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Why are MTB races so poorly attended


Natural Defender

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I have a Brand new carbon 29er , with assos kit, top of the line white mtb shoes. Oakley sunglasses ,a garmin to track my cadence, heart rate, calories burnt and more important than anything my time. So when i see some chop having fun on my singletrack he best move over as i will be coming thru hard and fast. Races are my life. time is my lover and my power meter is my best friend. So to all the average joes out there best u pick up your game. I live my life one race at a time doesnt matter if i win by a half wheel or by a mile a win is a win.

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couple of points

1. Cost - money is tight for people ( I know based upon cost that events are not tearing the ring out if it)

2. No incentives for non elites if you are a racer - i.e. prize money etc

3. badly designed courses putting tight technical singletrack at the start of the event so that there are bottlenecks, despite batching

4. in many cases the vibe has been lost. We used to chill afterwards and grab a beer and some grub. know we ride and get in our cars and bugger off.

 

That said, KZN events are still very well attended with events ranging from small (400 odd) to in excess of 3000 (i.e. karkloof, hill2hill, eston etc).

 

Last year all i did was hill2hill. This will I will be doing a lot more in preparation for Sani, but, as some say, its easier to go and ride the trails without all the people bottlenecks

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couple of points

1. Cost - money is tight for people ( I know based upon cost that events are not tearing the ring out if it)

2. No incentives for non elites if you are a racer - i.e. prize money etc

3. badly designed courses putting tight technical singletrack at the start of the event so that there are bottlenecks, despite batching

4. in many cases the vibe has been lost. We used to chill afterwards and grab a beer and some grub. know we ride and get in our cars and bugger off.

 

That said, KZN events are still very well attended with events ranging from small (400 odd) to in excess of 3000 (i.e. karkloof, hill2hill, eston etc).

 

Last year all i did was hill2hill. This will I will be doing a lot more in preparation for Sani, but, as some say, its easier to go and ride the trails without all the people bottlenecks

 

The race at Krugersdorp game reserve has a bunch of events after the race such as 4X4 and stuff for kids to do. Do you think this will work?

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I have a Brand new carbon 29er , with assos kit, top of the line white mtb shoes. Oakley sunglasses ,a garmin to track my cadence, heart rate, calories burnt and more important than anything my time. So when i see some chop having fun on my singletrack he best move over as i will be coming thru hard and fast. Races are my life. time is my lover and my power meter is my best friend. So to all the average joes out there best u pick up your game. I live my life one race at a time doesnt matter if i win by a half wheel or by a mile a win is a win.

Good post :thumbup:

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The race at Krugersdorp game reserve has a bunch of events after the race such as 4X4 and stuff for kids to do. Do you think this will work?

indeed - make people want to attend and stay

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Ha ha Stevief! Unless you are serious, in which case I am glad I don't race with you. Tjop.

mega tjop!

there can only be one lance armstrong, let it go stevief

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I look at the race calendar for the season and choose the races I know have good trails. Oak Valley, Grabouw, Wolseley ...for instance.

A number of Mtb races are nothing more than dirt road rides, so not worth getting up early for in my opinion.

 

The P&P Mtb race at Boschendal has become completely oversubscribed and is a waste of time. What's the point when you have to wait at sections any monkey could do on a bike, but some some guy decides today he can't handle it chooses to carry, blocking the trail for hundreds of riders. Or, how about getting verbal abuse thrown at you because you step out of the queue and choose to run a section with your bike on your back?

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mega tjop!

there can only be one lance armstrong, let it go stevief

Calling me a mega tjop, boet i have 5% body fat , dont hate the player hate the game. I race to win , i couldve been a contender ,
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Imho. The main reason I, like many others attend a mtb "race" is not to compete, but rather to ride somewhere you could not usually ride, spend a day with your mates, use it as an outing for the better halves and spend time outdoors.

Its not about cadence, heart rate, check out my new kit, did you see my last 4 km sprint in 5 mins, my gps says we have an average speed of 32km/h so pick pick it up boys, it not to show off our freshly shaved legs and last but not least it not to have a chop measuring contests.

 

So to sum it up, if we miss a race, we will go look for another dirt trail that will bring just as much joy and friendship!

:thumbup:
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If you race to win, why aren't you a contender anymore? I too race to win, cos no one races to lose. That would be silly, much like wearing white shoes on a mtb.

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Calling me a mega tjop, boet i have 5% body fat , dont hate the player hate the game. I race to win , i couldve been a contender ,

 

5% bodyfat means nothing. I know an anorexic chick who has less bodyfat than you, and she can't cycle for ****. :D ^_^ :lol:

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Calling me a mega tjop, boet i have 5% body fat , dont hate the player hate the game.  I race to win , i couldve been a contender ,

 

So All you do is race to win, so you've lost the enjoyment factor. Riding without enjoying it is like drinking non alcoholic beer, it tastes the same but you know there is something just not right.

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Calling me a mega tjop, boet i have 5% body fat , dont hate the player hate the game. I race to win , i couldve been a contender ,

 

i find it worrysome that any guy (assuming you ARE a guy) knows how much body fat he has....yawn....no one cares!

this rates right up there with other useless info like telling people that you can perform oral sex on yourself.

Edited by kamikaze
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U guys dont have what it takes to be an elite athlete.

i find it worrysome that any guy (assuming you ARE a guy) knows how much body fat he has....yawn....no one cares!

this rates right up there with other useless info like telling people that you can perform oral sex on yourself.

U chaps are helluva serious today...i will come straight i still own a 26er and i have hair on my legs and im not sure my body fat but i still claim i coulve been a contender
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