City Cycling Athletic Club Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 i'm trying hard to understand the large increase in race entry fees by certain organisations yet this weekends road & time trial champs in the west cape charged R150 for each event and you received a discount if you entered both. methinks we are being taken advantage of by certain organisers.
Gerry Hattrick Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Yep, the corporate sponsors are causing a rift between MTBs. Think that Farmer Glen is right in ditching Old Mutual from Sani to sea. Sounds like the race was a disasterEr, wasn't that Nedbank?
GLuvsMtb Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 i'm trying hard to understand the large increase in race entry fees by certain organisations yet this weekends road & time trial champs in the west cape charged R150 for each event and you received a discount if you entered both. methinks we are being taken advantage of by certain organisers.Its supply and demand. If all goes well and there is perceived value, we pay with a smile. If things go pear-shaped, this happens. I would still pay R300 for an event with limited numbers (i.e. Less bottle necks) than R150 for events with double the number of entrants, provided that everything runs smoothly. Now here is where the real opportunity lies. I remember the first Gravel Travel. It was a total mess, but the organizers acknowledged this, asked for feedback and came back the following year with one of the best events I've been to.
Skubarra Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 methinks we are being taken advantage of by certain organisers. We have loads of options in the WC, if you are being taken advantage of by organisers it is your own fault. Out of the top of my head I can think of at least 3 other races that happens on the same venue with similar routes during the year. That said, last year the Meerendal race was fine & I didn't see any complaints from the Nissan Trailseeker end of last year by same organisers at same venue - sad to see that they got it wrong this year.
Lexx Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 I'm so glad Baberton XCM is doing great even after MTN/Ashburton dropped then a couple years ago. Never once did I hear about any problems whatsoever. Ashburton can def learn from them.
cadenceblur Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 I would like to hear some form of a response from the organisers. Let's see tomorrow.
milky4130 Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Guys do yourself a favor & search for this events thread from last year, Same popo just a different year. They had 365 days to improve on their failings from last year & chose to give you the middle Finger instead. So glad I opted Not do this event.
gtr1 Posted January 31, 2016 Posted January 31, 2016 Glad I didn't fly to CPT to ride like I did last year :-)
Skubarra Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 Guys do yourself a favor & search for this events thread from last year, Same popo just a different year. They had 365 days to improve on their failings from last year & chose to give you the middle Finger instead. So glad I opted Not do this event.Last year the issues were more with permissions re the route with landowners & club? Not so much the logistics on the day? Did the race last year & 2x when it was hosted at Tulbagh without problems. Again, disappointing to see problems like this.
Spank Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 It is important to E mail the organizers with complaints/suggestions, otherwise you will sit with the same problems next year.Feedback is crucial
cadenceblur Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 Their Facebook page has feedback in line with we see here.
Matchstix Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 Money, money, money as long as they can make it they really don't care in the end. It's seems most events these days only(but just barely) care about the top 5 and that's more or less it.
Ryanpmb Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 I don't get this racing thing. WTF is the point?With you. Get a bunch of mates together and head out for an adventure sans mass-crowds, water points & corporate attitude.
City Cycling Athletic Club Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 We have loads of options in the WC, if you are being taken advantage of by organisers it is your own fault. Out of the top of my head I can think of at least 3 other races that happens on the same venue with similar routes during the year. That said, last year the Meerendal race was fine & I didn't see any complaints from the Nissan Trailseeker end of last year by same organisers at same venue - sad to see that they got it wrong this year.you'r quite right - which means the Durbie Dash and the Bouckaert Soenen wont see me again as it is the 99'er hasn't seen me since they moved the venue from their school.
koukie Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 2016 To OP, your rant echo my thoughts exactly. I could not agree more.
gpaul Posted February 1, 2016 Posted February 1, 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. Can't agree more. Registration shocking. Chute loading shocking. What are they going to do with the times for all the guys still outside the chutes when the gun went off? Times, o right. They're not out so it does not matter. Get some proper technology guys, please. Scanning every rider is so yesterday.
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