SA's most technical MTB race?

[MORNE]

LOL. What will they come up with next? Dual direction manicured single track for a tar road?

 

Speed bumps can be super technical, especially those rubber ones or the steel half balls! Don't tell me you've never slipped a wheel while turning or putting down power on a painted road marking!

Considering the amount of people on 100k bikes that cant even jump a non mountable curb at speed...riding "dual direction manicured single track" can be as technical as you want to make it I guess lol

[stefmeister]

Would be interesting to hear what qualifies as "technical" ....

 

 

 

Maybe a few videos for us newbies of "technical sections" ...

 

As some like to say, if you ride it fast enough anything is technical.

However, I'd like to think that a trail is classified as technical when it's challenging to difficult even at slower speeds. Of course, your WC pros will always ride those tech bits at speeds us mere mortals would consider impossible. So it's all relevant and arbitrary I suppose.

 

What is not technical is smooth, manicured single track, bermed corners everywhere and blaming fatigue or lack of fitness on it. Just because it's single track doesn't make it technical. I remember a few years ago, the word single track was such a buzz word for event organizers. 

 

Steep gradients, off cambered ST, switch backs without berms on steep descends and rocks gardens all form part of tech features.

Drop-offs and jumps aren't really what I would consider tech features for XC. While one should be able to read the trail ahead and be able to still ride it blindly as fast as possible, jumps and  drop-offs require some existing knowledge for the less experienced rider. I wouldn't want to ride off something and not know what is on the other side of the landing. That's for freeride.

[spy]

Was wondering why it took so long for someone to mention Tankwa ?!

The whole of day 2 plus the decent after Merino really did a number on my body.

 

I felt like I was inside a washing machine

 

jip , Marino is spectacular but day 1 with off camber  single track littered with Rocks and the "Quad" wide single track in the beginning with step-ups takes so much energy out of you , 3rd day has lots of sand sections too . Tankwa must definitely rank as one of the top 3 technical 3 day stages races in SA.

[Christie]

My measure of technicalality = level of concentration needed to ride that part.

 

Based on that measure, Origin of Trails as a multi-day is my nominee.

[porqui]

My measure of technicalality = level of concentration needed to ride that part.

 

Based on that measure, Origin of Trails as a multi-day is my nominee.

 

Yep!

 

To me "technical" is where you have to apply your mind to clear a section.

[RocknRolla]

I almost cried when I got to the top of the monster after all of this.

 

Me at the finish... and then I wee'd a little as my cramping legs climbed into an icebath.

[Hairy]

Our Beer Friday Cycle Commute home can get technical..........

[RocknRolla]

Coffee in the morning, beer in the afternoon, Hairy, you certainly are one of my heroes.

[openmind]

Our Beer Friday Cycle Commute home can get technical..........

Post of the week!

[Hairy]

and busy eating the sourdough bread I made this morning before work

 

 

Coffee in the morning, beer in the afternoon, Hairy, you certainly are one of my heroes.

 

[Pieter1]

and busy eating the sourdough bread I made this morning before work

Not bad!

[Pieter1]

Coffee in the morning, beer in the afternoon, Hairy, you certainly are one of my heroes.

Hahaha! That race changed me as a person.

[DieselnDust]

Our Beer Friday Cycle Commute home can get technical..........

True story

[openmind]

I have been wondering, Do we have a proper technical mountain bike race in SA? I don't mean enduro, which we obviously do have and they are loads of fun, but rather a one day or multi day race that has some seriously technical terrain as the main feature?

 

I've done the Piket-bo-berg race, which was fun and had tons of single track, but it wasn't all that technical. Origin of Trails is probably the closest thing I can think of in terms of a more technically challenging race. Is there anything else out there that is on par or maybe more challenging?

 

As many have said, the harder you race a course, the more technical it gets. Perhaps the way to phrase the question is "what races are there where the technical nature of the course is a serious factor in the outcome" (vs. fitness, luck, etc), i.e. your result is significantly influenced by X, where X = how much risk you are prepared to take / how much skill you have." 

[BigToe]

Me at the finish... and then I wee'd a little as my cramping legs climbed into an icebath.

I sold my hardtail a week after the original Monster and went Dual.

[SwissVan]

Me at the finish... and then I wee'd a little as my cramping legs climbed into an icebath.

Wee’ing in an ice bath is like farting against a thunder storm.... only your shorts feel warm for a second or 2