Munga MTB TwentyTwentyTwo

[Vetseun]

THE Tracking system is totally futtup this morning. People who have scratched are showing as riding. Marco Martins is finished although he scratched days ago. Only 4 people have scratched according to tracker there were 13 last night. 

 

[Pure Savage]

Uh oh, See john is off course and not realised yet!

[Jewbacca]

Whats the deal with some of these athletes doing it as what looks like 'a team'?

I see the one lady has matching kit and is always photographed with a really strong looking dude? Isn't that somewhat against the ethos of the event?

Or now that drafting is race legal will we see more teams and pacelines?

 

[Prince Albert Cycles]

5 hours ago, Jewbacca said:

Whats the deal with some of these athletes doing it as what looks like 'a team'?

I see the one lady has matching kit and is always photographed with a really strong looking dude? Isn't that somewhat against the ethos of the event?

Or now that drafting is race legal will we see more teams and pacelines?

 

The Munga has a new category where teams of 4 ride the route in relay .

[Jewbacca]

12 hours ago, Prince Albert Cycles said:

The Munga has a new category where teams of 4 ride the route in relay .

Yeah nah... This is not a relay.

This is a leading lady with what looks like a very obvious male team mate in tow/towing the whole route.

I guess this comes back to that whole 'spirit of gravel' debate after the ladies were being towed by the men to get wins and the gravel influencers were all up in arms.

I also guess it's similar to Jeanie Dreyer going 12 days on Freedom Challenge now that there is no prize oney

[blondeonabike]

How much climbing is the entire route?  Do you have boxes at the Support stations like 360ne do? Just asking.....? 

[Ozzie NL]

2 hours ago, Jewbacca said:

Yeah nah... This is not a relay.

This is a leading lady with what looks like a very obvious male team mate in tow/towing the whole route.

I guess this comes back to that whole 'spirit of gravel' debate after the ladies were being towed by the men to get wins and the gravel influencers were all up in arms.

I also guess it's similar to Jeanie Dreyer going 12 days on Freedom Challenge now that there is no prize oney

It’s Bonny Swanepoel. She riding with Terence for charity so not in the ladies race

[Ozzie NL]

21 minutes ago, blondeonabike said:

How much climbing is the entire route?  Do you have boxes at the Support stations like 360ne do? Just asking.....? 

Think about 8k climbing in total but massively back loaded. 
no boxes etc. You carry everything on your bike. 

[Rowl]

I see the cut line is catching up woth a group of riders. Hopefully they can stay ahead/catch-up.

[Jewbacca]

1 hour ago, Ozzie NL said:

It’s Bonny Swanepoel. She riding with Terence for charity so not in the ladies race

The post said she was 'First Lady'..

Anyway, I'm just asking. If that's Bonny doing it for charity then that's awesome. If it's someone racing for the win with a team mate it does definitely bring into question the spirit of the race.

 

[Shebeen]

21 hours ago, Jewbacca said:

Whats the deal with some of these athletes doing it as what looks like 'a team'?

I see the one lady has matching kit and is always photographed with a really strong looking dude? Isn't that somewhat against the ethos of the event?

Or now that drafting is race legal will we see more teams and pacelines?

 

It's a fair question, but maybe a bit outdated.

Last year the female winner road the entire race with a male competitor. It raised the question of it now being a mixed pairs event, even though drafting was not allowed then.

 

Same two riders were posted on the official Instagram feed, so the questions surfaced again.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CloSgiGqQY_/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

My feeling? Since it is now draft legal it is much easier to ride with a mate from the start. I do expect the female division to turn into a mixed pairs type race though, which is not disallowed. The ethics of this is up for debate.

 

 

[Jewbacca]

5 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

It's a fair question, but maybe a bit outdated.

Last year the female winner road the entire race with a male competitor. It raised the question of it now being a mixed pairs event, even though drafting was not allowed then.

 

Same two riders were posted on the official Instagram feed, so the questions surfaced again.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CloSgiGqQY_/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

My feeling? Since it is now draft legal it is much easier to ride with a mate from the start. I do expect the female division to turn into a mixed pairs type race though, which is not disallowed. The ethics of this is up for debate.

 

 

I guess that's my point. 

It's the same 'spirit of gravel' debate that still rages on.

In a mass start event, if the rules allow, people will draft/pair/team for an advantage.

If it happened last year then I missed it, but as said in another post, as it's now 'legal' it is just and ethos thing.

More wondering what the thoughts are on this. I'm not going to do Munga nor am I likely to identify as a woman and get towed to the win, but it just seems like a bit of a piss take or a change in the direction/ethos of the race.

[Dicky DQ]

9 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

I guess that's my point. 

It's the same 'spirit of gravel' debate that still rages on.

In a mass start event, if the rules allow, people will draft/pair/team for an advantage.

If it happened last year then I missed it, but as said in another post, as it's now 'legal' it is just and ethos thing.

More wondering what the thoughts are on this. I'm not going to do Munga nor am I likely to identify as a woman and get towed to the win, but it just seems like a bit of a piss take or a change in the direction/ethos of the race.

Unfortunately for people that have done and want to do it for what the race originally represented it is a bit of a minefield to negotiate with the race organizers flip flopping to pander to the masses.

Edit: Not really masses but I think you get what I mean.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Dicky DQ

[Vetseun]

42 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

I guess that's my point. 

It's the same 'spirit of gravel' debate that still rages on.

In a mass start event, if the rules allow, people will draft/pair/team for an advantage.

If it happened last year then I missed it, but as said in another post, as it's now 'legal' it is just and ethos thing.

More wondering what the thoughts are on this. I'm not going to do Munga nor am I likely to identify as a woman and get towed to the win, but it just seems like a bit of a piss take or a change in the direction/ethos of the race.

When I rode in 2017 the rule was that drafting was permitted from Bloem to vd Kloof. Thereafter no drafting allowed. And it was strictly enforced. If the caught you you were penalised and only once. Thereafter is was disqualification.

Last year the rule was still there but they didn't seem to enforce it. 

This year drafting is allowed, not cool imo.

I have been at very Munga start as a participant or as a spectator. The race has changed so much for me. Almost has lost its soul. 

I was keen to try again next year but have been wondering if there isn't something else to ride. Maybe better value for money. At 30k you most definitely don't get value for money in this race. 

 

[Ozzie NL]

5 hours ago, Jewbacca said:

Yeah nah... This is not a relay.

This is a leading lady with what looks like a very obvious male team mate in tow/towing the whole route.

I guess this comes back to that whole 'spirit of gravel' debate after the ladies were being towed by the men to get wins and the gravel influencers were all up in arms.

I also guess it's similar to Jeanie Dreyer going 12 days on Freedom Challenge now that there is no prize oney

The woman in that pic is not Bonny and last I checked Bonny was in 3rd spot

[buckstopper]

Maybe the organiser should amend the draft rule to exclude another gender from benefitting a rider.ie men draft men, women draft women. Men draft women is a dq, and vise versa