[Event] Stellenbosch MTB Challenge

[RustyHWR]

As my 8yo son and 10yo daughter's first ever MTB "race", they had a blast.  The mud and river crossings were so much fun for them.

 

What made it awesome from my point of view was how many people (especially those on the 50km race who blasted past us) shouted encouragement to both of my kids.  Almost brought a tear to my eye.  I had a good cackle at one lady who said "how awesome, daughter and dad date", and then someone who said "Amy will be proud" (He was wearing a BreakAway shirt).  One gent had to do some rapid avoiding action as my son veered in front of him in the mud, nearly causing a fall, but all good.  Just a smile and a wave.

 

The camaraderie was amazing.  I'm just sorry to the guy who I tried to help with his bomb that got stuck and I emptied his tyre of sealant. I hope you managed to finish.

 

Events like this make it great for me to be a dad of kids taking up the sport.  

 

And the organization was excellent.

 

WhatsApp Image 2019-07-28 at 10.41.00.jpeg

Your daughter was flying on the one downhill.

[dev null]

I thought last year was only a 'break' from the normal / previous routes...seems like they're sticking with this format, though...a pity, IMHO.

 

Did it last year. Did not bother with it this year. Too much sand last year.

Edited July 29, 2019 by Moridin

[MORNE]

it was wet enough for the remaining sandy bits not to matter....was nicely compacted all the way through the morning.  They did apparently cut some of the sandy bits out too (the announcer mentioned it).

Was fun and enjoyable...not too difficult. As mentioned in my other thread though...I was miffed that there were not marshals at the second river crossing...even fust to indicate the depth of it. Approaching it "first" (or alone) in you group and not knowing how deep it was caught many people off guard and was potentially an unsafe scenario. That second pond was popper knee deep and a few people took a swim with their bikes fully submerged after falling off in it lol

Edited July 29, 2019 by morneS555

[Rouxenator]

I actually enjoyed the sand last year, just one more terrain you are missing out on if you join the Cleatside Boys. 

 

But no sand this year sadly. 

[AllAboutRides]

Bring back Eikestad Venue and routes of DIE BURGER MTB CHALLENGE !!!!!

[AllAboutRides]

As my 8yo son and 10yo daughter's first ever MTB "race", they had a blast.  The mud and river crossings were so much fun for them.

 

What made it awesome from my point of view was how many people (especially those on the 50km race who blasted past us) shouted encouragement to both of my kids.  Almost brought a tear to my eye.  I had a good cackle at one lady who said "how awesome, daughter and dad date", and then someone who said "Amy will be proud" (He was wearing a BreakAway shirt).  One gent had to do some rapid avoiding action as my son veered in front of him in the mud, nearly causing a fall, but all good.  Just a smile and a wave.

 

The camaraderie was amazing.  I'm just sorry to the guy who I tried to help with his bomb that got stuck and I emptied his tyre of sealant. I hope you managed to finish.

 

Events like this make it great for me to be a dad of kids taking up the sport.  

 

And the organization was excellent.

 

WhatsApp Image 2019-07-28 at 10.41.00.jpeg

 

I remember the 3 of you, awesome to see this and encourage them from young age!

 

Was one of them cheering them on, congrats to all of you!

[Rouxenator]

Bring back Eikestad Venue and routes of DIE BURGER MTB CHALLENGE !!!!!

Doubt that will happen again. The town of Stellenbosch has ousted all cycling events, and there were many, Die Burger (road and MTB), Medallion, One tonner - to name but a few.

 

One thing they could do is have a longer and more technical route that goes under the R44 and take on some of the Eden trails. 

 

In the end it comes down to running a well organised event that is profitable. Remember in 2017 there were no sponsors and Dirtopia pulled off the last "big" format Die Burger all on their own. Moving the ride to Spier causes less traffic issues in Stellenboch while still being profitable. 

Edited July 29, 2019 by Rouxenator

[Dadbod Racing]

As my 8yo son and 10yo daughter's first ever MTB "race", they had a blast.  The mud and river crossings were so much fun for them.

 

What made it awesome from my point of view was how many people (especially those on the 50km race who blasted past us) shouted encouragement to both of my kids.  Almost brought a tear to my eye.  I had a good cackle at one lady who said "how awesome, daughter and dad date", and then someone who said "Amy will be proud" (He was wearing a BreakAway shirt).  One gent had to do some rapid avoiding action as my son veered in front of him in the mud, nearly causing a fall, but all good.  Just a smile and a wave.

 

The camaraderie was amazing.  I'm just sorry to the guy who I tried to help with his bomb that got stuck and I emptied his tyre of sealant. I hope you managed to finish.

