Monte Classico - Route Safety Concerns

[mecheng89]

Feedback from the race? Was the route safety a concern after all?

[OVERDRIVE]

54 minutes ago, mecheng89 said:

Feedback from the race? Was the route safety a concern after all?

Curious as well? 

[buckstopper]

Forgive me father, I must confess... I turned into Witkoppen from Douglas heading out for a Sunday spin after a tough week. The B bunch came past me at the start of the hill. Anyway, I landed up riding the same route pretty much with the bunch, and hopped off after 88km at Douglas to go home. Was an amazing day for a ride. The muppets were in big 4x4s with bikes in the back, off to Baaidin, or Broo. A bit of traffic on Malibongwe coming back.at that point the B bunch was still maybe 50 strong, so inevitably some taxis stopping near the bunch. I felt surprisingly safe though. One wheel touch on Letamo saw a guy come down not bad though. In general traffic respected the jmpd cops and Marshalls. Again, i felt most threatened by the cyclists in their cars in the cradle insisting on passing the bunch when it wasn't safe to do so. Oncoming cyclists had to get off the road while the bunch Marshall escorted said gem in Everest. Sorry Monte, nice race. The Lab poster boy was seen heading out on Cedar at 06h15 with Chommas on their own different folly.

[swingTOpeddle]

So I eventually decided to do this. The marshaling at intersections were impeccable. SAPS no where to be seen but JMPD were at nearly every intersection. Being my first race I didn’t have anything to measure it against. But I didn’t feel unsafe at any point during the entire race. 

[nagougrote]

The race was excellently marshalled. Never seen so many JMPD on duty. There was at least one cop and 3 marshalls at each intersection. Only hazards were the cyclists themselves (in AL at least) treating it as full road closure and passing on blind corners in the oncoming lane. Well done organizers - a very safe and well run event 👍

[rorydewet]

Good news nothing happened.

Ill eat my humble pie.

[love2fly]

Yeah I'm extremely relieved nothing serious. I saw a prang at the Lions circle but that was rider stupidity - not even congested just not paying attention.... and marshals were a bit robotic (insisting I in my car should turn left with the cyclists after Valverde despite me wanting to proceed straight up Malibongwe to drive home).Well done. Saw quite a few gel wrappers up the Cradle Restaurant & venue climb after the tented church. Hope the organisers did a sweep?

[Danger Dassie]

20 minutes ago, rorydewet said:

Good news nothing happened.

Ill eat my humble pie.

Yeah, credit where credit is due. Heard good things, a little bit of mixed feelings with traffic. But all round a safe experience. Good job.

Also was the Joburg Marathon in Randburg/Parks area yesterday and it was pleasant to ride through the quiet streets enroute to Spruit.

Thinking that with the post lockdown increase in outdoor activities, people are far more amenable and understanding.

[HeinriBrink]

It was my first race as well, thoroughly enjoyed it.   The JMPD and the marshalls were fantastic.   I felt quite safe from the traffic, nowhere near as bad as training on busy roads on your own.   I'll be back next year for sure.

[mecheng89]

On 2/13/2022 at 2:56 PM, nagougrote said:

The race was excellently marshalled. Never seen so many JMPD on duty. There was at least one cop and 3 marshalls at each intersection. Only hazards were the cyclists themselves (in AL at least) treating it as full road closure and passing on blind corners in the oncoming lane. Well done organizers - a very safe and well run event 👍

This occurance is repeating itself. Making alphabet soup racing not attractive anymore. 

[The Ouzo]

5 minutes ago, mecheng89 said:

This occurance is repeating itself. Making alphabet soup racing not attractive anymore. 

to many golfers on bicycles these days

[wattnow]

I see they have changed up the route coming back from the cradle for this years race (Next weekend)- now coming home via Cedar. Should be interesting but should be safer than the previous route.

Interested to see what the turn out will be.

[betaboy]

Monte? Why on earth? Nothing like a hangover gambler ready to roll his dice on the roads…🙈

The route is a joke, has anybody actually driven those roads up and done a few times to survey it’s conditions and factored in traffic volumes? This event clearly comes with a red flag in my opinion. Sorry but this isn’t 1992 when you had big bunches, many riders will be pedalling sole through these sections of concern.

[swingTOpeddle]

3 hours ago, betaboy said:

Monte? Why on earth? Nothing like a hangover gambler ready to roll his dice on the roads…🙈

The route is a joke, has anybody actually driven those roads up and done a few times to survey it’s conditions and factored in traffic volumes? This event clearly comes with a red flag in my opinion. Sorry but this isn’t 1992 when you had big bunches, many riders will be pedalling sole through these sections of concern.

The thread actually explained that last year was pretty decent. 

[Sandro]

I believe there will be late registrations for this?

[Jase619]

On 1/24/2023 at 5:47 PM, betaboy said:

Monte? Why on earth? Nothing like a hangover gambler ready to roll his dice on the roads…🙈

The route is a joke, has anybody actually driven those roads up and done a few times to survey it’s conditions and factored in traffic volumes? This event clearly comes with a red flag in my opinion. Sorry but this isn’t 1992 when you had big bunches, many riders will be pedalling sole through these sections of concern.

Well done on reading the thread before commenting. . .

 

Doing it for the first time this year, keen for something new!