Hairy Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Geez ok maybe advendurance have new equipment but I can promise you they are the country's beSt race organisers. I did almost all of the Ashburton series last year and it was a fantastic experience. My one year as a jozi resident today...was I this much of a whiner when I lived in CT?no you were less when in ct. .....
MTBeer Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Geez ok maybe advendurance have new equipment but I can promise you they are the country's beSt race organisers. I did almost all of the Ashburton series last year and it was a fantastic experience. My one year as a jozi resident today...was I this much of a whiner when I lived in CT?You okes in Joburg have so much to moan about that MTB races are inconsequential.
Meezo Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 We paid R240 for the 40km Half Marathon... #justsaying
Thor Buttox Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 My good friend did the 100km in prep for Epic. She is one of the most hardcore people I know - she was very, very unhappy when I spoke to her yesterday pm. Registration, water points with nothing but water, and then getting stopped at 70km for doing less than 10km/h when her and her friends were on 15.4km/h. Apparently they were all just laughing in frustration. (Yes this is hearsay, but it is direct from her)
Oakley360 Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Warning, serious rant below. This race was for sure the worst one I’ve done to date. There are a number of reasons, but let’s list a few of them here. Some of these issues may not be universally applicable but I still feel they played a role in the overall poor experience had by myself and many other participants. Note that I also did this event last year, and I loved it 1. Registration: I didn’t go to the registration myself this year, but my buddy who offered to stand in line for a group of us had a miserable time. Took him over an hour. From what I gather the tablet system was to blame. I guess that actually boils down to either using an untested system or poor planning and execution. 2. Loading of riders into start chutes: I started in B batch for the Marathon. I was there on time, but still didn’t manage to get in the chute before the gun went off. I estimate that a third of the batch was still trying to get in by the time the gun went off. Again, the tablets and scanners are to blame. There were only two guys loading us all in. When I did manage to get in the people were already putting up the tape for C batch. Surely management should have recognized the issue and delayed the start. 3. Water points: Three. I don’t need to say more, but I will. This was simply not enough for this race. And then when you got to them they had nothing. “Uh sorry, our water is done”. 4. Route: Hands down the most boring route I have ever done. Last year the route was awesome, in fact it was the reason I joined Tygerberg MTB club. This year it was the Tour de Sand. If I say there was 3km of singletrack I’m probably exaggerating. After 30km I was totally over it. 5. Post race area: It looked like the Ashburton clients had a brilliant time. If you were however, like me, not one of their clients you really didn’t have much choice. If you were very determined you would have found the small little table that sold some beer off to the one side. Thanks for alienating your potential cleints Ashburton. I don’t think I want to be one of your clients after that display.6. Results: uuh...All I get is an Error 404 page. It was not all bad though, the Biogen cooldrinks were actually quite nice, and I dig the free socks. The negatives unfortunately far outweighed the positives and I will not be doing any more races in the Ashburton series, ever. Wish I rather went for a ride with my buddies in Jonkershoek yesterday.I havent done any racing in about 10 years and only 2 weeks back got a bike again and to motivate myself I decided to entre this great race!! The registration was effortless as most of it was done online and all I had to do was collect a number- even asking the person for a seeding upgrade and happily getting it. I knew it is going to take some time so I got up early... The goody bag was much more than expected with 2 water bottles( mostly lost during the first descent), socks, energy bar and 2 gels...defnianly worth the worth bucks of entry fee already... Being early also allowed me to be on time for my batch loading and I was happily loaded first into the marathon B batch - the rest of the later A batch later joined the B batch - to be honest the guys could have had more people loading the A batch. Being my first race I was absolutely blown away by the awesome waterpoints- there was water, energy drinks, food, snacks and even doughnuts at some(expecting only water)- I mean if you want to complain, then get a camelvack and carry your own ****. I think one has to be self proficie t anyway and rely on these. I cant say much about the later guys that ended with no water....that is not nice. Route wise, probable not the best, but hey we are doi g this for fun right?! Post race- straight back to work- no opinion. Results is a bit lacking as I really want to know how my effort compares to others after many years of abbsence....one would think with all the scanners and tech you would receive a facebook notification and status update as you cross the line with your time and position....
CleatsnCleavage Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Tannie Cleats,..as daar n skrapie is, bly jy stil, as daar n snytjie is, plak n pleister, maar as die bloed spuit, dan maak jy jou bek oop ...the latter applies, wrt this event Standing up for Advendurance, I've done more of their races in the last year up here than they have brought to the Western Cape. Clarens, Dullstroom, Sabie plus most of the Nissan series. Its just *** to hear when they do events in CT things go wrong - markers removed at the first Nissan series last year etc. Im just saying when these guys do things they are usually the best in the game.
