Interesting......

[DubbelBuys]

Couldn't have said it better than you just have.

Small man syndrome, it's a reality, little men with big trucks.

 

I reckon if they take the word RACE out of most events, people will actually seat enjoying themselves.

 

If people remember there will always be someone faster than them & compete with themselves rather that someone else they might even achieve better results in races. I guess races are there for the purpose of both racing & enjoyable-fast-riding (for lack of better word / term) Might even add fun riding & testing one self.

 

If rolling easier over terrain & pedalling is the problem, then ride road MTB is for bumps & rocks & dirt &...

 

I love my 26" Giant. Might just upgrade from my Trance to a Reign... 29er doesn't bother me at all.

[DubbelBuys]

Witkop soos in blond??????

 

In South Africa we have great publicity to promote so called new products and to make rather mediocre cyclists believe they can race.

 

Yes & a good salesman can sell you ice in winter / at the north pole

[NotSoBigBen]

There are some seriously 'opinionated' people on the hub and no that isn't always a good thing but ja whateva blows your hair back

[Tumbleweed]

I was told by a cycle importer that SA is the largest consumer of 29ers in the world.

 

Which importer told you that? I doubt it.

 

There are some seriously 'opinionated' people on the hub and no that isn't always a good thing but ja whateva blows your hair back

 

Whatever blows your hair back is an opinion…

[EZRider]

Couldn't have said it better than you just have.

Small man syndrome, it's a reality, little men with big trucks.

 

I reckon if they take the word RACE out of most events, people will actually seat enjoying themselves.

 

Why do you assume that people are not enjoying themselves at "races"? Are you enjoying yourself?

If you think racing is nothing more than a mindless pi$$ing contest fine but many of us love racing no matter our level of competition.

What TNT has been trying to tell you is this country and sport is big enough to accommodate both my big self, with my big truck, and you whatever it is you feel like doing today.

Why do advocate changing the why our sport progresses? Make your own events and stop deriding anyone who doesn't conform to your utopia as someone with an inferiority complex.

I race, however poorly. I love myself and my bike and have enough "rides" of my own to listen to your self righteous drivel on yours.

[Benjamin]

Bunch of ous lined up on the start line, no difference if A batch or Z batch, when that gun goes, something goes click in your brain and you travel. Aim is to get to the other end, quick as you can. First question everyone asks at the end is " what was your / my time" . It's just how we built. As long as where you come and what your tine was doesn't define you, nothing wrong with wanting to beat your mate. Closest feeling any of us will get to winning is beating our mate who normally beats you. And when it happens it feels like you won Olympic gold. All good.

[Wayne Potgieter]

As Freddy Mercury once said "i want to ride my bicycle, i want to ride my bike". Thats all folks.

[Wayne Potgieter]

As Freddy Mercury once said "i want to ride my bicycle, i want to ride my bike". Thats all folks.

[Wayne Potgieter]

Woops. Double post.

[Wyatt Earp]

Why do you assume that people are not enjoying themselves at "races"? Are you enjoying yourself?

If you think racing is nothing more than a mindless pi$$ing contest fine but many of us love racing no matter our level of competition.

What TNT has been trying to tell you is this country and sport is big enough to accommodate both my big self, with my big truck, and you whatever it is you feel like doing today.

Why do advocate changing the why our sport progresses? Make your own events and stop deriding anyone who doesn't conform to your utopia as someone with an inferiority complex.

I race, however poorly. I love myself and my bike and have enough "rides" of my own to listen to your self righteous drivel on yours.

 

Ja whatever .

You and the other bully here suffer from the same fate, you misinterpret what I (or people) type, make up you owns assumptions, put it in to your own words and then come one here like a regular patronizing twit.

 

It's the same attitude with which you typed your drivel that makes the "racing" scene what it is.

[Tumbleweed]

I'm not a racer and have been accused of not having a competitive bone in my body. But racing is inherent in the DNA of the sport of mountain biking. To quote Charlie Kelly: "Now that downhill racing is a mainstream sport, there will never again be anything remotely like the Repack Downhill, a pivotal event in the development of what we now call mountain biking."

[Wyatt Earp]

Bunch of ous lined up on the start line, no difference if A batch or Z batch, when that gun goes, something goes click in your brain and you travel. Aim is to get to the other end, quick as you can. First question everyone asks at the end is " what was your / my time" . It's just how we built. As long as where you come and what your tine was doesn't define you, nothing wrong with wanting to beat your mate. Closest feeling any of us will get to winning is beating our mate who normally beats you. And when it happens it feels like you won Olympic gold. All good.

