[Event] The Gallows

[realjhk]

Shoutout to @Jewbacca. Absolute legend crushing the climb today on that bmx. Chapeau 👏

[Jewbacca]

27 minutes ago, realjhk said:

Shoutout to @Jewbacca. Absolute legend crushing the climb today on that bmx. Chapeau 👏

Very loose use of the word 'crushing'... I feel it was the climb that crushed me! 

What a day, what a race. 

Thanks to everyone, that was hard but incredible

Edited May 18 by Jewbacca

[Akon]

On 5/16/2024 at 3:38 PM, Akon said:

Hope the tires manage to miss the sharp edges this time 😎

Seems I jinxed you a bit here @bleedToWin?

[FranE]

Hi all

Where's the official results for this event? 

[Jbr]

1 hour ago, FranE said:

Hi all

Where's the official results for this event? 

Howzit, nothing official yet, and you can’t even use the Strava segment as most of the front runners took a wrong turn and went off route 🤷‍♂️

we’re pretty much all making asumptions of our position based on the position the guy in front of us told us they were 🤣

Edited May 19 by Jbr

[FranE]

So this is a WC Gravel series held without timing 😳😳😳😳😳

And every year I read of  riders taking a wrong turn😒

[Jbr]

This is why they give the gpx files, impossible to make sure every arrow stays in place all day long, there’s always going to be some kid thinking it’s funny to mess up with the marking (or rider(s) missing an arrow 🤷‍♂️

That specific turn there was no arrow when I went there, but people afterwards said it was marked properly, the marking must have been removed before the front group arrived and when they saw everyone going the wrong way they fixed it.

As for the timing, when a race ends with an hour long climb at 12%, it’s not really necessary 🤣🤣

Edited May 19 by Jbr

[Jewbacca]

45 minutes ago, FranE said:

So this is a WC Gravel series held without timing 😳😳😳😳😳

And every year I read of  riders taking a wrong turn😒

They most definitely communicated numerous times that the timing was done manually. 

The Number boards are hand painted.

They will load the timing and the results when they are ready. A bit of patience never hurt anyone

[Jbr]

WP road cycling is held with live timing that gives wrong results every race and is rarely « live » anyways, so I actually prefer it done manually 😅

[olmec]

On 5/10/2024 at 7:10 PM, Jewbacca said:

I'm not excluding myself for this, I'm on the hunt for a 44 or 42 front ring for my BMX for gallows as the 52 was a bit big at Swartberg

Hey mate, were you at the last water point about 10 minutes before cut-off?

[Jewbacca]

11 minutes ago, olmec said:

Hey mate, were you at the last water point about 10 minutes before cut-off?

I was... I think I left at 13:47

This was snapped a little while later... 

 

Edited May 19 by Jewbacca

[olmec]

4 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

I was... I think I left at 13:47

You legend! We overlapped there briefly and I was so impressed by your attitude man! Epic epic stuff doing that course on those wheels!

[FranE]

1 hour ago, Jbr said:

WP road cycling is held with live timing that gives wrong results every race and is rarely « live » anyways, so I actually prefer it done manually 😅

Don't get me started on that, yes I remember Filthy Fondo same thing kids moving boards most annoying thing. I did mention to a certain someone use the GPX map but NOOOOOOO and believe he took wrong turn😜

[mathewk]

15 hours ago, FranE said:

So this is a WC Gravel series held without timing 😳😳😳😳😳

And every year I read of  riders taking a wrong turn😒

Yeah a couple wrong turns if people were not following their GPX, the organisers did make it very clear we had to follow. Cant do much if kids are flipping signs around..

Also its not reserved just for our local races, I saw in the latest Lifetime recap series, the lead ladies took a 3km wrong turn in the run in to the finish and that included the gravel world champ. Lets call wrong turns the last bit of 'Spirit of Gravel' that still exists haha

Otherwise epic epic race, will never get used to how fast that first 10km is and then how slow the last 10km are.

[FranE]

3 minutes ago, mathewk said:

Yeah a couple wrong turns if people were not following their GPX, the organisers did make it very clear we had to follow. Cant do much if kids are flipping signs around..

Also its not reserved just for our local races, I saw in the latest Lifetime recap series, the lead ladies took a 3km wrong turn in the run in to the finish and that included the gravel world champ. Lets call wrong turns the last bit of 'Spirit of Gravel' that still exists haha

Otherwise epic epic race, will never get used to how fast that first 10km is and then how slow the last 10km are.

I'm normally active at most cycling events and was away this past weekend. Will make it my business next year be present on route, maybe organizers should request volunteers onroute, in exchange for beer🍻😀

Been following Gallows posts all seems all had blast 

[Jbr]

1st time I loaded the route it was drunk, it was telling me to take all sorts of turns where there were closed gates... it eventually caused me to make a terrible call on the 5mins climb mid race. When a gap opened in front of me following an acceleration from Dan. I didn't surge to close it as my wahoo was still showing me some "yellow" grade (probs 8-10% ?) for still a good few hundred meters so I thought not to panic and just close it calmly.... next thing I know we're cresting and we're going 60kph and I'm spinning out on my 42T chainring 😥

The next hour was a mix of a metabolic effort to try to get back in the chasing group (that apparently ended up being the front group ?), restarting the route on my Wahoo to hopefully not get lost on my own and a bit of fun navigating the graveyard section without anyone in front of me.... And this helped me not miss the turn everyone else missed. I was completely shocked as I got out the gate to see the guys I was chasing behind me 🤣

 

But the damage was done, I was smoked, I had to let Dan and Reece go for my own good. Did a 3mins stop at the WP, filled my pockets with potatoes, threw my hydration pack away and cruised up the climb, trying to keep an easy enough pace that I can sustain without cramping or vomiting 🤣. I still picked up a couple Trek riders. Not sure I would've done much better without that silly mistake I did, so no regrets.

What a day again. These gravel races are so fk-ing epic and eventful every time, with luck turning around completely, hopefully it stays that way, some other guys luck seem to never turn around unfortunately

 

Edited May 20 by Jbr