arendoog Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 Had a blast, crashed like a boss but nothing broken. Started early & had the first cold one before 9. Thx Mike, Ross, Chukky, Escapee, Travis, shaper & everyone else. Great day out. Need more SkilZzz & trainingYou gonna bring your skiZZ to the now boring Bestmed road event on Saturday ?
Barry Stuart Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 The course was awesome. The section that eventually led down to the cemetery was loads of fun and the red bull rollercoaster section too once the crowd had moved on. The water stations were a cock up and there could have been more lights in the tunnel but the organisers can't do much about hackers that want to walk every root and step off.
extremez Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 The course was great, but the seeding was crap as too many inexperienced weekend warriors caused the bottlenecks and didn't understand the concept of a race. There should have been a lot more refreshment stands, I don't think that was fair or correctly organized.
BMC - VTown Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 Very interesting route except the tunnel could have have more lighting, that was very dangerous in there, also saw some bad accidents in the water drains, that green slim was like ice, saw two guys hurt very badly.Bottlenecks were expected with all those riders and added about an hour to the ride if you started further back.A water point at the end was non existent - boo to the organizers , not like you didn't have the cash to arrange this.
jcza Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 You gonna bring your skiZZ to the now boring Bestmed road event on Saturday ?For sure, see you there!
Patchelicious Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 I love how we are always experts on the costs and profits of other people's business's. If the cost to ride is worth it then do it, if not then don't do it again. But do not try and make it sound like their business is that easy. If you could put together a whole business plan as the OP did in one paragraph and it's so easy, then you do it, oh and do it at cheaper price if you can. I could not ride, but was there and spoke to lots of people who all had a blast and could not believe that such a route could exist right here under their noses.
BMC - VTown Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 Ha ha ha eina, got a stunning shimmano tattoo at the bottleneck stop before the RedBull water point - accidentally touched my rear red hot disc, kept me alert for the rest of the day.
Pieter1 Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 The course was awesome. The section that eventually led down to the cemetery was loads of fun and the red bull rollercoaster section too once the crowd had moved on. The water stations were a cock up and there could have been more lights in the tunnel but the organisers can't do much about hackers that want to walk every root and step off.That piece before the cemetry was my highlight! Those tech lines were super fun.
madmarc Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 The race concept was great, the entry fee was high, but probably worth it for the experience to ride in areas we never even knew existed in Gauteng.My biggest issue was the lack of medical personal in the Canals. lots of ridders had serious falls on that section. they should have known or assumed that being that slippery it was a huge danger point. A guy from our club fell and farctured his hip...he waited for an hour for medical assistance....thats just not acceptable. The water points were piss poor with only the 1st one having water, the next one with only Red Bull and the 3rd one on the spruit with some brand of energy drink i never heard of. I had enough water but some back markeers were in serious trouble. Then at the finish....no water again !!!! not even to buy. Otherwise a lekka day out on your bike.
hayleyearth Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 You are right, and it was a bit of a whinge, but don't you also just get tired of being ripped off? I saw dozens of riders wiping out badly due to some really foolish course design, in spite of this thing being a big money spinner for the organisers. They did advertise it as being "a challenge", not a race. I think the course was great. The people riding it however has made me not want to be called a 'cyclist'.
Guest notmyname Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 They did advertise it as being "a challenge", not a race. I think the course was great. The people riding it however has made me not want to be called a 'cyclist'.Hahaha. That bad hey. Sounds like people were expecting a critical mass kinda ride.
sometime Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 So many whiners, so many experts on what it takes and what it costs to put a racellike this together. If you can do better for cheaper then please do. Else you're just another keyboard expert. Don't like bottlenecks? Learn some skills, get fit and start in the front batches. No bottlenecks just fast, hard (plenty of falls too) fun racing. Don't want to get the skills or fitness? Then you must accept the reality of a race like this and relax at the inevitable delays. Still not happy? Then don't enter the race again.
hayleyearth Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 That piece before the cemetry was my highlight! Those tech lines were super fun. I was shocked to see that people were actually walking in the 'difficult' line. Why didnt they just take the 'easy line' from the start? ai ai
Rotiringer Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 So many whiners, so many experts on what it takes and what it costs to put a racellike this together. If you can do better for cheaper then please do. Else you're just another keyboard expert. Don't like bottlenecks? Learn some skills, get fit and start in the front batches. No bottlenecks just fast, hard (plenty of falls too) fun racing. Don't want to get the skills or fitness? Then you must accept the reality of a race like this and relax at the inevitable delays. Still not happy? Then don't enter the race again. Well said. The amount of complaining and whining on the HUB can be depressing.
Letum911 Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Awesome ride!!! The tunnel had enough light to be safe. The biggest problem for the day was the rider's skill, or lack thereof. I had a guy unclip bot pedals and jam on brakes for a bump in the road (hump was compacted and about axle height)! I bonked at about 40km (not enough snacks with me, was bargaining on the 2nd water point, but that could easily have been avoided by carrying a banana, so my fault). The average weekend rider had 0 skill, can't ride up or down the bridges, bumps, drops, rocks etc. If they didn't stop to contemplate life and then push the bike over a more than rideable section there would be no bottlenecks!
rudi-h Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Race entries - approx R2 million (R375 per 52 K - VERY EXPENSIVE)Hollard sponsorship - R1.5 million Other sponsors? who knows how much more these okes milked out of this race Income: minimum R3.5 million Costs:Prizes - R370,000Goodie Bags - R0, absolute rubbishCourse build? The half-baked course design with a few scaffolds (some of which failed early on), but lets be generous, lets say R500,000Marshalls - these were not marshals, they were people paid to stand (in most cases lie) around looking disinterested, certainly contributing in no way to race flow, pointing out dangers etc etc - minimum wage stuff - prob cost less than R20,000 in totalwater tables/refreshments? a DISGRACE - 1 minging water table at 16K, nothing else, not even at the finish - cost? R1000 at the most. This was the most startling, as you cannot attribute this to a first time race mistake - races always have water/drinks at multiple points. Even children know this Profit: well over R2 million - lekka business This whole thing was a racket. The course was designed by amateurs, with unbelievable bottlenecks after the first 3 groups. Even for a first attempt it was poor. I saw more injuries in this race than in many other series such Nissan Trailseekers, etc etc over a whole year. Amazed that Hollard put their name on this - pretty cr@ppy marketing if you ask me you seem like a sad-assed d!ck dude. what other people make is their business. I enjoyed the ride and I enjoyed the vibe. I'll pay R350 bucks for it next week again if I could. Maybe you should go complain to your mama, she'll listen. of course its not perfect and of course there are bottlenecks (duh, what did you expect with 5000 entries...) but still a good effort, well organized and I enjoyed the ride
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