[Event] MTN National MTB Series #3 Tulbagh Driven By Nissan

[Jorrie]

So, here's a bit of an interesting twist. I

received my results via sms and verified it on

MTN site yesterday, and they've adjusted my

time taking into account (I assume) the A

bunche's detour, the winner Nico Phitzinmyer

(excuse the spelling) together with most of

the leading results were also adjusted by a

wopping 1 hour exactly...So why would the

organisors do this (unless its an error by the

timing system) if it was the riders mistake?

Were that sign not perhaps bumped over by

one of the Elite ladies taking the turn, and if

Nico was in the front, surely it would've been

easy for him to see the marker (had it been

there) Controversy controversy. ..who will

really know, imo if you change something,

you've accepted blame..

 

The first few riders of the A group took the right turn, it was the second bunch of riders that missed the sign. The timing of the 75km men (don't know how many riders) was out with 1 hour so they adjusted it.

 

Must say I'm not very impressed with the timing system!

My wife and the second lady in the 45km had an titanic battle for the top spot, she dropped the girl in the last 7km and in the end won by more or less 2min. While we were drinking coke the MC announced the winning lady in the 45km just arrived and named the 2nd girls name. My wife went back with her bike to make sure it was scanned, they scanned it again and it showed more or less a min slower than the 2nd girls time which put her in 3rd place. In the end they corrected it, but somewhere something isn't working properly!

 

My 7jr old son did his first race (the 20km) all on his own and still don't have a time! I received the timing sms Saturday for congratulating him with a time of 2hr58min for the 75km race! (Sorry Nico your ass got whipped by a 7jr old!)

 

Racetec isn't that bad afterall!

[WesselvdWalt]

Hi Wessel, great and proper MTB event!

 

Just one comment with regards to the results.

 

Not impressed to see my email, phone number and ID on the spreadsheet and now accessible to all.

 

Thanks.

That's a error on the timing side! have just requested them to remove it! - Thought it was just my copy i received!

[WesselvdWalt]

The first few riders of the A group took the right turn, it was the second bunch of riders that missed the sign. The timing of the 75km men (don't know how many riders) was out with 1 hour so they adjusted it.

 

Must say I'm not very impressed with the timing system!

My wife and the second lady in the 45km had an titanic battle for the top spot, she dropped the girl in the last 7km and in the end won by more or less 2min. While we were drinking coke the MC announced the winning lady in the 45km just arrived and named the 2nd girls name. My wife went back with her bike to make sure it was scanned, they scanned it again and it showed more or less a min slower than the 2nd girls time which put her in 3rd place. In the end they corrected it, but somewhere something isn't working properly!

 

My 7jr old son did his first race (the 20km) all on his own and still don't have a time! I received the timing sms Saturday for congratulating him with a time of 2hr58min for the 75km race! (Sorry Nico your ass got whipped by a 7jr old!)

 

Racetec isn't that bad afterall!

 

Please mail me so we can sort this out for you. So I can get to the bottom of this please thanks. Unfortunately this was the one weekend I wasn't at the event. wessel(at)advendurance.com

[BrandonF_]

The first few riders of the A group took the right turn, it was the second bunch of riders that missed the sign. The timing of the 75km men (don't know how many riders) was out with 1 hour so they adjusted it.

 

Must say I'm not very impressed with the timing system!

My wife and the second lady in the 45km had an titanic battle for the top spot, she dropped the girl in the last 7km and in the end won by more or less 2min. While we were drinking coke the MC announced the winning lady in the 45km just arrived and named the 2nd girls name. My wife went back with her bike to make sure it was scanned, they scanned it again and it showed more or less a min slower than the 2nd girls time which put her in 3rd place. In the end they corrected it, but somewhere something isn't working properly!

 

My 7jr old son did his first race (the 20km) all on his own and still don't have a time! I received the timing sms Saturday for congratulating him with a time of 2hr58min for the 75km race! (Sorry Nico your ass got whipped by a 7jr old!)

 

Racetec isn't that bad afterall!

 

I see they've rectified it,...damn! haha,...anyway, a friend of mine were also done in with his time where the guy that he finish with ended getting 9th and himself 15th..

[WesselvdWalt]

Timing:

 

The start time on the sms system was set a hour later than it should of been hence the 1hr difference. They only noticed it once the sms had gone out. They apologize for that and corrected the results asap.

 

Route marking:

 

We use two boards for indicating turns out of a road. This is pretty standard on the bigger roads at all our events. One board is placed 30m before the turn on the opposite side and one board at the turn next to the road on the side you are turning too. We can't place bunting there as vehicles need to be able to move in and out and it's worse if a bunting then possibly gets broken.

 

There were two batches ahead of A men who rode correctly through this point with no problem.

Batch A from 8th place followed a guy in front who missed this turn:

 

See pic.http://www.advendurance.com/images/forums/tulbaghboard.JPG

[WesselvdWalt]

Pretty sure Nico took the right way and pretty sure he won.Think it was just a timing error that everyone's time was out by 1 hr.Positions adjusted because they added the women into the mix.Agree I'm not happy about cell,mail and ID no all over the net.

