[Event] NISSAN TRAILSEEKER #2 Cullinan

[Markdeep]

 

 

I'm still angry, how hard can it be to get this right!?!? FFS! They been doing this for long enough. It's simple, keep the different routes separate. Separate, separate, separate. Please Tim get this right next time.

 

Agree with you totally, what's the point of seeding then ? And the loose rock climb that everyone walked up was probably only rideable by 10% of the field. Maybe I speak for myself but that walk up there destroyed my legs.

 

I don't think I will drive 1hr30 for that again.

[Salty]

I did the 40km, and apart from that stupid walk over the mountain, enjoyed it. I saw a number of gala on my decent, luckily nothing serious, agree with the above, no medic.

I felt for most of the 70km dudes having to squeeze past. Most of them were fairly tolerant, which was a nice change. The 20kms seemed to be very confused at one point and were turning around thinking they were going the wrong way. Got very messy.

[Salty]

Gala = falls. Doing this on a phone is not that simple

[Backpacker]

These races seem to be getting more and more technical with serious climbs, not suitable for the average recreational rider. Caught up with the 20km riders quite early in the race, they were hanging onto that fence for dear life with the faster riders screaming past them, as for the sludge pit ... heard some okes threw a few punches cause one of them rode into his wife. What are you hoping to achieve, a lot of boasting about the numbers, think that next time there will be two less.

[jcza]

Venue was lekker for the family though.

 

Was lekker to ride with JCZA for a lot of the race.

 

Great ride Nick agree with your comments re the bottlenecks. It was a shambles.

[jagwil]

Complaints, complaints. Why don't you just get out there and enjoy the ride. It was a good route.

 

A little tough at times but most of it rideable. Except for one or two of the rocky climbs.

 

I enjoyed it. Well done Tim and your team.

 

By the way I think the statement that there were waits of 15 minutes is a bit of an exaggeration!

 

Just enjoy yourselves and stop whining.

Edited July 6, 2013 by jagwil

[kosmonooit]

These races seem to be getting more and more technical with serious climbs, not suitable for the average recreational rider. ..

 

The route was quite mild really. Serious climbs? Serias? come play in Sabie sometime.

 

This is an mtb event after all.

[evolve]

Agreed Jagwill. Did the 70 and there were a few slow points but hey get off the bike and run past on the hills. It all fun anyhow. Besides one day them slower ones could be chasing us..................

[jcza]

So I started at the back of A, was even the last person over the mat. Had a chilled ride until Vinnydabutcher caught me up riding out of B batch, landed up doing a bit of pacing for/with him up until the 60km mark. I was the guy sitting with the girl that fell at that loose right hand bend on the "technical" descent. We waited 1h30 for the paramedics!

 

Anyway, my ride time was 3h15 but total time was 4h51.

 

[dirtrider]

Complaints, complaints. Why don't you just get out there and enjoy the ride. It was a good route.

 

A little tough at times but most of it rideable. Except for one or two of the rocky climbs.

 

I enjoyed it. Well done Tim and your team.

 

By the way I think the statement that there were waits of 15 minutes is a bit of an exaggeration!

 

Just enjoy yourselves and stop whining.

 

Agree . Never seen such a bunch of old woman with wet panties in my life . And I bet you most of them most probably got a HTFU badge on his bike . From C batch I did not see any bottlenecks and passing the 10/20/40 riders wasn't a problem at all . So you got a xtra 5 km for your money , how long have you been riding MTB races ? How many races has the correct distance . Get a road bike .

[dirtrider]

The route was quite mild really. Serious climbs? Serias? come play in Sabie sometime.

 

This is an mtb event after all.

 

Very mild , I went with the suggested 32/18 and it was a huge mistake . My batch dropped me in the first 20km and I only managed to catch a few again towards the end .

[kosmonooit]

Enjoyed the event, good to get some exercise and great to be in the bush with all the muted winter tones. I didn't mind catching up with the back markers on the 20/40k, good to see the new comers out and about, giving it horns. Who was Mr Fix It in the cow suit? good work there m8.

 

Didn't really enjoy that last loop around the mine: 4x4 tracks (climbs and descents) are really unpleasant to try and ride. Also gunshots from quarry shooting range was the dagger to my soul. And caged lions is sad to see.

 

Would be cool if the route actually past a view point of the original open pit mine

 

http://www.eightheartsdiamond.com/images/420_south_africa-cullinan_premier_mine_top_view.jpg

 

 

All things considered, we are lucky to have events like this to go and ride in the middle of winter.

[singletrek]

I'm still angry, how hard can it be to get this right!?!? FFS! They been doing this for long enough. It's simple, keep the different routes separate. Separate, separate, separate. Please Tim get this right next time.

 

We have stopped doing the Trailseeker series a loooong time ago. It's always bottlenecks, or poor marking, or knowledgeable locals taking short cuts, or messed up results.

 

It is probably fun for 2,400 fun riders, but there is just too much probability for things to work against your hard work.

 

Last year at Cullinan my son got a sponsored entry and we decided to give it another shot. So he raced his head off and finished in the top 3 (40km). Then they get some 25k riders in the mix with the 40k results. So we point it out to the officials. Then they fix it, but soon others get in through the same problem. Point it out again, but they don't fix it.

 

Eventually the prize giving became the next problem as he gets his category position, but not the overall position prize money. So, no prize there. But, I tell my 15 year old boy to chin up.

 

By Monday the results were an even bigger mess. There is a place on the results page with "results queries" which I politely filled in and pointed out my concerns in a gentle manner. No reply or response.

 

Totally lost interest in the series.

 

I still think it is a great ride for fun and more series fun riders and for the first few 70k riders. From there on things becomes a blur.

[River Rat]

I thought today's route was a winner. Fortunately for me I am no racing snake and other than the kloof there were no bottlenecks for me on the 70. This route was a lot tougher than last years and a whole lot more fun. I really enjoyed seeing some game for a change a stampeding herd of Wildebeest with some Impala intermingled and a sounder of warthogs, which I nearly hit ( see other thread). As for extra 5km I think they added the best riding to the end of the route so no complaints from me

[River Rat]

Sorry double post.

Edited July 6, 2013 by River Rat

[rattlesnake]

 

From C batch I did not see any bottlenecks and passing the 10/20/40 riders wasn't a problem at all . So you got a xtra 5 km for your money , how long have you been riding MTB races ? How many races has the correct distance . Get a road bike .

 

Guess it was about timing, maybe by the time u got there the bulk of the 20/40km riders were through already, it was a serious mess when we got there.

Some of us do train hard and push ourselves and do try get results. 10-15 minutes of chaos. I think my complaint is valid. Many of us enter these races for various reasons, and a good race organiser should cater for fun and serious alike.

 

 

"Get a road bike" - I got one and I race that too. And if you don't suffer on that bike then u ain't doing it right dirt-dawdler