[Event] Cape Agulhas MTB Classic

[NixM]

Bloodly hell my arm is so swollen from the bee stings, hope no one got stung who was allergic. Are race times going to online at all?

 

 

[Team Epo]

As hulle nie die roete gaan verander twyfel ek of hulle volgende jr weer so groot opkoms gaan he.Daar was net te veel sand die laaste 20km. Baie mense het blykbaar by Suiderstrand gestop.

[Johny Bravo]

Yeah just double checked the website. 60kms was supposed to be R150. They charged me R180. I tried to query it at the time but to no avail. I always carry my CSA license on me. Another reason I won't do this race again. For me as I have already said it was a major fail. I suppose we all have to learn as we move forward.

Geez I am glad I did not go. Any race with sand is a fail for me.

[leona]

No it said on the website 30 for late entry so that was right. Shoulda been 180 + license if u didn't have kne

[camelman]

Jip, not a great race in my opinion. Way too much sand and not enough of the "danger" stuff as mentioned before. I suspect the guys that liked the sand either did 30km, weigh 60kg or less or are into leather, latex and whips. I will just store it in memory as a hard training ride and school fees paid.

 

On the plus side the race was really well organised, from the registration to the finish. Big thanks to all the folks manning the water tables in the remote locations and being in good spirit all the time. Always ready to have a laugh and share a joke.

 

May I suggest the race move to Bredasdorp or Napier for next year. If there are issues with the number of entrants riding in certain areas, then just limit the field size. Much more "danger" in that area if memory serves me correct. I suspect that the area around Struisbaai and L'Aghulas does not lend itself to really nice tracks because of the sand. Just my 2 cents worth.

[Team Epo]

Yeah just double checked the website. 60kms was supposed to be R150. They charged me R180. I tried to query it at the time but to no avail. I always carry my CSA license on me. Another reason I won't do this race again. For me as I have already said it was a major fail. I suppose we all have to learn as we move forward.

Die mense wat my gehelp het was baie oningelig oor die CSA lisensie.Ek het myne ook by my gehad.Toe ek hulle vra of ek R35.00 afkry toe se hulle nee.Volgens Naas as jy nie n CSA lisensie het kos n laat inskrywing jou eintlik R215.Ek het wel net R180.00 betaal ,maar soos ek verstaan sluit dit die R35.00 in indien jy nie n CSA lisensie het.

[leona]

i totally appreciate that afrikaans is a very important part of south africa but it was a bit awkward having the whole briefing and prize giving in afrikaans. i don't speak a word of it so if anything important was said in briefing i didnt know about it. never experienced that before i must say. thankfully people were pretty good in prize giving to translate for me but mainly, i think its important that everyone can understand briefing!

[driewiel]

Guys and girls!! So many negative comments. Take the event in the spirit of a "holiday" event organise by a group of first-timers. CSA licensing is always an issue. We all knew sand would be an issue, thats why the "clever" riders picked the 30km. Afrikaans is the main tongue in this neck of the woods. Focus on the great day out and a good excuse to be on your MTB.

[Soldier Boy]

Good morning,

 

I'm not one to complain much but this was the worst mountain bike race ever!

 

At the pre-race briefing the speaker mentioned a sandy section of the 60km trail and said that while it may be sandy it wasn't unrideable. He also spoke about the sandy bits as if it was a very short section of the course.

 

Everything was going great for the first half of the race then we hit the first climb. At the top of this climb, the sand was so loose that it was unrideable for MOST of the people doing the 60km race.

 

We then expected this sand fest to come to and end but it just continued. We hit the beach and after that it was loose sand for 95% of the time all the way to the finish.

 

I honestly thought that it was some kind of joke. Perhaps Naas Vermaak and his cronies sat around a table asking "how can we take 700 people for a fool simultaneously?" "I have an idea - let's have a mountain bike race virtually no single track, 2 really "awesome"danger sections and with more sand than the Sahara Desert". Honestly guys please tell the truth and tell people exactly how much loose sand there was. The last 15kms was nothing but loose sand. maybe some light guys and girls managed to ride it but most of us just sank into the sand and I'm not really that heavy.

 

When I started the race until the first climb I thought we're doing well. we could do this in under 3 hours but alas I ended up walking for more than 2 hours.

 

This Naas Vermaak just could not possibly be a relative of Kevin Vermaak. When I saw the Vermaak surname I thought good shot. But was I disappointed!

 

I honestly do not think you guys should host another mountain bike race again. I don't think many people who did this race will be back anyway.

