[Event] Ronde Van Riebeek

[SEANSTEP]

I second Mamil on the include parking in entry fee. Yep, what realistic alternative does one have, does leave that bad taste of being blackmailed. As also mentioned by Mamil it creates a bottle neck at the worst possible time. I'm going to add & not specific to just this event, I'm concerned about the approach to traffic/bikes & the open roads situation. This situation is getting dangerous.  Start of Swartberg & this event. Road races in general.  One of those things where the day after a tragedy there be a lot of hand wringing & blame gaming. The time to do something is now. And yep, lets not start with signage... 

Did I have fun? Yep. Signage almost changed that.

[Kom]

1 hour ago, SEANSTEP said:

I second Mamil on the include parking in entry fee. Yep, what realistic alternative does one have, does leave that bad taste of being blackmailed. As also mentioned by Mamil it creates a bottle neck at the worst possible time. I'm going to add & not specific to just this event, I'm concerned about the approach to traffic/bikes & the open roads situation. This situation is getting dangerous.  Start of Swartberg & this event. Road races in general.  One of those things where the day after a tragedy there be a lot of hand wringing & blame gaming. The time to do something is now. And yep, lets not start with signage... 

Did I have fun? Yep. Signage almost changed that.

Can you elaborate?

Sounds like you were in the 100 miler group, can you share what might have happened to cause the delay to the 50 miler start?

[no calves]

Well to add to the delay. It was a blessing that the race was delayed as one of our mates had a naty fall on the tar section heading out of riebeeck. Ended up with 4 broken ribs, punctured lung and a broken " vlerkie"..

So the delay for the paramedics to arrive was a blessing

[no calves]

1 minute ago, Kom said:

Can you elaborate?

Sounds like you were in the 100 miler group, can you share what might have happened to cause the delay to the 50 miler start?

There was no paramedics on site. So CSA stopped the event untill paramedics arrived

[Kom]

Just now, no calves said:

There was no paramedics on site. So CSA stopped the event untill paramedics arrived

Yes I understood this too, but then how did the 100miler get cleared to start?

[betaboy]

Great to have new events up for discussion, this is what Bikehub is about, thanks to all the good okes who chipped in with your feedback! 👍🏻😎😎

[no calves]

23 minutes ago, Kom said:

Yes I understood this too, but then how did the 100miler get cleared to start?

Hulle het seker eers wakker geskrik toe die son opkom....

[DC-Diesel]

Anyone know where the results are posted? 

[milky4130]

18 minutes ago, Fat_Cyclist said:

Anyone know where the results are posted? 

https://results.finishtime.co.za/results.aspx?CId=35&RId=4106

[Kom]

I might have been on the skinniest tyres (38c) out of everyone riding on Saturday, still had a blast on my converted commuter bike 🚴 👏

im just glad my quick release axles survived some of that corrugation 😆

Edited May 22, 2023 by Kom

[Shebeen]

On 5/20/2023 at 4:49 PM, Shebeen said:

Race was great. Can't complain about the missing/stolen sign board that gave me an extra 5km. Rest of the route really well marked.

Road conditions variable, so perfect. Weather absolute peach.

BUT!

Don't promise us a Belgian beer experience and then make it Stella Artois! Technically correct, but feels like a bait and switch of note! No frites, no waffles!

Composing my stern letter to management at the town's microbrewery. With a Belgian style summer ale. it's not bad!

I have now slept on this and some minor more thoughts.

a)I expect the biggest issue to be the paramedics/delay start of 50miler. If there's CSA rules then you need to follow dem CSA rulz. I guess it might have been first time running an event with CSA so good schoolfees paid right there.

now the easy but oh so improtant stuff to fix

b)100 miler should be 160.934km. for most people 2% either way is not an issue, some people are VERY particular about this.

c)get the locals involved. RK is a massive tourist town, this seems obvious. Our extended family hosts told us the local tourism manager only heard about the event on the thurs when things were getting set up. 

d)weather was awesome. woke up to light drizzle on sunday, which would have been interesting.

e)I feel the race was massively overpitched. a great idea but limited follow through. It's impossible to have a RVV(tour of Flanders) style race here. You need lots of tar and little dorpies with abbeys on a short steep hill. I don't expect that to somehow happen, but the name was basically the only thing RvR and RvV have in common. 

f)waterpoints were adequate. i expected to see some swartland hospitality - get the local Lions club on a braai or something. It was very much organised, efficient but bussed in. Some chow at the final one would have been nice.

g)a host of Ex Belgian pros? are we counting Jaco Venter because, why not?!

h)finish on a track (ok that was close enough, and I can imagine a 1.5 lap is a moere of a mission to organise for timing?)

i)frites? where were the frikken frites? Ardis chips != frites. pancakes is not waffles either, but close enough i guess and not promised.

