Is the MTB event bubble about to burst?

[The Ouzo]

"Yes, I'll come back later" can hide a multitude of truths....

Like: Hell No, I cant afford that on the South African Rand!

or: My wife will kill me if I buy another bike item...

or: I'm on a limited holiday budget and I cant afford what you are selling...

or: The other supplier has a bevy of hot chicks at their stand...I'm off.

 

Maybe we are just trying to be nice instead of being honest???

I just wish people would be honest instead of stringing others along because they dont want to say no

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I just wish people would be honest instead of stringing others along because they dont want to say no

This. 

[Jehosefat]

You may be onto something here. I was having a chat with a few European guys at the Shiraz. The conversation was started when one of them asked why does yes mean yes or no in SA whereas in Europe Yes means Yes and is binding. He was marketing a product and couldn't understand why people would  say " yes i'll come back later" but never be seen again.

 

I can't explain it but  it was an interesting observation about the respect we have for people outside of ourselves.

 

I've found that often if you go with "No" that just provokes the marketer to go for the hard sell or get pushy about why you've said no (or some combination of the two), much easier to say "yes, later" and avoid the awkwardness of having to tell them to "****off" after you've indicated that you're not interested multiple times. YMMV

[BigDL]

I've found that often if you go with "No" that just provokes the marketer to go for the hard sell or get pushy about why you've said no (or some combination of the two), much easier to say "yes, later" and avoid the awkwardness of having to tell them to "****off" after you've indicated that you're not interested multiple times. YMMV

I find that a very polite but firm no normally does the trick. I know when I used to do sales I would far prefer a no to a later or a maybe next week.

[Kenty]

I ride to work on Saturdays..its 16 odd k one way...to me its an enduro..trail and stage race all in one WHILE upping my bike handling skills....let me digress....

 

Enduro as in some trail and downhill riding(my amateurish style)...

 

Then its stages...the first is all quiet as I leave home...then it gets to medium stage traffic wise and the 3rd as soon as I hit the mainstream traffic into town and then ANYTHING goes!!!

 

Skills...my pavement hopping skills have improved ten fold...my avoiding and stopping skills have double in %....

 

My anticipation of what is up ahead skills have tripled ...

 

And lastly my peripheral  vision has become chameleon like on an alien level!!

 

AND this is just to stay ALIVE!!!

[Grease_Monkey]

ahhh the age old discussion of unskilled riders IN FRONT OF you downhill beasts

yip they qualified for better seeding or they fitter climbing up, or grinding flats better

 

so Qualify for better seeding, learn to grind gravel roads, get up the hill faster,,,,essentially all you guys with big steel balls are saying is "my one specialized  aspect of riding ,,,,,is bettererrr than ALL YOURS"

 

GOT IT        

 

 

Not at all, we're just saying that's why we don't take part.

 

For me it's not even a matter of being particularly fit or unfit, I just generally don't take part in these events, so if I do choose to take part in one a year I won't be seeded - purely because they have nothing to seed me with. It's not the organisers or anyone's fault - but it is why I generally won't drop 10k on a race - it's not fun to sit behind someone slow on a nice piece of single track.

 

Skills aside, you do also get situations where someone just has a bad moment and loses traction on for example a single track climb, the person behind stops, and congestion starts - nothing to do with lack of skills - it just happens - and it's just not my cup of tea to sit in that congestion.

[Grease_Monkey]

Not my view at all, if you're in front of me you deserve to be. I just don't enjoy sitting behind you twiddling my thumbs listening to your squeaky brakes when I could be enjoying the track. In the context of this thread that's why I prefer not to do stage races and pay big bucks for the irritation. The alternative of riding trails with my mates is far more enjoyable and cheaper and I am always amused at how we seem to sort out who should take the lead on certain tracks without a fuss but when it comes to a stage "race" we can't seem to accept that someone else could be quicker be it up or down the hill. We just occupy our space denying the other guy the opportunity to play to his strengths and I am not talking about the front of the field.

 

I see you pretty much said what I did - just hadn't gotten to reading your post yet.

[Frosty]

confused me too.

so if you ride 100km per week. then you need to put in % of 1200km, which is about 8% right?