MarcL Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Warning, serious rant below. This race was for sure the worst one I’ve done to date. There are a number of reasons, but let’s list a few of them here. Some of these issues may not be universally applicable but I still feel they played a role in the overall poor experience had by myself and many other participants. Note that I also did this event last year, and I loved it 1. Registration: I didn’t go to the registration myself this year, but my buddy who offered to stand in line for a group of us had a miserable time. Took him over an hour. From what I gather the tablet system was to blame. I guess that actually boils down to either using an untested system or poor planning and execution. 2. Loading of riders into start chutes: I started in B batch for the Marathon. I was there on time, but still didn’t manage to get in the chute before the gun went off. I estimate that a third of the batch was still trying to get in by the time the gun went off. Again, the tablets and scanners are to blame. There were only two guys loading us all in. When I did manage to get in the people were already putting up the tape for C batch. Surely management should have recognized the issue and delayed the start. 3. Water points: Three. I don’t need to say more, but I will. This was simply not enough for this race. And then when you got to them they had nothing. “Uh sorry, our water is done”. 4. Route: Hands down the most boring route I have ever done. Last year the route was awesome, in fact it was the reason I joined Tygerberg MTB club. This year it was the Tour de Sand. If I say there was 3km of singletrack I’m probably exaggerating. After 30km I was totally over it. 5. Post race area: It looked like the Ashburton clients had a brilliant time. If you were however, like me, not one of their clients you really didn’t have much choice. If you were very determined you would have found the small little table that sold some beer off to the one side. Thanks for alienating your potential cleints Ashburton. I don’t think I want to be one of your clients after that display.6. Results: uuh...All I get is an Error 404 page. It was not all bad though, the Biogen cooldrinks were actually quite nice, and I dig the free socks. The negatives unfortunately far outweighed the positives and I will not be doing any more races in the Ashburton series, ever. Wish I rather went for a ride with my buddies in Jonkershoek yesterday. Hi I completely agree with everything you say!The course was ok but the registration process was a disaster and my race started 5 min before the advertised time.I too got the diverted from the Ultra, despite averaging 15 km. Not moaning about that as I was whacked anyhow.Water table were average at best and only had hot water. But the biggest let down was the finish area. VIP area was empty and us commoners were all fighting for no shade with no seating but all the seating in the VIP area was empty.If MTB'ing in not careful and only cater for the heavies, it will soon be a dying sport... And still waiting for results??? Hopefully this is a once off and the next one will be better....
BrandonF_ Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Standing up for Advendurance, I've done more of their races in the last year up here than they have brought to the Western Cape. Clarens, Dullstroom, Sabie plus most of the Nissan series. Its just *** to hear when they do events in CT things go wrong - markers removed at the first Nissan series last year etc. Im just saying when these guys do things they are usually the best in the game.I'm 100% sure you are speaking the truth for the events up North cleats ????,...but I'm only defending the "experience" we've had down South,...and yeah, maybe sabotage involved early on,..but this past weekend, at least, being total ignorance, preparation and perhaps missing, the welcoming psychological "over supply" of perceived value vs expenditure, that a Corporate National Event like Ashburton, can/should provide,..?..they have certainly fallen short of much less local involvement...
kosmonooit Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 I hope they didn't skimp on the VIP hosting...
Sidmouth Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Looks like a bit of a mess.https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/157287-race-fail-ashburton-meerendal-2016/
Godzilla Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Guys, everything was sh!t.The route was BORING AS HELL. What a joke of a route !The water points were also a joke....The last water point had warm water....no coke and hardly anything else.What happened to people who finished the marathon closer to 5 hours ?There must have been NOTHING there.R350 for that race was a proper RIP.Race organisers you FAILED miserably !!!I won t be back.
dillon Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Trailseekers towards the end of last year was a joke, I could not get an entry in time for this race, dispite phoning and emailing 2 weeks ago. Think advendurance needs to stick to what works, stop changing entry systems, clearly the 20% increase in entry fees is not to make things better....
SSCC Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 I hope they didn't skimp on the VIP hosting...Last year the race was great. This year it was like these guys had never run a Mtb race before. The route last year was fantastic. This year absolute rubbish. Perhaps the organizers refused to pay the local bike parks for access. Whatever the case this race was a major fail.
SCD Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Oi, I am getting worried now about my results if there ever are going to be any... When A batch started I was still dealing with the registration. Quickly then slipped into B-batch through a gap next to the chute. Now you guys are talking about somebody scanning the numbers, oups, ... I never ever saw that somebody and he for sure didn't scan my number
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