[Event] Die Burger MTB Challenge

[Smurfy]

I see Smurfy got infected by Dips. 

     

[HDW]

I know its been said before here, but it was a great race. The 60km route was awesome, and starting in B I never had a single bottleneck. Respect to the organisers who worked in a lot of single track compared to other mass participation MTB events. Having ridden the race for 4 years in a row now, one can easily see how it has improved. So thank you.

 

Agree with the timing system though. I know of a couple guys who have exceptional times on the 60km route (top 30 finishers), because they took the 42km turn off. I don't get why there wasn't a tag point after the tunnel on the 60km route, as there always used to be?

[SCD]

My (Garmin & Strava) time does not compare to the trailtag timing as well. It looks like the first 7 guys on the 60km list all took the 42km route though....

 

A common misconception is caused by your device and especially Strava showing your "Riding time" or "Moving time". The standing time is cut out. The race timing system will record your time from start to finish. Your hanging out at the water points is all included. So this time will inevitably be longer...

[Niner]

I KNOW THIS RIDER VERY WELL. BELIEVE ME HE IS AS HONEST AS THEY COME. A TRUE GENTLEMAN. I PASSED HIM UP THE BACK OF PAPPAGAAI AND HE WAS STANDING WITH CRAMPS. HE DID NOT DO IT IN THAT TIME. THERE MUST BE A GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM.  DONT TAKE ANYTHING AWAY FROM HIM, HE IS A MONSTER ON A BIKE.  

That is what I was saying....I am sure something went wrong. 

I was suggesting that he might have take a shortcut, not to cheat but cause he was having a problem. I have don't it and reported to the organiser when I got to the end.

 

Was not saying he was cheating at all......

[Smurfy]

That is what I was saying....I am sure something went wrong. 

I was suggesting that he might have take a shortcut, not to cheat but cause he was having a problem. I have don't it and reported to the organiser when I got to the end.

 

Was not saying he was cheating at all......

Did not think that at all, was jusy stating a fact incase someone tries to pull him apart.

[Rouxenator]

Does the 60km in 1 hour.

How you ask?

 

 

[dev null]

2 guys did the 30km in about 30mins too.  They must have had something else for breakfast.

[Smurfy]

I see that the first 7 riders in the 60km got a better time than Mathew Lombardi who won the race. The second placed guy is 56years old and clapped it as well.

Mathews time is more realistic.  Heinrich did a 4:10 and not an Hour as trailtag suggests.        I need some of that water for the Baviaans

[Boejbanelli]

According to Amarider, for the 50km woman's race, the podiums were awarded to first 3 riders home regardless of what batch they started in...not the fastest 3 riders. That's very disappointing for the people that sat around waiting for prizegiving because the "live" results showed them as being fastest. Although this sucks...it is satisfying to know that within the first 5 riders, were a 16 (2nd) and a 17 (4th) year old that rode their hearts out and beat the 2nd and third place podium ladies...as well as the rest of the ladies field. They should have been on the podium but weren't due to this silly rule. Well done to them!

[Pure Savage]

According to Amarider, for the 50km woman's race, the podiums were awarded to first 3 riders home regardless of what batch they started in...not the fastest 3 riders. That's very disappointing for the people that sat around waiting for prizegiving because the "live" results showed them as being fastest. Although this sucks...it is satisfying to know that within the first 5 riders, were a 16 (2nd) and a 17 (4th) year old that rode their hearts out and beat the 2nd and third place podium ladies...as well as the rest of the ladies field. They should have been on the podium but weren't due to this silly rule. Well done to them!

 

This comes back to the poor timing system that they use. If they had used ractec, the ladies would have been seeded in a proper group and thus would have been on the podium.

 

After a little bit of stalking on Racetec  , both these ladies would have probably been seeded in the first bunch of the 50km if it was timed by racetec.

 

(Could not check the individual results on the trailtag site as it does not have this simple functionality.)

 

On a side not, its rather sad to see so few ladies in this age group riding, as noted by the age group sizes on their racetec events.

[wessie12]

I see that the first 7 riders in the 60km got a better time than Mathew Lombardi who won the race. The second placed guy is 56years old and clapped it as well.