 

One thing - the medals were fantastic!

[Slowbee]

Good morning,

 

I'm not one to complain much but this was the worst mountain bike race ever!

 

At the pre-race briefing the speaker mentioned a sandy section of the 60km trail and said that while it may be sandy it wasn't unrideable. He also spoke about the sandy bits as if it was a very short section of the course.

 

Everything was going great for the first half of the race then we hit the first climb. At the top of this climb, the sand was so loose that it was unrideable for MOST of the people doing the 60km race.

 

We then expected this sand fest to come to and end but it just continued. We hit the beach and after that it was loose sand for 95% of the time all the way to the finish.

 

I honestly thought that it was some kind of joke. Perhaps Naas Vermaak and his cronies sat around a table asking "how can we take 700 people for a fool simultaneously?" "I have an idea - let's have a mountain bike race virtually no single track, 2 really "awesome"danger sections and with more sand than the Sahara Desert". Honestly guys please tell the truth and tell people exactly how much loose sand there was. The last 15kms was nothing but loose sand. maybe some light guys and girls managed to ride it but most of us just sank into the sand and I'm not really that heavy.

 

When I started the race until the first climb I thought we're doing well. we could do this in under 3 hours but alas I ended up walking for more than 2 hours.

 

This Naas Vermaak just could not possibly be a relative of Kevin Vermaak. When I saw the Vermaak surname I thought good shot. But was I disappointed!

 

I honestly do not think you guys should host another mountain bike race again. I don't think many people who did this race will be back anyway.

 

One thing - the medals were fantastic!

While this may be your first post, I suspect that you know the guys personally, or have some other connection to the hub, so welcome.

 

As others have posted, this was a first time event for them. So allow for a bit of a learning curve. Rather than criticize, why not give advice and help them make it better.

 

I gather you will be volunteering your time at the next event ?

[TALUS]

Although I have no direct involvement in the race, I do feel a bit protective about it since I have a holiday home here and will greatly benefit from a race around this time of the year in this neck of the woods. Afrikaans being spoken was never to insult anybody - I think a little bit of respect for the fact that this is a 100% Afrikaans area is in order. I dare you to force an Italian/ Swiss/ French area to speak a diferent dialect on your behalf. I guarantee you that everyone was more than willing to help/ translate. Am I wrong?

Yes the route was not ideal for most of us. Large parts (from where you get on to the beach) forms part of the Lighthouse to Lighthouse and then comes after 10k of sand already (this is 80k into the race). Next day you do it in reverse. Can be done. The first part (including the beach) was fine and represents riding in the area. The trouble was the part from the pallets off the beach up to the climb up the "white road". An alternative for this must be found. The climb is a well known feature of the area. Clearly Naas wanted to show the views from the top and include some riding through fynbos. Sadly this was way too much sand after the first part. Alternative routes excist but every year riders complain that the bigger events include too much dirtroad riding. Maybe Naas was trying to avoid that.

Yes I agree: way too much very loose sand. Change routes.

But the organisation was definitely on par with the big races up country.

I really hope this can be fixed too make the race stronger

[Team Epo]

Weet iemand wat was die wentyd vir die 60km ?

[TALUS]

Rondom 3 ure

[TALUS]

 

I agree 100%. Not being Afrikaans myself I certainly did not take it as offensive I just didn't understand a word and I didn't like that. I did not enjoy most of the route. That is my problem and mine alone. If i don't enjoy the route I am not going to have a good day out. So for me it was not worth it. I did think the rest of it was very well done. The water points were great and I managed to share some good humour with most of the people attending them. For me it was very far away as I don't have a place out there and I don't like sleeping away from my home if I don't have to.

Not every person will enjoy every race. That is clear. I hope they manage to find a better route next year as I think it could be good fun if you don't run out of humour walking in the sand!

Hi copperhead

I actually rode up to a guy and started chatting to him about the Hub. He was quite confused and didnt know what I was talking about - turns out there was more than one Bulls Copperhead in the race....Still have not met you. Next time.

[TALUS]

Did 3:39. I stopped and fixed a nice blond ladies cleat (she came in 2nd) or we may have ended together! Yes it was the Strongman competition going on. You make it sound so vulgar to get drunk at the beach...I did it anyway.

[leona]

i don't mean to offend anyone, i completely respect that some areas are predominately afrikaans but given that english is also a main language here, i thought the briefing should have been in english. i can't expect someone to stand there and translate the whole thing for me! probably best i didnt know about the sand though..