my review on Sani2c vs Berg & bush vs W2W

[dirtrider]

Nice to read reports like this . But I see you have failed to include the best and cheapest stage race currently . The Three Towers must be one of the most affordable and enjoyable races I have done in years . Every year they listen to whatever complaints etc the riders may have and actually do something about it .

[GLuvsMtb]

Havent done W2W ... but Done 5 B&B's and 2 Sanis ....

 

Wouldnt go back to Sani - even with a free entry ... not my style of riding and just too congested IMO ... I hate standing in queues to have a poo in the morning!

 

B&B has always been good - but again after this year I am getting the feeling that all the riding over these trails with J2C and all the other big races has forced the event organisers to "dumb down" the trails ...

 

B&B cannot be beat for organisation and food/water tables and vibe ...

 

But it appears to be going the same mass participation route that Sani did with numbers having doubled in the last 2 years ....

 

I will have to really think if its worth spending all that cash (R3500 - 2 day event) to ride with the wife and get stuck in singletrack when we could spend that each and go on our own custom made bike tour.

When last did you do Sani? With the 10 minute intervals between start times the morning rush is spread over 12 start groups (i.e. 2 hours from the first batch to the last batch). I rode 1 year in the Adventure ( F seeding throughout) and 1 year in the race (I seeding throughout) and never had major trouble with congestion on the trails, for a shower or for a pooh.

 

I would scrap the rider briefing the night before, podiums etc as this congests the dining area. Have the podium 30 minutes after the 3rd team in a category finish, record the ceremony and simply play a highlight package throughout dinner. That way you can eat at your own leisure. They can also do away with the habit of riders keeping seats for friends, who end up eating at another table. Its very frustrating to wander around with your Jolivet Steak getting cold and seeing 4 out of 10 chairs turned over to keep space for friends.

 

I would be tempted to do W2W as I would save on travel cost, but I can ride most of the trail out of the race. Lourensford, Oak Valley, Cluver, Hemel en Aarde, Grabouw, etc are all available out of the race. With Sani2C you don't have that privilege, which makes the experience even more rewarding knowing that apart from a few pre race recces and the J2C crowd no one else is ripping up the trails in your absence.

[Rudi Pollard]

Nice to read reports like this . But I see you have failed to include the best and cheapest stage race currently . The Three Towers must be one of the most affordable and enjoyable races I have done in years . Every year they listen to whatever complaints etc the riders may have and actually do something about it .

 

I have to agree with you on this. Three Towers might not be as far as the others in this thread but the non stop climbing in that Lowveld heat is a killer. The single tracks on Three Towers is some of the best I've ever ridden!!!

[Ohmsie]

enjoyed both the S2C and W2W this year. S2C day 2 unbeatable views down Umkomaas and they give a lot back to the riders.

 

W2W 3 days of great riding and enjoyed the more technical stuff and one tent per rider.

 

Must however say that unfortunately it is getting expensive to do the S2C when travelling from Cape Town.

 

And please to organizers of both events, this year there were just to many riders! Your facilities cannot accommodate all of them!

[nigelhicks]

When last did you do Sani? With the 10 minute intervals between start times the morning rush is spread over 12 start groups (i.e. 2 hours from the first batch to the last batch). I rode 1 year in the Adventure ( F seeding throughout) and 1 year in the race (I seeding throughout) and never had major trouble with congestion on the trails, for a shower or for a pooh.

 

Yeah to be fair it was a while ago ... 2010 was the last one in the rain ... after blowing 4k on my bike to rebuild it after 3 days of riding i vowed never again!

 

Main issue i have with Sani is actually the trails ... Fair enough there is some cool singletrack and Day 2 into the Umko is really cool ... But again from a Downhillers perspective ... I would like to ride trails that had a lot more rocks, roots, and cambers in them - the perfectly manicured bench cut singletrack is cool - but its becoming too prevalent in our races today IMO ...

 

The Cape have lots of cool rocky trails which im sure are a JOL to ride ... but again (and Im talking about myself, my wife and my riding mates specifically here) ... we look for gnarly trails to ride that are not groomed to perfection ... and if you have these in a mass participation stage race ... you as an organiser are just looking for *** as this type of trail often has little to no flow in it due to its tech nature.