Mathews time is more realistic.  Heinrich did a 4:10 and not an Hour as trailtag suggests.        I need some of that water for the Baviaans

I am one those 7 riders...Was very surprised to see my time after doing the 60km. My wife did the 50km and her time was 01:30 slower. I suspect our timing bands accidently got mixed up. I did report it via email to trailtag...is getting a lot of flak from riding buddies..sorry but no special water

[Rouxenator]

I am hearing a few different versions of a bike jacking that took place on the race yesterday. One version of a close friend claims it was a girl from Wannabees that got bike jacked on Botmanskop and another from a source closer to the event claims it was a girl that got bike jacked on the Wannabee trails (50km rider). Now both of these stories seems to be unconfirmed rumours at this stage however be aware that they are doing the rounds.

[Pure Savage]

I am hearing a few different versions of a bike jacking that took place on the race yesterday. One version of a close friend claims it was a girl from Wannabees that got bike jacked on Botmanskop and another from a source closer to the event claims it was a girl that got bike jacked on the Wannabee trails (50km rider). Now both of these stories seems to be unconfirmed rumours at this stage however be aware that they are doing the rounds.

Even on the hub there have been 3 different stories.

[Rouxenator]

http://www.amarider.co.za/burgermtb/siteContent.php?cid=206 

 

A woman participating in the 50km event was confronted by a man wielding a knife who, after threatening her, stole her bike. As organisers we are all very grateful that she was not injured.
The incident took place during the 10th running of Die Burger MTB Challenge.
Organisers were alerted via the emergency line that a suspicious man was spotted in the Faure sector of the route. The sector manager was immediately dispatched to the location to assess the situation. The area is covered in alien vegetation making it very difficult to spot any culprits.
The sector manager remained in the area during which time we got no further reports.
Whilst patrolling the area, the sector manager responded to her calls for assistance and could transport her to one of our roving route managers who brought her to the finish area. There she was placed in the care of the event co-organiser and staff while we waited for her husband (also riding) to finish.

As background, the event uses 11 Sector managers with vehicles to manage the various sectors of routing that need to be covered. Each route arrow is rechecked on race morning and the sector managers are tasked to ensure that the course is safe.

A lot of opinions are currently being aired about the event’s responsibility in ensuring rider safety and to what levels the event should go to ensure safety.
It is a well known fact that cycling events are targeted by criminals. Up to date this has been restricted to petty crime in and around parking and event staging areas. 

For this year’s event we employed 32 security guards to prevent theft from vehicles. These are not car guards but security staff from a registered security company.
On top of the 32 guards, we had 25 trained car guards from the Stellenbosch parking meter management team.
In one incident, for example,  a man approached the car guards offering each R1000 in cash to move from the area to allow him to target cars in the area but was dealt with the security team.

As organisers, we deal with multiple event related incidents during the day, managed through a central venue operations centre.

In terms of the incident in question, we must at this stage look at what has to be done differently to ensure something similar does not happen again.
It is certainly not expected that an incident of such extraordinary nature would happen while a large event takes place considering the volume of participants and focussed event planning in execution.
Again, this type of incident has never happened on our event, or similar events, before to our knowledge. We view this incident in an extremely serious light and are working hard with the Stellenbosch authorities to prevent similar incidents in future.

It is tremendously frustrating that many months of planning and a stressful week of setup has to be tainted by an incident of this nature.   As an immediate measure we have decided to find an alternative venue for a large 1500 rider event we are hosting in the same area in September.

DIE BURGER MTB CHALLENGE

[Boejbanelli]

This comes back to the poor timing system that they use. If they had used ractec, the ladies would have been seeded in a proper group and thus would have been on the podium.

 

After a little bit of stalking on Racetec  , both these ladies would have probably been seeded in the first bunch of the 50km if it was timed by racetec.

 

(Could not check the individual results on the trailtag site as it does not have this simple functionality.)

 

On a side not, its rather sad to see so few ladies in this age group riding, as noted by the age group sizes on their racetec events.

Although Racetec is also not a good gauge...Regional marathon series is Nissan trailseeker (advendurance) and Provincial marathon champs is Great Time – Grevile Ruddock...so yes Racetec might help with your Argus..but not for the races that count towards provincial. These girls that came 2nd and 4th don't do many Racetec events because they are focused on what counts.

[Aaron_B]

If they didn't cross the line 1,2 and 3 they didn't come 1,2, and 3. AFAIK there was some sort of seeding taken into consideration. Those who were serious enough would have contested said seeding to get a better start time to contest for a podium.

 

Unfortunately, if you started in Z and got a faster than time than A, it doesn't affect the outcome. Winners are first three across the line.