Tri-Robben Island race report

[sluiper]

Thought I'd post a few thoughts and experiences on the race here in case anyone's interested in doing the event next year or wanted to know what happened this year.

 

The ferry for Robben Island left at about 6:30 on Saturday morning and we arrived at Robben Island to the sight of our bikes left in the rain overnight. Despite the bubble wrap used when they transported the bikes, my bike sported a few brand new gashes across the top tube. I was pretty irritated by this, but at least I'll know next time to pack my own bike and not leave it in the hands of others.

 

There were about 70 people who were taking part in the 2 events: 30 or so in the shorter 400m swim/14km bike/4km run and about 40 in the longer 800m swim/28km bike/8km run.

 

The short course participants set off at about 8 o'clock and the long course participants at about 9:30 (after all the short coursers had left for the run).

 

The swim course was a lot of fun with very little waves and reasonably clear water. The harbour is quite protected and swimming the 800m course took less than 20 minutes for most participants. The water was a balmy 17 degrees, and a lot of people did the swim without a wetsuit.

 

The mountain bike course was a disaster from start to finish. The markings were extremely unclear and the few marshals that were on course had no idea where the course was and were giving incorrect directions to participants. My guess is that no one completed the same course. I met multiple bikers coming towards me, completely confused as to where they were supposed to be going. The course was supposed to be 2 loops of 14km each, but people were reporting doing between 20km and 32km in total, depending on where on the course they went wrong.

 

To be honest, this is not mountain biking course: there was some offroad, but the worst was a 10m sandy strip that hardly required a MTB to traverse. I locked out my front shock and didn't release it for the entirety of the course. If I do the course next year, I'll put slicks on my MTB or borrow a cyclo-cross bike somewhere.

 

The run course was a 4km out-and-back along a stretch of the coastline, to be repeated twice for the 8km participants. Apart from the fact that the scenery is really beautiful, the course was pretty flat with little variation.

 

Due to the bugger up with the cycle course, I can't imagine anybody releasing results for the race, but I don't think that coming first or second was a priority for most of the participants. Everyone I spoke to had a good experience and enjoyed the day, despite the teething problems on the course.

 

The medal we all got at the end was probably the best I've received in a long time and you could see that the organisers took some effort in putting it together.

 

Overall, I think the organisers did a good job, given how few participants there were and the logistical problems inherent in putting on an event on an island.

 

I loved doing the event. It was a lot of fun and an awesome way of seeing Robben Island. I'm really glad I did it and will be back next year.

Edited September 23, 2012 by sluiper

[ChrisH]

That's a fair and accurate report sluiper. I rode the bike course just to be able to get around and photograph, and even I got lost. (Riding an MTB on a race course was a big mistake, as I instantly went into race mode and started dicing with anyone who had the audacity to be in front of me ) When I eventually calmed down and got down to taking pics it became clear what an awesome venue the Island is, and we got to see things that the normal sanitised tours don't see.

 

Here are some of my photos of the event.... http://www.facebook....90453962&type=1

Edited September 23, 2012 by ChrisH

[sluiper]

That's a fair and accurate report sluiper. I rode the bike course just to be able to get around and photograph, and even I got lost. (Riding an MTB on a race course was a big mistake, as I instantly went into race mode and started dicing with anyone who had the audacity to be in front of me ) When I eventually calmed down and got down to taking pics it became clear what an awesome venue the Island is, and we got to see things that the normal sanitised tours don't see.

 

Here are some of my photos of the event.... http://www.facebook....90453962&type=1

 

Nice photos, Chris. You really have a great eye for the dramatic.

 

Come out to Killarney on Wednesday evening and take some more