Midvaal Fast One Cycle Challenge

[Frosty]

Haven’t seen a thread for the event, but this press release doesn’t bode well for an event struggling to recover from the effects of covid. The area is riddled with potholes, and some of the route is on provisional roads, so minimal chances of them being fixed by the cANCer-ridden Provincial Government.

Edited January 24, 2023 by Frosty

[Long Wheel Base]

I’ve entered and will race. Doing it on the tandem so luckily, at this stage, my category is still in the race. Will just be extra careful about looking out for potholes. 

[Dazshell]

A bunch of us are coming up from Durban to do The Fast One for the first time.  Fortunately, none of us was planning on winning it, so we will just have some fun and go fats where we can and take it easy where we have to.

Edited January 24, 2023 by Dazshell

[Ispeed_V]

The unfortunate reality is that Road Conditions is going to be a major factor on most races going forward. 

[Mongoose!]

Did anybody yet had a successful insurance claim from the cover that is included on the CSA membership fees .....

Does it cover damage on your bike as well or only medical cost?

[TyronLab]

At this stage I think they should rebrand all of the road races in GP as Gravel events, unless it's on Kayalami. 

Now that I think about it, you'll get the added bonus of mountain bike entries (because anything with less than two "shocks" is a road bike, mountain bikes are the best gravel bikes) while you still get all of your steadfast roadie entries (just check the bike that won the "gravel" worlds?), and having shitty marshalls and stupid little detours becomes part of the "adventure".

...

Did I just save road racing?

[Frosty]

31 minutes ago, Mongoose! said:

Did anybody yet had a successful insurance claim from the cover that is included on the CSA membership fees .....

Does it cover damage on your bike as well or only medical cost?

Medical only.

[Ncayi]

16 hours ago, Frosty said:

Haven’t seen a thread for the event, but this press release doesn’t bode well for an event struggling to recover from the effects of covid. The area is riddled with potholes, and some of the route is on provisional roads, so minimal chances of them being fixed by the cANCer-ridden Provincial Government.

I recently moved to the Vaal and I have to say it's a paradise for doing zone 2 work. But yerrr I have to agree, there are a lot of potholes. If you are in a bunch with poor riding etiquette things can go south very quickly when riding at 30-40kph on open roads.

[Frosty]

They have been seen filling potholes, so I’m sure most will be complete before race day. However, an amended route and a refund of entries for certain categories is a worry. Not only for them, but other races too.

[GrumpyFork]

This is on the website. 

Does the route go out towards suikerbos then walkerville and back?

or the other way round?

[Frosty]

16 minutes ago, GrumpyFork said:

This is on the website. 

Does the route go out towards suikerbos then walkerville and back?

or the other way round?

Based on previous years, it will be counter-clockwise

[Long Wheel Base]

I know the road conditions and the cancellation of some categories is a downer but I am just keen to race again. Last time was the race that frosty and his crew organise and as per usual that is always a success but I appreciate the organisers are at least trying to make it better for us. I don’t get a chance to race much anymore so need to be positive about the few races I do. 

[Long Wheel Base]

As a matter of interest, why they cancel those specific categories? Is it because they the “pros” and certain requirements weren’t met? Can’t be just a racing license issue if there are still vets?

[GrumpyFork]

I wonder if the elites will race in open groups

Got AL start

[agilwolf]

1 hour ago, Long Wheel Base said:

As a matter of interest, why they cancel those specific categories? Is it because they the “pros” and certain requirements weren’t met? Can’t be just a racing license issue if there are still vets?

I suspect it has to do with the additional expenditure to fix the potholes and the subsequent available funds for prize money ...

[Frosty]

I think it’s the cost to organise those categories as well as prize money. It’s a Cat-A event, but with recent changes to event classification I can’t comment on the minimum prize money. Will need to find the mail with this details. 947 and CTCT are the big events, while the rest are all based on the number of participants. The calendar fee is minimal, and would have been paid when booking the date.

Cost saving for the categories would be Race Officials, Bike Marshals, prize money, timing per person, rider levies per person, and a few other costs.

Race numbers would probably have been printed as well as frame numbers. Maybe not; all depends on the lead time quoted by the Race Office.