[Event] Sondela MTB Classic, Presented By ASG

[jcza]

Reading the reviews I'm glad I chose Parys instead.

[ASG]

@ ASG,

 

1) Thanks for an awesome weekend. The even the fun stuff saturday was great - the wife and kids enjoyed it a lot. And yes, I realy liked the route and race. The extra 9km was a bit of a surprise, but at least known halfway so I had the whole 2nd lap to set my mind on it!

 

2) Where and when will the results be posted?

 

3) Who is the race photographers, where will the photos be available?

 

Thanks

 

Hi Herman

 

We will advise on race results shortly, as for photographs...Sondela posted an album om their page, here's the link:

 

http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.320141594744333.73653.100002454867143&type=1

 

Regards

 

ag

[Eldron]

Eldron's 2c worth...

 

Event orgsnisation 100%! Course was well marked, marshalls were friendly, tables/chairs on finish line a winner, tour de france TV was awesome, asg marketing was cool - all in all just about the perfect location and organisation.

 

The course? Shyte. With a capital Sh. 15km of sand slogging aint "real" or "super ultimate challenge" stuff - it's annoying. More so when you have to do it twice and the second time it's been ripped to shreds and is more children's sand box than mtb course. 15km of brake left, accelerate, brake right, accelerate, brake left repeat ad nauseum for an hour. ***. Was that section made by a drunk man on a quad bike? The 10km of winding singletrack in between was good fun...

 

The extra 10km I didn't mind to much - we had a good heads up at halfway so we knew what to expect.

 

In my opinion the best organisation of any race I;ve been to - worst course I've ever ridden. My first and last Sondela race.

[Keep Pedaling]

20km of soft sand singletrack traffic jam.

[jcza]

Looking at the results and considering how flat the race was it seems very slow.

[Keep Pedaling]

Bela Bela is really the perfect location to host event for people from JHB. Lots of places to stay and not too far to drive. Keep them coming, just have a mtb'er and not a quad biker prepare the track please.

[Keep Pedaling]

"Looking at the results and considering how flat the race was it seems very slow."

 

15+ km soft sand follwed by single track that winds back on itself so quickly you can't accelorate. The last 14km was fast flowing but even that was speed limited.

[Eldron]

Bela Bela is really the perfect location to host event for people from JHB. Lots of places to stay and not too far to drive. Keep them coming, just have a mtb'er and not a quad biker prepare the track please.

 

+1

 

We stayed over and loved the venue. My recommendation would be to throw some cash at the course and have an experienced trail builder create a loop in Sondela.

 

I'm keen to head back but not for that course....

[fastlegs]

If I wanted to spend the day peddling at the beach or playing in sand dunes, I would have done that ...but seriously what were the organisers thinking of by allowing such a looooong section of soft sand? You had cyclist falling all over the place, it caused major congestion at the start and after a while it just became annoying that you spent so much time pushing the bike then peddling.

[Slakkepas]

With no sand and the switchbacks everybody would complaint about the boredom of the race. The route was made challenging with the elements available. Basic maths would have told you after the first lap that you are in for a bit more that the 80km

Everybody looked at the route profile and expected a now challenge quickie. Which was not the case.

 

We camped the weekend, if I have to complain about something it would be to pack up camp after the race. Would prefer to do the race on a Saturday and enjoy a easy short ride on the Sunday

[Speed Kills]

This was the fourth time we did the race(previous was more low profile). The sand was less than the previous years and and a lot of work must have gone into the preperation of the route since we were there two months ago. The only way to learn how to ride sand is to ride in it - had two minor falls but that goes with the territory . The twists and turns almost had me drunk, but what bettter opportunity to hone ones cornering skills and see how far one can push the limits of cornering on dirt....

 

I have yet to find a better family weekend of cycling where everybody can have fun, and that was the intention for the race when it originally started. Sorry to the guys that did not enjoy it, but the way I know the organisors and the hosts, they will look at the critisism and make changes if possible.

 

Thanks again to the Sondela team for making this weekend possible - we will be back

[Keep Pedaling]

"The only way to learn how to ride sand is to ride in it"

 

"bettter opportunity to hone ones cornering skills and see how far one can push the limits of cornering on dirt"

 

I can ride soft sand better than most (zero falls) and push the corners till traction starts to give. But after 2km the novelty wears off - to say nothing of 30km.

[Speed Kills]

"The only way to learn how to ride sand is to ride in it"

 

"bettter opportunity to hone ones cornering skills and see how far one can push the limits of cornering on dirt"

 

I can ride soft sand better than most (zero falls) and push the corners till traction starts to give. But after 2km the novelty wears off - to say nothing of 30km.

 

Then this was the wrong race for you - cannot please all the people all the time

[ASG]

@ ASG,

 

1) Thanks for an awesome weekend. The even the fun stuff saturday was great - the wife and kids enjoyed it a lot. And yes, I realy liked the route and race. The extra 9km was a bit of a surprise, but at least known halfway so I had the whole 2nd lap to set my mind on it!

 

2) Where and when will the results be posted?

 

3) Who is the race photographers, where will the photos be available?

 

Thanks

 

Hi Herman

 

Our events team has just confirmed:

 

Results can be found on:

http://www.spectrumsport.co.za/Portals/17/ResultDoc/ASG_Sondela_MTB_20120708.pdf

 

Photographs will be available in a day or 2 on: www.actionphoto.net

 

Regards

 

ag

[ASG]

Hey guys,

 

Thanks so much for participating in the Sondela MTB challenge this past weekend!

 

Here are a couple of useful links provided by our events team, go check it out!

 

Results can be found on:

http://www.spectrumsport.co.za/Portals/17/ResultDoc/ASG_Sondela_MTB_20120708.pdf

 

Photographs will be available in a day or 2 on:

www.actionphoto.net

 

Also, Sondela has posted an album with lots of photographs to view:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.320141594744333.73653.100002454867143&type=1

[FrancoisL]

My Race Report:

 

1. Pre-race Organization 10/10 - Friendly faces greeting you from the turn-off at every corner.

2. Number collection 10/10 - A snap

3. Amenities 10/10 - Organized parking,ample entertainment, bike wash, bike goodies to buy, Breakfast roll !!!.

4. Course 7/10 - First 10 km (8/10) good variety, Second 10 (7/10)-Sand, then some sand and then realy sand. A lot of prep in this section to remove some sand but by the back track riders and 90k second pass it was raked to pieces.Nice rock garden in between! 3rd 10: (5/10) Would really like to do this one on a Sunday afternoon slow ride. For a race - too much of the same, a few fast flowing sections inbetween would have made a big difference. Last 15 (9/10) - fast flowing - few short turning surprizes inbetween. Makes for real racing. In general lots of pasing opportunity, except for the sand section (unless you can run well in the sand :-))

 

All in all - I will do this one again - this time I'm going in with 1.3 to 1.7 bar on the wheels.

 

Some suggestions -

1. Incorporate a 20 and a 10 on the race day, that way everybody can participate on race day

2. Some more variety in section 2 and 3 (maybe cut in sections under the power grid)

3. Organize a good winter thunderstorm day before racing.

 

In conclusion - when a golf course has no bunkers, better believe there are serious trees, a MTB race without any ascent - expect a surprize!

 

Thanks to ASG and Sondela - well done!

 

PS: 61st in 45km - 2h23:50 - damn I hate it when there is no Master Category :-)

Edited July 9, 2012 by FrancoisL