rude) - would never happen at a MTB race.

Hi all What is considered correct and polite behaviour of cyclists after a crash? Should the person responsible for the crash stop to check that the mound of cyclists left is ok or is it acceptable to pedal off into the distance without even a glance behind them? Angry crash victim!!!!