J)BEER?! Stella Artois from SAB is not the finest Belgian beer.

 

apart from that I am clearly getting old and grumpy, at least my legs are alive still!

 

 

 

[Anthem24]

On 5/21/2023 at 7:24 AM, B20 said:

 

Just a last rant. Ackowledge the different categories of riders (vets, masters and g/masters, etc.). No need for prizes. The 2nd lady on the 40km came in 17/122 and was 64 years old (young). It was her first race ever. 

But that second lady was on an e-bike. Perhaps she had it on full throttle the whole way. So yes, one hopes they have categories that acknowledge that too!!!

[Skubarra]

15 hours ago, no calves said:

Well to add to the delay. It was a blessing that the race was delayed as one of our mates had a naty fall on the tar section heading out of riebeeck. Ended up with 4 broken ribs, punctured lung and a broken " vlerkie"..

So the delay for the paramedics to arrive was a blessing

Think it happened right behind me when the group unexpectedly braked and the people at the back were caught unaware in the dark. Was hoping it would just be a few bruises but clearly it was a ugly fall - hope he has a speedy recovery!

[no calves]

2 hours ago, Shebeen said:

I have now slept on this and some minor more thoughts.

a)I expect the biggest issue to be the paramedics/delay start of 50miler. If there's CSA rules then you need to follow dem CSA rulz. I guess it might have been first time running an event with CSA so good schoolfees paid right there.

now the easy but oh so improtant stuff to fix

b)100 miler should be 160.934km. for most people 2% either way is not an issue, some people are VERY particular about this.

c)get the locals involved. RK is a massive tourist town, this seems obvious. Our extended family hosts told us the local tourism manager only heard about the event on the thurs when things were getting set up. 

d)weather was awesome. woke up to light drizzle on sunday, which would have been interesting.

e)I feel the race was massively overpitched. a great idea but limited follow through. It's impossible to have a RVV(tour of Flanders) style race here. You need lots of tar and little dorpies with abbeys on a short steep hill. I don't expect that to somehow happen, but the name was basically the only thing RvR and RvV have in common. 

f)waterpoints were adequate. i expected to see some swartland hospitality - get the local Lions club on a braai or something. It was very much organised, efficient but bussed in. Some chow at the final one would have been nice.

g)a host of Ex Belgian pros? are we counting Jaco Venter because, why not?!

h)finish on a track (ok that was close enough, and I can imagine a 1.5 lap is a moere of a mission to organise for timing?)

i)frites? where were the frikken frites? Ardis chips != frites. pancakes is not waffles either, but close enough i guess and not promised.

J)BEER?! Stella Artois from SAB is not the finest Belgian beer.

 

apart from that I am clearly getting old and grumpy, at least my legs are alive still!

 

 

 

Just need to check but route on their website versus what we rode/gpx file also differs. 

 

you might be old and grumpy but i feel exactly the same. iff it wasnt for the free entry for next year i would have told them to shove it for an RONDE... dont over hype and under deliver. 

 

ALSO.... apparently there was not "caution cycle race in progress" etc on the tar section from the wind farm??? can anybody confirm? iff this is true that is piss poor from them. 

[no calves]

No marshalling by the looks of it from the photo

[Shebeen]

10 minutes ago, no calves said:

Just need to check but route on their website versus what we rode/gpx file also differs. 

 

you might be old and grumpy but i feel exactly the same. iff it wasnt for the free entry for next year i would have told them to shove it for an RONDE... dont over hype and under deliver. 

 

ALSO.... apparently there was not "caution cycle race in progress" etc on the tar section from the wind farm??? can anybody confirm? iff this is true that is piss poor from them. 

I did the 100, but heard that. Not sure exactly how free entry for next year works, that's a lot of entry budget to piss into the wind and might have been a comment made by someone without the authority to do it. if you get it in writing, then that's different. My opinion based solely on some guys trying to claim their promised "free beer" from the bar, and not winning.