Go West Cycle Tour ( 29/9/2013 )

[Escapee..]

Jammer om te hoor . . . Not fun and almost in the middle of nowhere . . .

 

Ambulance stopped and organised a lift for me, was back at the start about an hour later

[Canine]

I think taking the route through the Randfontein CBD without road closures were a big mistake. There were too many cars, not enough marshalls for all the intersections and the cars all but ignored the marshalls at the ones that were manned. Having to stop at a red light at this late stage of the race was not fun...

 

Heard of people getting lost through Randfontein as well.

 

Also agree that better advertising is needed.

 

...great potential as a race though.

[Karooryder]

Lots of work for CSA if this race will continue in future . . .

 

Good "raining ride" . . .

 

Mc Donands toilets worked overtime as there was no decent / any facilities close to start . . . (anywhere for that matter)

 

I saw a oomie taking a "dump" / pinching a "loaf" AKA bos-*** next to his vehicle . . . Not a good sight before a race.

 

Found myself with 2 okes down to Magalies . . . On the back end a group came past and I grabbed on and did my part to the end. (The marshal designated to our little group did real great job and then were gone by the time we got to Rantfontein) Almost had a nasty collision with a bmw turning straight in from of our group in Ranties.

 

Road closure or Partial road closure ? . . . ( Only the last 500 odd meters were closed )Apparently the Metro police did not show up ?

 

Wind as always made it difficult and slow times.

 

Managed a 3:11 , mmm , not to bad . . . I guess ?

 

Hey man, then we finished in the same bunch! Were you the guy that almost assaulted that BMW driver hahaha!

[SurferChild]

I completely agree... the route is nice and challenging but would need the additional marchalling. The bike guys did an amazing job in our group, and keeping peace between cyclists and cars.

 

The CBD was mahem though, with the amount of traffic... and people not knowing where to go. The last few km's was extremely challenging with the wind... Yoh!!

 

Full road closure.... Where? for the last 500m and that was it...

 

I saw a lot of video cameras take footage and such and CSA also mentioned that it will be aired on TV. Anybody knows when this will be?

[Prozac]

Hey man, then we finished in the same bunch! Were you the guy that almost assaulted that BMW driver hahaha!

. . assault . . . that's a strong word . . .

 

Well he drove right in front of us , I couldn't help using my arms . . .

 

o , ja , and yes it was me

[ER24 Road Rangers]

Hi there guys,

 

The race was also very challenging for us, trying to keep both cyclists and motorists happy was not easy, but luckily the roads was not to busy and only a handful of motorists being upset about the rolling road closure.

 

The foot marshals was a bit confused at times of where the cyclists needed to go which in turn made it difficult for us to get everyone back on the route again after turning around twice with the Elite Ladies group.

 

We believe that these are all teething problems and foresee this race to become a great one. Road Rangers also envisage to get more involved with event organizers with the training of foot marshals and marking of routes.

 

We will see you all again at this weekends Engen Race in PTA.

[Prozac]

Hi there guys,

 

The race was also very challenging for us, trying to keep both cyclists and motorists happy was not easy, but luckily the roads was not to busy and only a handful of motorists being upset about the rolling road closure.

 

The foot marshals was a bit confused at times of where the cyclists needed to go which in turn made it difficult for us to get everyone back on the route again after turning around twice with the Elite Ladies group.

 

We believe that these are all teething problems and foresee this race to become a great one. Road Rangers also envisage to get more involved with event organizers with the training of foot marshals and marking of routes.

 

We will see you all again at this weekends Engen Race in PTA.

 

Respect ! Very pleased with your service ! Thank you for keeping me and the other riders safe !

 

In our group , the Road Ranger Marshal was great and majority of vehicles abide by the requests !

 

Well done and happy to know you are at Engen Race !

[Karooryder]

. . assault . . . that's a strong word . . .

 

Well he drove right in front of us , I couldn't help using my arms . . .

 

o , ja , and yes it was me

 

Haha well done mate - yep that intersection was crazy and the BMW dude was just aspris! Btw I was the guy in the white-ish Sintesi kit on the Merida.

Edited September 30, 2013 by Karooryder

[Karooryder]

Hi there guys,

 

The race was also very challenging for us, trying to keep both cyclists and motorists happy was not easy, but luckily the roads was not to busy and only a handful of motorists being upset about the rolling road closure.

 

The foot marshals was a bit confused at times of where the cyclists needed to go which in turn made it difficult for us to get everyone back on the route again after turning around twice with the Elite Ladies group.

 

We believe that these are all teething problems and foresee this race to become a great one. Road Rangers also envisage to get more involved with event organizers with the training of foot marshals and marking of routes.

 

We will see you all again at this weekends Engen Race in PTA.

 

Thanks so much - the motorcycle marshal literally swept our group for the last 40km and did a superb job of safely getting us to the finish. Well done friend!

[Nettie R]

Was CSA the organiser of this event?

Strange how they lecture organisers how to present a CSA sanctioned event, but they can't get it right themselves?

I knew it was going to be disastrous if the Tour of SA spectacle is anything to go by.

And how do you offer full road closure but mention in the same breath the route wants to go through as many west rand municipalities as possible (at month end).

How will Joe Public know about the event if only a hand full cyclists knew about it?

Sadly it's more than just teething problems. If CSA can't even watch out for cyclists' safety, it's not worth giving this race another go.

Edited September 30, 2013 by Fester

[HairyLegs]

So in terms of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), they advertised full road closure but then did not provide it, do you think we could ask for a full refund?

[jvanstaden001]

So in terms of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), they advertised full road closure but then did not provide it, do you think we could ask for a full refund?

 

I was very disappointed about the road closure not happening as advertised. This is the only reason I entered this event. As a fairly novice rider I am not able to keep up with groups and most often find myself trailing behind in the distance. There were various times that speeding traffic came flying past me so close that the wind from these vehicles almost pushed me right off my bike. I really couldn't wait for it all to end.

 

Not one toilet on the whole route! I really was glad to be a male, but could see the anguish in a few female riders as they searched for a private bush somewhere along the route . . .

 

[Karooryder]

Any idea who the event photographers were? I'm generally not too bothered about race pics but it seems they too hundreds of shots from various spots and from their roving vehicle - some of which I think should be really awesome!