ag nee---DOME 2 DOME

[NotSoBigBen]

Enjoyed the MTB race, no problems, not the most exciting course ever but hey I left without falling and all skin intact. The same can't be said for my son! Mistakingly rode with a 'rain coat' on. Flip the sweat was pouring down the arms so badly that I eventually had to remove the gloves as they were soaked. After the 3rd lap removed the jacket and it was OK!

 

Nice to see Ewep, Slowpoke, Dirtrider and Chilli Pepper (DR you were correct ) at the finish.

 

MichH - Were you in a really bad mood? Saw you rushing through the exit door at the Dome afterwards, waved etc. but no reaction!

[Chilli Pepper]

Nice to see Ewep, Slowpoke, Dirtrider and Chilli Pepper (DR you were "correct ) at the finish." - about what?

[snapshot]

Jy is reg grapkas jy het niks gemis nie..

 

 

[MichH]

Aw BigBen so sorry to miss you! And I would never purposefully ignore you, I'm just sometimes blonde and can only focus on one thing at a time (at that time it was not falling off as I went up that ramp!). Just ask slowpoke, I drive her mad!

 

I had a terrible race, dragged my sorry @$$ across the line after more than 5 hours had elapsed. So by the time you saw me, all I wanted was a hot shower, chocolate and bed!! That's probably why I was so distracted!!

[snapshot]

Ja slowpoke, Chilli Pepper dankie vir die lekker chat..

[dirtrider]

Well I can not tell a lie ,  I said to BigBen he must go and check it out cause we got another lovely lady (SP) from The Hub sitting at the beer tent .

Team SL ask SP and she will tell you that I can stay very clean if I want to !!

[NotSoBigBen]

CP - Wasn't sure how I would recognise you but DR said just look out for the babe test riding the Merida!

[steve]

I thought the MTB race was a joke. The route was a bore with riders having to stop for traffic (twice). Some competitors ignored marshalls and rode on the tar instead of pavements. Some took shortcuts to miss the quarry section (I saw two riders!!). Most by-passed the so called man-made technical section in the carpark.

 

The distance was very short, the finnish was a non-event and I never saw any medals - I was expecting the finish to be in the dome so saved a bit of voema for the spiral ramp.

 

The only good thing was that there was no dust!!!

[dirtrider]

 I was lucky not to get stopped for anything . I also saw a few riders sticking to the tar but I overtook them on the dirt (so they stayed out of my way ) . It is not one of the great races around but I did enjoy the little bit of single track and downhill we had . You had to continue around the corner if you wanted ur medal and cold drink (Roadie medal !!) . We also missed a Dome finish but did our own sprint up the ramp and down again after the race just for the hell of it !! Total distance was 3km short of advertised which is fairly close for a MTB event .

[louiso]

Just to add a bit about the Dome to Dome.  I think this was the most dangerous and unorganised event I ever witnessed, this is more than the chaos with the elites and includes the other racers and fun riders. We pay a lot of money to participate in a race like this and should not except such low standards. The first part of the race, and I don't refer to the weather, this is not planned, was not too bad. In the second part where the traffic increased and the shorter rides joint the longer race the marshalling was non existend. The Jhb Metro police officers was sitting in their cars allowing the chaos to continue and the few marshalls available did not really know what to do and how to controll the mass of cyclist and normal traffic heading their way. I believe there is enough venues away from the busiest roads in Jhb (Hendrik Potgieter, Christiaan de Wet) where races can be held - we as cyclist must demand that our safety is more important than the profit from such events.

[snah2]

I note on Cyclingnews.co.za that the main marshall at the crucial finishing straight turn says it was not his fault........it was the referees fault........en toe vloek hulle mekaar.....

[Cruxpearl]

Hmmm... Interresting.... Indeed.... Put's a different perspective on the Finish alltogether....

 

No marshal error? at Dome - Wynand de Villiers

After much deliberating about the previously published ?marshal error? that led to a couple of front runners in the PowerAde Dome2Dome Cycling Spectacular going the wrong way, the marshal in question has shed much light on the matter.

A little known fact is that the particular marshal was in fact not just another marshal. It was Wayne Hinsch, chairman of Cresta Wheelers and a respected local businessman. Hinsch was the planner behind the route and in charge of route logistics on Sunday. 

?I wish to place on record that there was no marshalling error at all at the left turn from Northumberland Avenue into the Dome finishing area,? he said.

?I personally controlled that point, which was a challenge to be sure, and managed to safely get all the cyclists through correctly, with the exception of some of the elites.

?In attempting to avoid the race referee, Koos van Tonder on his motorcycle, who was blocking the correct lane, these elites turned 3 metres too soon and found themselves on the wrong side of a traffic island before entering the parking area.

?As the marshal, I instructed Van Tonder to move his motorcycle as he was impeding the approaching elite bunch, to which he screamed that he was the race referee and I must just do my job.?

?I will be lodging a formal complaint in this regard, as the Chairman of Cresta Wheelers, to both Central Gauteng Cycling and Cycling South Africa and expect a suitable formal retraction and public apology accordingly.

?I have also since been informed, that a similar altercation occurred between this individual and a marshal on duty on Nic Diederichs, a particularly challenging section of the route,? said Hinsch.

[slowpoke]

hmmm, what i experienced (and i went through well before the elites) and what i am planning to say to my club chariman is that 1 individual (him) was standing in the correct spot but if he had looked at them for even a moment instead of concentrating on me and getting me to see HIS directions (which luckily was his focus) he'd have seen that the others at that spot weren't clear at all that the turn was on into the right hand side. i ALMOST turned too soon myself but i heard and saw his instructions in time. i do agree though that the other individuals' reported behaviour is inexcusable - when at a marshalled point everyone must listen to the marshalls IF they are giving (understandable) instructions.

[IanJ]

I beg to differ with Mr Hinsch, when I approached the left turn there was no clear indication of where to turn and when I mistakenly took the first turning they did nothing to try and stop me or call me back.

 

Only when I reached the bottom of the road and the MTB course did the marshalls tell me I was on the wrong side of the road and I then had to dismount and cross the centre island.

 

The marshall at the bottom of the hill said to me I was not the first and that the marshalls at the turn "were stupid".

 

[Jedi]

When I reached the left turn at the Dome, the marshall actually stepped across towards the right side of of the road, completely opening up the slip way to the left.  There were people coming up the lane in their cars from the church.  If it had not been for a lady (I don't think she was an official  marshall) screaming at me to go down the right hand lane, I would have taken the slip way because as I was cycling towards the marshall he wasn't blocking that lane and it looked like the logical place to turn ... but we all live to cycle another day, which is something to be grateful for.

[IanJ]

Slowpoke: Can you please forward the two posts above (mine and Jedi's) to Mr Hinsch for comment (seeing as he denies all responsibility).

 

Maybe they should be sent to Cycling News too (anyone know Wynand de Villiers email address).

IanJ2006-09-18 11:37:04