Panorama route : Pothole galore

[The Saint]

Thing is to have a successful event with people coming back year in and out you need good roads. Your responsibility or not you still need good roads.

 

Kind of like the Macsteel challenge where part of their marketing and selling of the event is that they fill all the potholes - its not their responsibility but they do it. They create a safe environment for the participants and that's why people go back.

 

They do it it because they want to hold and event, they do it cause if they don't people wont ride the event and they do it because they know that the council won't do it and if they left it to the council they wouldn't have an event. I am sure you see where I am going with this.

 

I'm afraid that simply adopting the attitude that its not our problem is not going to get Panorama anywhere. The physical maintenance of the road is not their responsibility and we all know it but indirectly it is because with bad roads entries dwindle and people get hurt and then they have problems of a different kind.

 

Once again I re-iterate I feel for the organizers that they are having to deal with a council which is not fulfilling their end of the bargain but at some stage if the roads continue to get worse the organizers are going to have to make the call to either can the event or maintain the roads themselves to create a safe environment for their participants should they wish to continue with this great race.

[mallo]

Good day

 

I have been in contact with Panorama organizers and they are trying their best to get the potholes fixed.

Here is part of the reply from office:

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

The status of roads is an impossible one. Firstly, the volumes of rain that has fallen even up until the beginning of this week makes it impossible for any agency to keep up the maintenance. In addition, the provincial roads take preference.

 

To re-route the race will make that stage roughly 150km. There are no other road options in that area.

 

The local farmers have patched the road as best they can bearing in mind it is extremely costly. They have volunteered to try and fix that section for us before we get there and hopefuly the weather plays ball.

 

As an organising team, we are looking at options but can only make a call closer to the time when we can assess exactly the state of the roads.

So, in the meantime, pray for no more rain so repairs can be made.

 

Thanks for your support as always.

Regards

Fiona

[1wellness]

People, some of the "holes" are not just cracks.....if one had to fall into one of these you will never be seen alive again. They are really bad. Glad I am not on a tandem going down there

 

We were going to do the race but have decide not to go anymore. Will not break limbs and bones because the organiser couldn't try and put together a new route.

 

Good luck for all, Fiona should maybe have sold the entries with an emergency package ;-)

 

 

Sjoe ,that is nasty and if Im not mistaken MTN pays you sallary ,hope you not in there marketing department.

P/S Is it about the potholes ,no legs(thats what it looked like to me on training ride)or maybe because you where dq at Sabie Experence?

[Velouria]

Well done to Fiona and her team for making the pot hole issue a total non-issue. Sure - we had to dodge some bad bits of road here and there, but they did a good job of filling in what they could, and pointing out the ones that weren't filled.

[mallo]

Once again Panorama organizers proved they are here to deliver a great event for us cyclists especially the back markers. There was only one confirmed serious injury throughout the event and that on the last day as well,otherwise we had the normal falls and bruises but none was due to potholes.

[Velouria]

My rather late race report