[Event] EWC Round 1 Hoogekraal

[Headshot]

I wish all trail builders in this country would go to whistler, Europe or even the UK to actually see and get inspired and do that stuff here. Sigh

 

Ironically those little jumps are much more dangerous that big ones. On a big jump where both wheels are on the face your bike just follows the natural arc. On little ones your rear is still compressing while the front is in the air.

 

Hence Buck!

 

Ok back to the event. Sorry for the hijack.

I tried to back off on those TT's and still got a bit of a shove in the pants from the back end. Need to get some practice in...Its either full commitment or they don't work. It looks like quite a few pinners managed to style it up on them regardless of the take off size though.

[TAAHIRWP]

I think those jumps need to be looked at TBH. The speed at which you hit them at doesn't correlate with the angle of the lips. By the time people got there they were pretty poked. I'm actually surprised more people didn't end themselves.

 

There were a few bits on stage two that were also a bit bucky. But maybe that's just me.

 

Aaaaand Que the "learn to ride properly" chirps from everyone.

 

Not that I know how to squash a jump, but ss2 stuff should be squashed. I don't think they were built to be jumped, at least that's what I was told. Launching there, and yoh could end up ending yourself.

[Headshot]

Not that I know how to squash a jump, but ss2 stuff should be squashed. I don't think they were built to be jumped, at least that's what I was told. Launching there, and yoh could end up ending yourself.

Yep, that stuff is scary - you arrive at speed to discover that the jump is not a jump at all. The landing is  a 45 degree up slope a few meters away. Would be good if the trail builder could work some magic there. With the right input that section and a few others could could be an awesome jump/flow trail.

[Thermophage]

Tygerberg! Please keep that off-camber section that was cut in like 30min with a weedeater! If you can't cut one somewhere else. It is soooooo freaking good!

[milky4130]

Tygerberg! Please keep that off-camber section that was cut in like 30min with a weedeater! If you can't cut one somewhere else. It is soooooo freaking good!

Oh crap I just got word that they actually berming it up as I type this 

[capediver]

Oh crap I just got word that they actually berming it up as I type this 

I doubt that this new section would last very long in it's current state ie raw, uncut with no benching....too much traffic will quickly rut it out and it will start cutting and widening out and lose it's character....pity because it was a hoot seeing who could hold their line on the reverse camber sections!!!!

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I doubt that this new section would last very long in it's current state ie raw, uncut with no benching....too much traffic will quickly rut it out and it will start cutting and widening out and lose it's character....pity because it was a hoot seeing who could hold their line on the reverse camber sections!!!!

It'll actually berm up naturally. As one huge rut. Glorious.

[Thermophage]

Oh crap I just got word that they actually berming it up as I type this 

hahah nou nie *** praat nie. Patrick was already yanking my willy with that on Sunday when i spoke to him

[capediver]

It'll actually berm up naturally. As one huge rut. Glorious.

That's what I meant....that will be a safety net.....as it is there are no berms to catch you and makes it more challenging to stay on course!!!

But I do luv berms so bring it on!!!!

[enduroist]

It was a nice touch, number of times in that section I closed my eyes thinking I'm going to hit the deck but to my surprise when I opened my eyes to my amazement I was still upright! A good combination of nerves and excitement.

[milky4130]

hahah nou nie *** praat nie. Patrick was already yanking my willy with that on Sunday when i spoke to him

????????????

[Morne Veer]

Flip, now I really want to go do it all over again !!!

 

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/enduro-western-cape--ewc-1-hoogekraal.html

[PhilipV]

I doubt that this new section would last very long in it's current state ie raw, uncut with no benching....too much traffic will quickly rut it out and it will start cutting and widening out and lose it's character....pity because it was a hoot seeing who could hold their line on the reverse camber sections!!!!

That section will be planted before the end of May. It's a grain field, and IIRC was rested this year, so don't be surprised if you see a tractor with a massive planter went through there.

[Sidewinder.]

I think those jumps need to be looked at TBH. The speed at which you hit them at doesn't correlate with the angle of the lips. By the time people got there they were pretty poked. I'm actually surprised more people didn't end themselves.

 

There were a few bits on stage two that were also a bit bucky. But maybe that's just me.

 

Aaaaand Que the "learn to ride properly" chirps from everyone.

Fully agree, the speed you get up to on some of those trails will send you into orbit if you don't squash. It's not all bad tho, the gulley which we didn't ride is perfect for high speed jumping...more of that wouldnt go unappreciated.

[Rushdee]

Stage 2 timing pod was working fine for a bout 30% of the field then the screen went blank so was swapped out with a backup pod but that pod was programmed to stage 7 (my mistake) and I hadn't written code for Stage 7 download yet. Obviously we can't work out cumulative results if only 30% of the field has stage 2 times and the rest don't.

 

It took me all day yesterday to do the coding to check the rest of stage 2 results (top 3 men and women remained the same btw) and hence why we scrapped stage 2 times to get results out at the event and on the day (one of the most important goals for us this year as well as the racers and sponsors).

 

Omitting stage 2 does not result in incorrect rankings because the race becomes a 4 stage race and not a 5 stage race, which is a decision left to the race organisers and is the worldwide standard when these kind of problems occur.

 

Hope this explains it clearly enough?

Many thanks for the info. Received a private message from the event organizer that included more info on the timing issue and an apology. Didn't see or hear the announcement of the decision at the race though and didn't see any publication of the decision anywhere (checked social media updates, etc). Did I miss it perhaps? And now this in the Pinkbike article:

 

"Accurate timing is one of the core elements of any race”.

 

The article literally doesn't mention the timing issue and goes on to say that previous timing issues (experienced at past races), was addressed. Clearly indicating that timing issues did not occur on the day.

 

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/enduro-western-cape--ewc-1-hoogekraal.html

 

Kindly advise/comment?

Edited April 25, 2018 by Stressed Eric

[PhilipV]

Many thanks for the info. Received a private message from the event organizer that included more info on the timing issue and an apology. Didn't see or hear the announcement of the decision at the race though and didn't see any publication of the decision anywhere (checked social media updates, etc). Did I miss it perhaps? And now this in the Pinkbike article:

 

"Accurate timing is one of the core elements of any race”.

 

The article literally doesn't mention the timing issue and goes on to say that previous timing issues (experienced at past races), was addressed. Clearly indicating that timing issues did not occur on the day.

 

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/enduro-western-cape--ewc-1-hoogekraal.html

 

Kindly advise/comment?

You do realise that the pinkbike article was sent in by Ewald Sadie, and not by the EWC committee?