 

Also the last time we did Sani it took us almost and hour to wash our bikes each day, then we stood in queues for food and the bog (in the rain - not the organisers fault) and just got miffed and said enough is enough ...

 

Thats why for a rider like myself - I am thinking of rather getting someone like Detour Trails to custom make an "Enduro-style" tour for us in Lesotho where we get shuttled to the top of a massive pass and then have to ride back down 1000m or so for lunch - then get shuttled back up again and do the same thing down another pass in the afternoon ...

 

But thats just me ... because i am not into marathon-type events where you ride for 100km a day and see how much you can climb. hahaha

[Polo]

Nice to read reports like this . But I see you have failed to include the best and cheapest stage race currently . The Three Towers must be one of the most affordable and enjoyable races I have done in years . Every year they listen to whatever complaints etc the riders may have and actually do something about it .

Technically the Lighthouse to Lighthouse must be the cheapest stage race at R550 for two days - just bring your own tent!

[Dubber]

And please to organizers of both events, this year there were just to many riders! Your facilities cannot accommodate all of them!

 

Interesting statement that: we did the W2W ride (weekday event) which I believe was only about 60% full. We didn't have any issues with queues on the trail or in the camp. But that said, there didn't seem that much more space to accomidate another 300 riders. So, I imagine, a full quota would have had the campsite stretched to the limit.

[jcza]

Back from W2W race and it was awesome! I understand there was 600 teams but I never queued once and never waited anywhere out on the trails. Will defintely be back.

 

I have done B&B, J2C and 3 Towers.

 

My rating is as follows:

 

1. W2W

2. 3T

3. B&B

4. J2C (haven't done S2C)

[taito]

So if I read correctly does the W2W run out of one basecamp for 3 days?

 

What is the entry I might give it a go next year.

[Dan Dob]

Glad to see there are people starting to go the 'book your own tour' route. Get a bunch of your mates together, stay in quality B&B's and ride the trails that suit you and race against each other without the queues!

 

I rode the W2W this wknd and had an absolute blast but still bleak that

a: there wasn't more tech trail (even though it's harder trail than most stage races) and

b: Even though we were in the top 30 teams, I still had to dawdle behind riders that couldn't ride switchbacks

c: that I wasn't strong & fit enough to overtake them before every trail

 

By the looks of a few threads on thehub, it looks like there are quite a few people that are looking to ride/race on gnarlier trails, which is great news - Who's going to team up with us to start hosting these type of events?

Edited November 11, 2013 by iRide

[jcza]

So if I read correctly does the W2W run out of one basecamp for 3 days?

 

What is the entry I might give it a go next year.

 

Yes - start is at Lourensford and then camp is at Oak Valley for 2 nights. Finish is in Hermanus.

[Dubber]

So if I read correctly does the W2W run out of one basecamp for 3 days?

 

What is the entry I might give it a go next year.

 

Yep - like jcza says. I think entry was round the R8400 per team for tented accomidation.

[MTBeer]

So if I read correctly does the W2W run out of one basecamp for 3 days?

 

What is the entry I might give it a go next year.

R8500 per team

[Stretch]

have done the natal ones...next years sani will be my last...had enough of it

 

I rate BnB better than Sani...just because of the trails

 

My Sani partner has done W2W and he reckons the facilities and catering are WAAAY better than Sani

[rouxtjie]

Not really interested in any of the 3 day classics...prefer joberg2c if I want to do those.

 

There is one exception to the rule....mankele three towers. Love that race.

[DJR]

Did Sani and W2W. Enjoyed both.

 

Sani is quite a logistics operation if you are based in the Cape

Had perhaps too much dirt roads in it

Loved 1st half of day 2

Hated 2nd half of day 2

Liked the reverse start on day 3

 

W2W is so easy logistically for us Capies

Loved the large percentage of single track

Loved especially day 2

Loved the more technical single track

 

Both were more or less equal when it came to:

Organization, camp site, food, goodie bags

 

Both were brilliant for the friendly crew and locals supporting

 

Done my share and will also in future organize my own events for a few mates, or even better, get iRide to do it for us.