Hi Wessel, great and proper MTB event!

 

Just one comment with regards to the results.

 

Not impressed to see my email, phone number and ID on the spreadsheet and now accessible to all.

 

Results have been updated with personal details removed.

[McD23]

If front guys got it right, and riders behind didn't, that's bad luck and not organisers fault.

Scoreboard doesn't have a comments section so you'll just have to tell your mates why you didn't win!

Has happened to me on more than one race , frustrating but that's racing.

[stringbean]

Thanks Wessel,on the ball.

[slabs]

Thanks.

That's a error on the timing side! have just requested them to remove it! - Thought it was just my copy i received!

 

Thanks!

[openmind]

Timing:

 

The start time on the sms system was set a hour later than it should of been hence the 1hr difference. They only noticed it once the sms had gone out. They apologize for that and corrected the results asap.

 

Route marking:

 

We use two boards for indicating turns out of a road. This is pretty standard on the bigger roads at all our events. One board is placed 30m before the turn on the opposite side and one board at the turn next to the road on the side you are turning too. We can't place bunting there as vehicles need to be able to move in and out and it's worse if a bunting then possibly gets broken.

 

There were two batches ahead of A men who rode correctly through this point with no problem.

Batch A from 8th place followed a guy in front who missed this turn:

 

See pic.http://www.advendurance.com/images/forums/tulbaghboard.JPG

 

There is no way I would have missed that turn if it was in fact marked like that when we went through. Even if I'm in a bunch, I check the markers myself. Jorrie said that he returned to the course after the error and fixed the markers before the B bunch went through, so there must have been something wrong, like a marker knocked over. And he lives in Tulbagh, knows the course and also took the wrong turn during the race!

 

I don't buy your excuse for no bunting - you could have put it up and then removed it once the marathon riders went through. Surely you can expect that a mistake like this can happen when there are more markers further up the "wrong" road for the short route? Also, your markers were not consistent - one moment we are following red boards with white arrows, then yellow with red and then white with black. Then finally after 4 or 5 km's of following the wrong markers, we see a 10km/20km route board indicating that we went wrong. And it was the majority of the bunch that went wrong - not just a few hot headed noobs that were following wheels instead of looking at markers.

 

I'm sorry, but I'm pissed off about this. It was sloppiness that could easily have been prevented, especially in a race as important as this one. Or maybe it's only the pros in the ultra event that matter?

[straatvark]

Timing:

 

The start time on the sms system was set a hour later than it should of been hence the 1hr difference. They only noticed it once the sms had gone out. They apologize for that and corrected the results asap.

 

Route marking:

 

We use two boards for indicating turns out of a road. This is pretty standard on the bigger roads at all our events. One board is placed 30m before the turn on the opposite side and one board at the turn next to the road on the side you are turning too. We can't place bunting there as vehicles need to be able to move in and out and it's worse if a bunting then possibly gets broken.

 

There were two batches ahead of A men who rode correctly through this point with no problem.

Batch A from 8th place followed a guy in front who missed this turn:

 

See pic.http://www.advendurance.com/images/forums/tulbaghboard.JPG

 

that's indeed the place and those signs were there when I turned around and backtracked. Not the organisers fault, but the first 1 or two riders that got it wrong.

 

Just a note: When I past there the first time, the sun was perfectly from the front, it was downhill and with the amount of dust I could only see the rider profiles in front of me and was actually worried about unseen potholes.

 

No complaints, maybe bigger/more/more than 30m away arrows might help on downhill dusty turns. (No complaints from me. the route killed me anyway)

[BrandonF_]

 

How can you miss that? I still stick to my words and say next time do the ultra.

 

Easy, just ad a dust cloud, 30+ riders and the front ox admiring the clouds above haha! No use crying over spilt milk, we got more than what we paid atleast, bargain!

[openmind]

I PUT IT TO YOU... THAT IT WAS NOT THEIR FAULT.

 

I disagree - I think they could have done better, especially seeing that there were more markers further up the "wrong" road for the short route. This was not an orienteering event, it was a marathon MTB race. I should not be expected to question every single turn I make or don't make.

 

And there is no need to shout.

[stringbean]

Ok,I'll own up,it was me.I skoped the sign over as I went past.Next time you slowbees make sure you ahead of me.

[Jorrie]

That photo was taken after I've been there. The second arrow stood a bit more to the right in the shade, which with the dust and sun in the eyes made it hard to see. I just moved it more to the left in the sun. So no one really to blame, when it was placed there in the afternoon sun, it was obviously much easier to spot and almost look impossible to miss. The big problem with that turn was that if you miss it, you're on the 20km route and you're not gonne know till someone tell you. Think the route markers learnt something, just hope the race survive so they can have another try!

[BlinkFan]

Love this event. Did prefer the April date from last year though.

 

Pity about the route marking. I started in 75 B, and guys in front of me also took the wrong turn but luckily turned around immediately. I can understand the frustration. Hope it doesn't negatively impact the race so we have it again next year.

 

Good waterpoints and a killer route. Singetrack. Technical climbs. Will be there next year.

 

My time wasn't recorded :-( But I guess if I come 95th it doesn't really matter either way.