Salty Biker Posted October 21, 2019 Share Sad to hear someone passed away. My condolences to the family I did the 35km fun ride with my girlfriend and a friend of mine. Was the first participation in the shova for me and the first cycling event my girlfriend has ever done. We all enjoyed it, although we felt very sorry for those that were doing the longer rides and had to deal with the heat Can't complain about how it was organized. Didn't expect more than an open, clean road and something to drink at the water points, which was what I got. Not sure what more I could've asked for. Sorry to those who ran out of water and I agree that the water points should've planned for more water if they ran out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted October 21, 2019 Share My only issue at first was the late start times for the 106km, but you have to see it from the event organisers point. They have to accommodate the two shorter routes. I started in VA group, which started at 7:05. We caught lots of people, who had started in the shorter events. When we caught these slower people, we noticed so many people wearing way too much clothing. People wearing buffs, long pants, arm warmers (not UV sleeves) and jackets. Standing at the finishline waiting for my club mates to finish, we notices more and more people wearing thick winter clothing in the hot weather. People don't look at the weather report leading up to an event. People don't hydrate enough on the morning before the start of the race. To want to have a water table every 10km is crazy. Let's be honest, people take chances. We fail to prepare. Rather ride the shorter 65km event. I did the 160km event last year. You need to be able to ride at least 80km on two bottles. Come on guys. Too many guys try to wing it. Cycling is not easy. We give the organisers and event sponsors a bad name, because we take chances. Veebee, TALUS, Jase619 and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veebee Posted October 21, 2019 Share Preparation or not, Shova is a shockingly badly organised event for the money you pay.Been like this for years now. remember you not forced to enter... many others on the road dont mind paying the price and enjoying a full road closure, coming down Fields Hill is just soo much better without cars Vetplant, BigDL, DPLot and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grantc Posted October 21, 2019 Share Preparation or not, Shova is a shockingly badly organised event for the money you pay.Been like this for years now. Out of interest, what part of it was shockingly badly organised? Rob K and Jase619 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMXER Posted October 21, 2019 Share Preparation or not, Shova is a shockingly badly organised event for the money you pay.Been like this for years now.A shocking over exaggeration. The Shova is fit for purpose. It's not a 35000 rider Argus. Vetplant, Martin PJ, Opc_danny and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roguemeister Posted October 21, 2019 Share I don't think it was badly organized at all. I think they actually do a pretty good job considering the logistics of having the start and finish 100km apart. One thing I think all races can do is have buckets of water with sponges for people to pour over themselves Instead of people pouring the bottles of water over them. Bottled water is for drinking. This adds to a lot of events running out of water. ahmedbadat, Vetplant and Frail. "Will forever remain "Frail" 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarl Borg Posted October 21, 2019 Share It was my first Amashova and my longest distance. I wasn’t properly trained for the distance but at least I’d been cycling in the midday heat in preparation for this, so I didn’t struggle a lot with the heat. I drank a ton of water yesterday. Also I didn’t overly exert myself so it was fun for me. I thought the water points were enough but there just wasn’t any nutrition, only saw brown bananas, dried up oranges and cheap cool drink. At one of the water points people were queuing for warm water out of jojo tanks. Road ain’t my descpline so I definitely won’t fly down for the race again. All in all it was a good race, I’d probably do it again if I lived in Durban. Edited October 21, 2019 by Jarl Borg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMXER Posted October 21, 2019 Share My only issue at first was the late start times for the 106km, but you have to see it from the event organisers point. They have to accommodate the two shorter routes. I started in VA group, which started at 7:05. We caught lots of people, who had started in the shorter events. When we caught these slower people, we noticed so many people wearing way too much clothing. People wearing buffs, long pants, arm warmers (not UV sleeves) and jackets. Standing at the finishline waiting for my club mates to finish, we notices more and more people wearing thick winter clothing in the hot weather. People don't look at the weather report leading up to an event. People don't hydrate enough on the morning before the start of the race. To want to have a water table every 10km is crazy. Let's be honest, people take chances. We fail to prepare. Rather ride the shorter 65km event. I did the 160km event last year. You need to be able to ride at least 80km