 

That's all good, and that is where the sport used to be years ago, people call it healthy competitiveness, but when some ignorant runt races his mate for 543 rd. position and pushes all and sundry out of the way just to do that, then the negative side of things start creeping in.

It's called race face, many have it.

And @ Taz, I really don't have to worry about sitting hooked up with these uncouth middle of the pack race facers.

 

You know Benjamin, just to get back to your post, I have been chatting to people that I met at the very first Barberton and Sabie MTB. races, we a lll feel that the sport has lost that community feel it used to have.

Back in the day we loaded up a car with bikes and kit that the exhaust would almost drag on the ground, we would camp and get to race day and all ride at whatever level we used to ride at, the great thing was that afterwards none of us walked around with pumped up chests looking down on anyone else just because you made it in to the top 100.

It was different, we used to meet at pubs or have a braai and nobody asked anyone else what their time was, instead we sat talking about what part of the race we enjoyed most and what a great time we had.

 

Now all you hear from people is how the marshals stuffed up, how their time was wrong, how they overpaid, how poorly stocked up the water tables were and on an on.

[nochain]

Couldn't have said it better than you just have.

Small man syndrome, it's a reality, little men with big trucks.

 

I reckon if they take the word RACE out of most events, people will actually seat enjoying themselves.

Don't know about that one....I enjoy my bike because I can race it, if I could not race then I am not sure I would ride that much in the first place.

To me it’s all about pushing yourself as hard as possible while trying to beat the other guy that gets me on a bike, it's the race that I want!!

 

Then again when I go to a running race I have no chance in hell to compete so I just run to enjoy being out there with likeminded people...so it really depends on what you want from the event.

[Benjamin]

That's all good, and that is where the sport used to be years ago, people call it healthy competitiveness, but when some ignorant runt races his mate for 543 rd. position and pushes all and sundry out of the way just to do that, then the negative side of things start creeping in.

It's called race face, many have it.

And @ Taz, I really don't have to worry about sitting hooked up with these uncouth middle of the pack race facers.

 

You know Benjamin, just to get back to your post, I have been chatting to people that I met at the very first Barberton and Sabie MTB. races, we a lll feel that the sport has lost that community feel it used to have.

Back in the day we loaded up a car with bikes and kit that the exhaust would almost drag on the ground, we would camp and get to race day and all ride at whatever level we used to ride at, the great thing was that afterwards none of us walked around with pumped up chests looking down on anyone else just because you made it in to the top 100.

It was different, we used to meet at pubs or have a braai and nobody asked anyone else what their time was, instead we sat talking about what part of the race we enjoyed most and what a great time we had.

 

Now all you hear from people is how the marshals stuffed up, how their time was wrong, how they overpaid, how poorly stocked up the water tables were and on an on.

Agree absolutely. Me and my riding mates are very much the beer and braai and talk about the ride after race types. My Fortuner exhaust does almost drag on the ground with 5 or 6 bikes loaded on. Current wife and kids all ride and come with to races and we love it. None of us ever going to win anything. But when the thing is timed , we all compare times and whether we like it or not, feels cracker to beat your mate who is is faster than you. But that's as far as it goes. Still swallow beer afterwards.

As for pushing others out the way to get threre, well there will always be chops around.

[Wyatt Earp]

Don't know about that one....I enjoy my bike because I can race it, if I could not race then I am not sure I would ride that much in the first place.

To me it’s all about pushing yourself as hard as possible while trying to beat the other guy that gets me on a bike, it's the race that I want!!

Then again when I go to a running race I have no chance in hell to compete so I just run to enjoy being out there with likeminded people...so it really depends on what you want from the event.

 

No to try and be argumentative just for the sake of it, so don't take this as an attack.

Your finishing sentence almost contradicts your first one.

 

Your last sentence is exactly what I am on about, that is what around 70 % of the cyclists should be thinking about.

 

I say have races where you go and race, but then have events, I will take the Attakwas as an example.

It's punted as a challenge and not a race, the mentality of all the riders, except for the top 15 podium spots is exactly that, they do the Atta as a challenge ,not to race their mate, not to try and bragg on some forum how they ended up in the top whatever, but rather to go home with the satisfaction that they attempted a challenge and managed to complete it successfully, the next year they go back and they compete against themselves.

 

We need more events like that, I found the general vibe at Atta to be immensely friendly, it reminded me of the old days when we used to do races to see the country, not to try and better our seeding.

[NotSoBigBen]

Which importer told you that? I doubt it.

 

 

 

Whatever blows your hair back is an opinion…

 

In my case that's not possible tjop