Cape Times Vigne-a-Vigne 2011

[headhunter]

Enjoyed this race tremendously but will not do it again. IMO it isn't value for money...enough said.

 

Saw a guy break his bike in half on the first major decent (about an hour into the race)......surreal experience......these 3 guys (I think they were in CWC kit, could be wrong though) come shunting past me, got round the corner half way down the hill and here's this dude and friends holding seperate halfs of his bike :D .

Edited April 4, 2011 by headhunter

[duringd]

Thank goodness for taking out that last b h of a climb right at the end and thanks for the added singletrack. Very enjoyable in that it is one of the only races where you get something of everything when it comes to the terrain. R180 is maybe a bit steep, but whilst we all complain we still rock up and sweat it out!

[BlinkFan]

Great route! I found it very challenging, probably because I've been a bit lazy with training the last 3 weeks.

 

One thing that pissed me off... quite a lot! I came in at about 12:10. Cut-off was 12:30. When I got in there was nobody taking my time. There was nothing to drink, everybody already packed up. And I got no medal. WTF??

 

It's not that I really care about the medal or the time, but it just pisses me off that they could care so little about the riders. And it wasn't like I was the last rider in... there were still quite a few riders out there. Real anti-climax after all the great single track coming down from the last water point

[Kranswurm]

details. You have your health. -- Boet your arrogance is astounding its like me saying if you came to my restaurant and you complain about the food or service i turn to you and say you have your health and you lucky to be eating as some people cant eat so stop moaning, DOes that make it right??? Guess what keep pissing people off then there wont be an event in the future your take it or leave it attitude belongs in the dark ages.

 

 

Ermmm.....not Boet,Boet....its sus

[DMD 1]

[

One thing that pissed me off... quite a lot! I came in at about 12:10. Cut-off was 12:30. When I got in there was nobody taking my time. There was nothing to drink, everybody already packed up. And I got no medal. WTF??

 

I finished the 50-55km race ahead of my wife and cheered her hugely at the end as there was no one else there. We both had a really good ride and enjoyed the route hugely. What also pissed us off was the fact that when she finished with a riding time of 4h30 there was no one to give her a medal or a juice. She finished ahead of the cut off and thus deserves a finishers medal. Its not the value of the trinket but the fact that she finished on time and thus has a right to to it. It the f-ing lazy events staff who could not be bothered to do there job and stand there and congratulate the finishers.

 

Tried to phone grandstand events management to voice my displeasure this am and all you get is an answering machine, with a message about the Cape- Epic????????

 

 

Does any one know if the event was manually timed this year as I saw no one?

[MockTurtle]

Let's face it guys, the main event was the Epic. Vigne a vigne was but a sideshow. Staff probably disappeared to cheer the Epic finishers?

Anyhat did the 27kms, thoroughly enjoyed it - awesome ride. Some dude overtook me near the finish - he was going really fast round the corner - doughnuted and popped his back tyre - eish - awesome bike control/recovery though!

Edited April 4, 2011 by MockTurtle

[CatGirl]

[

 

Does any one know if the event was manually timed this year as I saw no one?

 

ek dink ek het 'n cyclops ding hoor afgan met die wegspring en niemand gesien iets neerskryf by die fininsh

who was timing this event btw??? would like to check my race time

[GLuvsMtb]

I enjoyed the simplicity of everything. Reminded me of what mountainbiking used to be. Its about you, the bike and the mountain.

Seeding for this race wasn't neccecary. The field was small and the first 12km would have seeded the riders automatically.

The route was well marked and there was enough marshals and medics throughout.

If you want a water point every 5kms, go do the ride around the mountain in march.

Manual timing was used. Results should be up on the VaV website this week.

I saw some of my mates out there having a jol like me.

If you don't like paying R180 for the race, stay away next year. Vote with your wallets.

[BlinkFan]

Let's face it guys, the main event was the Epic. Vigne a vigne was but a sideshow. Staff probably disappeared to cheer the Epic finishers?

 

So why did I pay R180??

 

For them to stay olny half the race? I think not!

[Pookie]

Helliose - I think they were manually taking the time because there were no timing mats and obviously those plastic board were not magnetic - hee hee. Organising was on the poor side though I must agree - have ridden better organised events. Gorgeous scenery though

[LazyTrailRider]

So why did I pay R180??

 

For them to stay olny half the race? I think not!

 

Yeah, I have to agree here, rubbish attitude from the organisers' side. Because I just rode for fun with buddies and took 5 hours (and because I'm an old-schooler from back before electronic timing even existed) it didn't really bother me... BUT, I wouldn't be too happy if I was someone just getting into the sport, struggling my @#$ off to get to the finish just to arrive to no one, no apparent timing, no cold drink, nadda. That sucks, especially for double the entry fee of an average PPA funride.

[Stevief]

Ermmm.....not Boet,Boet....its sus

Whatever still arrogant, dont guve a crap if it sits to pee

[Kranswurm]

Whatever still arrogant, dont guve a crap if it sits to pee

 

There is no need to display your ignorance

[wesley_r]

Being somewhat unfit and unprepared I signed up for the 27km route. Apparently there were 600 riders in the 27km group @ R130 / head that's R78 000 for that field alone. My old man and I rode together and he sponsored, so I'm not complaining about the cost but they must have raked in a fair amount of cash for this one.

 

I didn't find the organisation particularly bad, BUT hearing stories here of staff disappearing before cut-off - if that happened to me I'd be peaved. A goodie bag is not essential, but come on - it does leave you with that warm, fuzzy feeling

 

I wasn't nuts about the 27km route. It was advertised as a "challenge for the novice" but in my opinion as a novice route it had too many climbs (even if it was meant to be challenging) and there was a lot of walking, and unfortunately too little singletrack. Most of the downhill bits were open, fast and in many places loose and rocky singletrack, so again, some novices might have had a hard time here.

[CatGirl]

Helliose - I think they were manually taking the time because there were no timing mats and obviously those plastic board were not magnetic - hee hee. Organising was on the poor side though I must agree - have ridden better organised events. Gorgeous scenery though

 

oo griet..ok ....i'll ma wait and check what comes up on ractec or call grandstand management

[RTG7]

I thought the route was great, really enjoyed it.

Great mix of terrain and lots to make one smile after the climbing.

 

Wasn't aware we started early, if so, not acceptable, 7:30am is 7:30am

 

My real gripe comes with a safety issue. The 27km joined the 55km at the bottom of a super fast decent with 27km riders coming out from behind the vines straight into the path of the 55km riders. It is a dangerous oversight and one I hope gets corrected for next year.

 

I will definitely be back next year, R180, steep, yes, but you get to ride on a farm you'd never get to and experience that view back towards Gordons Bay after the last climb. For me, that's worth it.