on two bottles. Come on guys. Too many guys try to wing it. Cycling is not easy. We give the organisers and event sponsors a bad name, because we take chances.Come now Owen, VA? Age is catching you my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vetplant Posted October 21, 2019 Share I find it fascinating that people EXPECT to be fed at the water points. My starting point is to always have enough nutrition on me to last the distance. This really isn't difficult, your cycling shirt pockets have enough space to fill with sufficient grub. People's expectations have probably been created by all these MTB events with tables and tables of food, from potatoes to worsrolls to koeksisters, people eat allot more food than they require to complete the event. Even Ironman events are "guilty" of making people less self-sufficient and reliant on the provided feeding stations. Water + electrolytes, yes. Everything else is a bonus. LongDonkey, Sepia, shaper and 17 others 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarl Borg Posted October 21, 2019 Share “Expect to be fed” lol ????. Yeah you right Swift I ride MTB so I’m used to food at water points. Guess it’s different with road events. Vetplant 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vetplant Posted October 21, 2019 Share “Expect to be fed” lol . Yeah you right Swift I ride MTB so I’m used to food at water points. Guess it’s different with road events.Sorry to have picked on you, but it is the reality of riding road races. It is actually imperative to stick with the bunch and eat while your ride as you lose so much when you need to stop for grub and then have to ride alone against the wind. So then the tables over time probably tend to be less well stocked because not allot of people use them. You will struggle to find a road race with well stocked Food tables. Whereas with MTB it is almost unheard of to only have water and Powerade at tables. Jarl Borg and JohanDiv 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase619 Posted October 21, 2019 Share I find it fascinating that people EXPECT to be fed at the water points. My starting point is to always have enough nutrition on me to last the distance. This really isn't difficult, your cycling shirt pockets have enough space to fill with sufficient grub. People's expectations have probably been created by all these MTB events with tables and tables of food, from potatoes to worsrolls to koeksisters, people eat allot more food than they require to complete the event. Even Ironman events are "guilty" of making people less self-sufficient and reliant on the provided feeding stations. Water + electrolytes, yes. Everything else is a bonus. Agreed on the MTB culture expecting a fully stocked water table. For me, if it has Bar Ones and the associated promotional entertainment it's a plus, otherwise just give me water, a banana and maybe some powerade(if you wan't a energy spike quickly followed by negative energy readings). I have seen this at running races as well lately, a Clarens 5km I did the other day with my preggy wife had a food table filled with cookies and chomps and jelly sweets. I was astounded. Vetplant, Jarl Borg and Frail. "Will forever remain "Frail" 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase619 Posted October 21, 2019 Share Out of interest, what part of it was shockingly badly organised? Yeah, I would also like to know? I have done the shova a few times and find it to be pretty well organised. . . Not sure what people's expectations are shova, Vetplant and Frail. "Will forever remain "Frail" 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted October 21, 2019 Share “Expect to be fed” lol . Yeah you right Swift I ride MTB so I’m used to food at water points. Guess it’s different with road events.A generalization and not really. I recently did the Meals on Wheels road race and every WP had coke, water, bar ones, jelly babies and boiled baby potatoes. Other road races like R4V and R4S also have well stocked WP. Vetplant 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danger Dassie Posted October 21, 2019 Share It was my first Amashova and my longest distance. I wasn’t properly trained for the distance but at least I’d been cycling in the midday heat in preparation for this, so I didn’t struggle a lot with the heat. I drank a ton of water yesterday. Also I didn’t overly exert myself so it was fun for me. I thought the water points were enough but there just wasn’t any nutrition, only saw brown bananas, dried up oranges and cheap cool drink. At one of the water points people were queuing for warm water out of jojo tanks. Road ain’t my descpline so I definitely won’t fly down for the race again. All in all it was a good race, I’d probably do it again if I lived in Durban.Bananas, oranges, water and coke. That's more than enough nutrition to complete the event. LongDonkey, BikeisLife, Frail. "Will forever remain "Frail" and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veebee Posted October 21, 2019 Share Bananas, oranges, water and coke. That's more than enough nutrition to complete the event. seems like some are looking for 5 course meals... Jarl Borg, Opc_danny and Frail. "Will forever remain "Frail" 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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