 

I would have added in age/sex/lsm(salary) to add context to the questions

Also, do you do more or less events than say 5years ago?

 

good luck making conclusions from this data

So my 100% will definitely skew the results [emoji4]

[BigDL]

So my 100% will definitely skew the results [emoji4]

Mine too 

[dev null]

That is why the Fat and Lazy riders like me enjoy enduro so much.

 

 

PS: I've run the full gamut of alphabet soup seeding in the last couple of years. You get *** descenders even in the A Bunch at races like W2W. Fortunately they seem to have less of an "I got here first" attitude than the wannabee racers in the B-Z groups.

 

 Fat and lazy my arse. 

[Christie]

Not my view at all, if you're in front of me you deserve to be.

I agree broadly, the rider (or runner) in front has right of way, except:

 

Ebikes

Riders/runners who self seed above their fitness level

[ChrisF]

not sure if the "cycling bubble" is about to burst ... sure sounds like a few veins are about to burst though ...

 

 

 

silly me, and here I thought 90% of participants were there to have fun ....

Edited November 6, 2019 by ChrisF

[Spokey]

Jeepers, I must be one of the few Saffers who has never bothered with any form of stage race, or race of any kind actually! . I have been into MTB since 1989 and have done a long tour from Norway to Cape Town in ‘92/‘93 on a steel Claud Butler. I do m

ride the trails in my area, at my leisure!

I have always ridden for my own enjoyment, and do now on a.........steel Soma! I always am amazed at folks who can put in pro levels of training to ride as amateurs........respect!

Edited November 6, 2019 by Spokey

[ChrisF]

Jeepers, I must be one of the few Saffers who has never bothered with any form of stage race, or race of any kind actually! . I have been into MTB since 1989 and have done a long tour from Norway to Cape Town in ‘92/‘93 on a steel Claud Butler. I do m

ride the trails in my area, at my leisure!

I have always ridden for my own enjoyment, and do now on a.........steel Soma! I always am amazed at folks who can put in pro levels of training to ride as amateurs........respect!

 

Certainly amazing and amuzing to read these threads ....

 

 

I do 5 or 6 events per year - single day only.

 

 

MAN, we have fun at the back of the pack !!  Stop to take photos.  No stress when you stop to help another rider and you see the group dissapear in the distance .... no egos to fragile to have a lekka chat while pushing the bike up a steep hill ....

 

And when you have a "good day" you can have all the fun in the world "dicing" some mid field rider that has no clue, and certainly could not be bothered, that you are dicing him ....

 

 

 

why do I enter "events" ?  purely and only when it is in an area where I wont get to ride on other days, or where the illusion of safety in numbers makes it possible to venture into the unknown  ....

 

 

money permitting .... I would buy an ebike and do stage races that cater for ebikes.  Could not be bothered with "racing" or "seeding", just the "experience" of it is a bucket list item for me.

[CleatsnCleavage]

yup same here!

Distance is a % of the numbers in the grey from 0 to 1200

 

Just got frustrated - a bad survey setup - and dumped it

[Dicky DQ]

Not my view at all, if you're in front of me you deserve to be. I just don't enjoy sitting behind you twiddling my thumbs listening to your squeaky brakes when I could be enjoying the track. In the context of this thread that's why I prefer not to do stage races and pay big bucks for the irritation. The alternative of riding trails with my mates is far more enjoyable and cheaper and I am always amused at how we seem to sort out who should take the lead on certain tracks without a fuss but when it comes to a stage "race" we can't seem to accept that someone else could be quicker be it up or down the hill. We just occupy our space denying the other guy the opportunity to play to his strengths and I am not talking about the front of the field.

I know dudes sometimes get in front of me that do or so not belong there, so if I am at the back of the field, lake at the last W2W I try and leave a gape on single track to allow me to have fun. Downside is that it pisses the people off behind me no end.

 

Problem is trying to judge the correct gap. For an uphill single-track it is easier as I am now obese and struggle uphill. But down or flat single track is more of a challenge.

 

BUT I DEAL WITH IT THESE DAYS. The people should then also put up with me holding them up, which they sometimes have an issue with. I dot stop dead, but I do slow down to a crawl.