 

Events like this make it great for me to be a dad of kids taking up the sport.  

 

And the organization was excellent.

 

WhatsApp Image 2019-07-28 at 10.41.00.jpeg

 

Well done, I was standing next to you when you guys registered. 

 

Hopefully when my girls are a bit bigger they'll join me too. 

[Dadbod Racing]

I entered the 22km, 50km would have been too much for my buddy so I rode with him all the way. 

 

 

Kudo's to the guy who nearly wiped out in the mud, not sure why the kid in front of him hit anchors but holy **** would he have been pissed off had he went into that mud patch face first! 

 

     

[KingZA]

The ride was awesome and I enjoyed the slight route changes from last year which cutout the sandy sections. The bike parks were also a major improvement on the year before so well done the the organisers on that.

 

I've got 2 gripes which leaves me in two minds about entering next year...

 

The food and beer at the finish was stupidly expensive. R 50 a beer and R 50 a boerrie roll is crazy. I had my family come out for the finish and the money I brought was gone in the blink of an eye. It's fine having vendors that charge that but then give us some choice with other vendors who price their goods reasonably and cater for a family.

 

Lastly the fact that I wasn't allowed to walk with my son and my bike back to the car via Spier is just plain stupid. Instead they force us to walk the long way round through the muddy path that everybody took to get to the start/finish. I'm pretty sure that somebody walking with their bike after the majority of people have already left is not going to deprive another individual of their great Spier experience.

[aquaratza]

It was fun ride, much easier than I was expecting (I'm not complaining), I loved the climbs    but:

 

- they directed a lot of cars into the mud - my friends had to help push my Polo out of the mud.

- the water points had a lot of sugar and not much else, maybe I missed the potatoes ?

- they stuck photographers on sections where everyone piled up  but when it came to the EPIC RIVER CROSSING where my shoes got soaked there was no one  to capture the *magic*  hahahaha, oh well, gopro next time.

 

I avoided the food/family thing afterwards. FLEEEEE

 

Generally it was a nice event  but I think the Tygerberg MTB Club has spoilt me... I get amazing views and pristine trails every time I leave the house.

 

I'm pretty new to this MTB race thing but I'm surprised no one has come up with a solution to people bunching up at single track climbs.

Edited July 29, 2019 by aquaratza

[dev null]

Doubt that will happen again. The town of Stellenbosch has ousted all cycling events, and there were many, Die Burger (road and MTB), Medallion, One tonner - to name but a few.

 

One thing they could do is have a longer and more technical route that goes under the R44 and take on some of the Eden trails. 

 

In the end it comes down to running a well organised event that is profitable. Remember in 2017 there were no sponsors and Dirtopia pulled off the last "big" format Die Burger all on their own. Moving the ride to Spier causes less traffic issues in Stellenboch while still being profitable. 

 

Yet they want all the overseas MTBers to come to Stellies for the awesome MTB routes around Stellies. They want their bread buttered on both sides.

[Slowbee]

Doubt that will happen again. The town of Stellenbosch has ousted all cycling events, and there were many, Die Burger (road and MTB), Medallion, One tonner - to name but a few.

 

One thing they could do is have a longer and more technical route that goes under the R44 and take on some of the Eden trails. 

 

In the end it comes down to running a well organised event that is profitable. Remember in 2017 there were no sponsors and Dirtopia pulled off the last "big" format Die Burger all on their own. Moving the ride to Spier causes less traffic issues in Stellenboch while still being profitable. 

Do you know why Roux?

[Karman de Lange]

Big issue is cost. Typical one farm access for event is about R30-40k. (STB used to go over 4/5) Add R10k per police managed crossing. All sudden you need massive sponsors to just to brake even, let alone make money.

 

There simply no big sponsorships (500k+) to make big events happen so everyone is going where they can still make money.

Edited July 29, 2019 by Karman de Lange

[wessie12]

Big issue is cost. Typical one farm access for event is about R30-40k. (STB used to go over 4/5) Add R10k per police managed crossing. All sudden you need massive sponsors to just to brake even, let alone make money.

 

There simply no big sponsorships (500k+) to make big events happen so everyone is going where they can still make money.

Charging event organisers R30-R40k for access is ridiculous. What is so special about Stellenbosch? I know for a fact that land owners in the Overberg does not even ask a fraction of that even for events like Epic, W2W etc. I am speechless

[Jaco-fiets]

Just a little rant: Why did the e bikes start with the seeded groups? Don't think I hate anything more than a e-bike in a race. Let them start before everybody. Don't see why you want to do a race on a e bike anyway.