Summer Fast One MTB - Rand Water Grounds (23 Jan 2022)

[Frosty]

24 minutes ago, 117 said:

The problems were more in the downhill sections where people didn't know the course and elected to walk down the single tracks, only to realise they should have ridden it instead. 

I had no choice but to walk down some parts of strawberries...  Had a lady complaining she's a roadie and not a mtb'er holding up a particularly fast spot. Also had a good laugh as some racing snake 80's came past me bleating right of passing, only for them to blow out climbing the fence line 1km later... 

Local knowledge does help. And if the organizers can post gpx tracks a week before will help too, at least you can ride it on GE and see where the snarly bits are.

Luckily I never had that problem; people walking the downhills. There were a few 60Km riders asking to pass on the single track, when the queue in front was 5-10 long. They weren't at the pointy end, so what's the rush.
 

GPX tracks
Agreed, it's not that difficult, especially if they use the same route from the year before. Minor tweaks can be done by hand in Garmin Connect, Strava, RwGPS, etc.

I disliked this event when it started at the Lido and rode along the swamp sections of the RWB property. This current course is a beaut; and as tough as the old Walkerville Classic was, from the late 2000s and early 2010s.

[TheoG]

6 minutes ago, Frosty said:

Luckily I never had that problem; people walking the downhills. There were a few 60Km riders asking to pass on the single track, when the queue in front was 5-10 long. They weren't at the pointy end, so what's the rush.
 

GPX tracks
Agreed, it's not that difficult, especially if they use the same route from the year before. Minor tweaks can be done by hand in Garmin Connect, Strava, RwGPS, etc.

I disliked this event when it started at the Lido and rode along the swamp sections of the RWB property. This current course is a beaut; and as tough as the old Walkerville Classic was, from the late 2000s and early 2010s.

I'm so glad I never did that, didn't stay in Alberton then.  That must have been one big mud fest during the rainy season?

[Frosty]

Yip, I'm sure you must have experienced the "bog" on weekend rides.
 

[OVERDRIVE]

11 hours ago, Spy007 said:

We had one slip on the 60. saw a board that was down and put it back up as it had fallen over. had a choice of left or straight.  was in Eye side halfway up one of the climbs.

 

Friend that did the 60 also went wrong

 

Thats the spot right there...

11 hours ago, TheoG said:

I remember that spot, I was all on my own at that stage, luckily the marker was up when I went past.

marshall told us all to turn right and forgot to tell us to turn immediately left. Needless to say a few went halfway up that mountain before realizing it was a dead end. needless to say, many were...unhappy? 

9 hours ago, Nico van Loggerenberg said:

Nice ride, except for the waiting at the water crossings. I guess the lesson is to try and get to the very start of every bunch.

Facts. 

8 hours ago, Frosty said:

Not a problem for me, as I would always ask if I can pass (when appropriate). Riding up some of the bits requires momentum, otherwise it becomes harder which results in walking. Helps having done a skills course to know how to ride up stuff that looks walkable.

Also facts...

8 hours ago, Nico van Loggerenberg said:

Unfortunately where I found myself in the bunch means that I spent almost all of the singletrack in a head to tail traffic jam, with people regularly falling. Oh well, guess that's MTB racing.

After the water tour we found some people like that, nobody behind us so we stopped to let them go and blasted it down the hill. 

[Spy007]

On the second technical decent The rocky one had a few behind me and as soon as i could i stopped and let them past as on the GB was a bit sketchy. once they were pass i ended up sticking to them as i could see some of the gnarly bits and could follow some lines.

 

What was strange guys would boom past an then i would catch them on the climbs. and i run a 34front /30 back gear. 

 

But all was good. I think some guys liked to stick behind on some sections as they were getting the smooth lines.

 

 

When you want a smooth line follow the GB

[ChrisF]

Please read tongue in cheek ....

 

At the Eselfontein event I was on the ebike.  So obviously I had an advantage on the climbs.  I would keep a respectful distance, and made SURE to not impede any riders.  When the trails opened I would go past, get to a nice spot, take some photos as the riders came past.   This worked very well with groups of 4 to 8 riders, I could stay well out of their way, and they were happy with the pics they got post race.

 

On the downhills I would follow the last rider in the group.  This was super nice as I did not know the trails at all.  So follow other helped a lot to spot the lines and the ruts ....  On the second long and steep decent I followed a lady rider .... This started out very nice at the top.  Towards the mid part she was doing a decent turn of speed !!  Just past my comfort level, but she obviously knew the lines .... and as long as I kept to those lines all was good ....  The next moment we came around a blind bend into a series of steep drops.   There simply was no time to slow down .... Hang back over the rear wheel and RIDE that drop, sharp turn, line up, next drop .... and then the mother of all steep straight down sections on loose pebbles at the speed of sound ....

 

Thank goodness there was a water point shortly after that .... not that I needed water ..... just an excuse to stop ... 

 

 

So YES .... following other riders DO help .... but man o man .... best choose your leader carefully ....

[The Ouzo]

I see my daughters school sent a team to compete in one of  the shorter routes. Lekker.

Its a pity the practice times for their team conflict with other scheduled activities as my youngest would love to join.

 

Maybe next year.

[Frosty]

The school series was alive and well before covid hit. Hopefully it can recover and we see more kids riding. But more importantly, I hope they (school teams coaches) are teaching kids the basic bike handling skills required for MTB.

I was stuck behind a youngster on the last single track descent before joining the road that eventually leaves the Eye. Could see she was nervous on the downhills. Even the downhill after the point of confusion inside the Eye was a slow one for her; she passed us when we were checking a mate’s delaminated tyre.

[ChrisF]

37 minutes ago, Frosty said:

The school series was alive and well before covid hit. Hopefully it can recover and we see more kids riding. But more importantly, I hope they (school teams coaches) are teaching kids the basic bike handling skills required for MTB.

I was stuck behind a youngster on the last single track descent before joining the road that eventually leaves the Eye. Could see she was nervous on the downhills. Even the downhill after the point of confusion inside the Eye was a slow one for her; she passed us when we were checking a mate’s delaminated tyre.

 

SPUR has withdrawn as title sponsor, mid 2021.

 

The Western Cape schools cycling now falls under "Schools Cycling SA - Western Cape".  Actually it is the very same people that arranged the events with the aid of the SPUR sponsorship.  So total continuity in that regard.

 

As for "stand alone" school events .... let's see how the year plays out.

 

The first "school cycling" for the Western Cape is happening this weekend, as part of the Banhoek 1 XCM event. YES, the school can enter their teams and get points ... but this is not the SPUR type stand alone event, with various positives and negatives ....

 

 

Wishing them all the best.