Karin Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 My 17 year old son wants to start doing stage races. Most races have a minimum age restriction of 19. He was thrilled to realize he can do Jozi2Kozi and promptly entered (still need to pay though). He will be doing it as a solo entry. I need some advice from the experienced Hubbers please. Do I let him do it or not? He's a strong rider that does well on long distance rides. Is it a good, well organized race?Will he be ok on his own?Any advice will be appreciated. Not to mention that 700km in 7 days sounds like a ridiculous amount of time to spend on a bike....
madmarc Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 mmmm Jozi2Kozi as a first stage race for a 17 year old SOLO. personally i think its more a mental strength he will need over a physical one. You know your son better than we do so thats the question, is he mentally strong enough to do it on his own so to speak? We know there will always be other riders around him but having a partner (the right partner plays an important roll) I've seen a lot of older riders in deep dark holes on some stage races, it's their partners who get them to the finish line. Another concern i would have, does he have a fairly good mechanical skills to do repairs on the trail, and does he have the organisational skills to prepare his junk every day after a hard ride for the next stage. Personally I would convince him to get into a 3 or 4 day stage race before taking on something bigger. maybe Berg n Bush Descent or even the 2 day there's also Dusi2C (2 day) and the Lowveld Quest ( 4 day and cheaper) and isn't the Sani2C age limit 16 (excluding the race). Of course you could always do it with him
Karin Posted January 8, 2015 Author Posted January 8, 2015 mmmm Jozi2Kozi as a first stage race for a 17 year old SOLO. personally i think its more a mental strength he will need over a physical one. You know your son better than we do so thats the question, is he mentally strong enough to do it on his own so to speak? We know there will always be other riders around him but having a partner (the right partner plays an important roll) I've seen a lot of older riders in deep dark holes on some stage races, it's their partners who get them to the finish line. Another concern i would have, does he have a fairly good mechanical skills to do repairs on the trail, and does he have the organisational skills to prepare his junk every day after a hard ride for the next stage. Personally I would convince him to get into a 3 or 4 day stage race before taking on something bigger. maybe Berg n Bush Descent or even the 2 day there's also Dusi2C (2 day) and the Lowveld Quest ( 4 day and cheaper) and isn't the Sani2C age limit 16 (excluding the race). Of course you could always do it with him Thank you for the comment. He's fairly strong mentally (for now at least) but I am concerned that when the pain and fatigue sets in he might not be as strong as what he thinks he is. It's a lot of money to pay for him to give up halfway, but knowing his fierce competitive personality, he will not give up. His mechanical skills are ok, he works at Cycle Lab on the weekends and will brush up a bit just to make sure. Another thing I forgot to ask is that he has hardtail (Scott Scale 960), will he be ok on that? I definitely don't have money for a new bike as well. He would love to do Berg and Bush or Sani2C but both are already fully booked. 3Towers has a Mncane race specifically geared at the 16 to 18 year olds. I will definitely enter him for that when entries open. I could never keep up with him so would not even attempt it. He's trying to convince his sister to train up and do it with him but she's gone no further than 10km on a bike and the two of them will fight so much they will never get off the starting line, hahaha.
VicanZA Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 700km solo, better to find him a partner, ask him to speak to one of his mates. On those days that u dont wanna ride and u have that other person counting on u it makes a big difference. Have you looked at route 66, its cheap and local.
Andrew64 Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 It is a long hard ride, a lot of the riding would be on his own. After day three it will be a buddy that has done the training with him that will pull him through. As madmarc said start with a two or three day stage ride. But with the right attitude and training it can be done and the support guys are brilliant.
Nibali Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 As a youngster myself, I wouldn't recommend doing a 7-day stage race as a first one. It's a whole different ball game than racing marathons. I did my first stage race last year (B&B 3-day) and even though I was proper fit and took it slow with my dad, I was drained at the end of the race. I'm looking at doing a few 3-day stage races first before making the step-up to a longer one and would suggest that your son maybe do the same. Maybe he can team up with one of the club guys at Cycle Lab and do the B&B next year (entries only open start of April). As everyone has said, it's better to have a partner doing it with you, it's never lekker to go through Mordor on your own.
Stretch Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 solo through the dry heat and the hills of zululand......yikes...he would need some serious mental strength there. i would recommend you take a drive of the route first because those last few days will be torture
Pusher Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 Thank you for the comment. He's fairly strong mentally (for now at least) but I am concerned that when the pain and fatigue sets in he might not be as strong as what he thinks he is. It's a lot of money to pay for him to give up halfway, but knowing his fierce competitive personality, he will not give up. His mechanical skills are ok, he works at Cycle Lab on the weekends and will brush up a bit just to make sure. Another thing I forgot to ask is that he has hardtail (Scott Scale 960), will he be ok on that? I definitely don't have money for a new bike as well. He would love to do Berg and Bush or Sani2C but both are already fully booked. 3Towers has a Mncane race specifically geared at the 16 to 18 year olds. I will definitely enter him for that when entries open. I could never keep up with him so would not even attempt it. He's trying to convince his sister to train up and do it with him but she's gone no further than 10km on a bike and the two of them will fight so much they will never get off the starting line, hahaha.I agree with the suggestions that he rather do a 2/3 day race first. Keep your eye on the hub, Sani2C entries do become available but you need to be quick to grab them.
Karin Posted January 8, 2015 Author Posted January 8, 2015 700km solo, better to find him a partner, ask him to speak to one of his mates. On those days that u dont wanna ride and u have that other person counting on u it makes a big difference. Have you looked at route 66, its cheap and local.Route 66 has a minimum age limit of 19. I thought that would be ideal for his first one as it's around the corner from where we live! I'm going to slack off work a bit today and see if I can find any other stage races that are not fully booked for him to do.
shawn Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 Berg and bush would be perfect and if you are quick on the button you will get in when they open the entries in April.
I FLY Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 We rode this race in 2013. Most of the riding was on district (gravel ) roads and the route was reasonably marked. However 100kms a day on a MTB is never easy. We had a mixed bag of weather - very cold 1st day and very hot for the rest of the race. Headwind on all days. There was a group of development riders on a wide range of reasonably low end bikes. They seemed to have a jol. If it was my son I would follow the previous recommendations about starting with shorter stage races
Cejay Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 Hi ProudMom,personally I would not enter my 17 year old (if I had one) into such a long stage race,the demands physically and mentally could be a bit much. I believe the Mncane is the right way to go,he will be amongst his peers and can compete to his hearts content and have fun while doing it.. My 2 cents
Slakkepas Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 Dont overestimate your sons capabilities, there is a reason for the age restrictions. And I think jozi2kozi let this one slip.
Stretch Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 I have been told that one of the reasons for the age restriction is not a case of ability but rather a case of the effects that stage races have on bone development or something like that - as the ages between 15 and 20 are when a lot of growth happens...I also understand it is more crucial in females than in males.. would be interested if someone knows the full story edit: quick google brought me to this http://www.brianmac.co.uk/children.htm
JanVilj Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 Would advise shorter stage races for starters, most definitely. Storms River Traverse (3 days, August) or Dr Evil Classic (September, 3 days plus Karoo2Coast as optional 4th day) would be better. Both are still available.
Karin Posted January 8, 2015 Author Posted January 8, 2015 Would advise shorter stage races for starters, most definitely. Storms River Traverse (3 days, August) or Dr Evil Classic (September, 3 days plus Karoo2Coast as optional 4th day) would be better. Both are still available.These all have a minimum 19 age restriction.
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