94.7 50km mnt bike race

[Grace Nock]

Just little info needed pls, my husband and myself are fairly new to mnt biking, we are both in our 60's and wanting to ride the 50km at steyn city, do the men and women ride separately? Are there cut off times and how technical is the trail? 😊 

[MarcoDeS]

2 hours ago, Grace Nock said:

Just little info needed pls, my husband and myself are fairly new to mnt biking, we are both in our 60's and wanting to ride the 50km at steyn city, do the men and women ride separately? Are there cut off times and how technical is the trail? 😊 

People ride according to the batches they have been placed in. You can arrange to be in the same batch. 
 

I don’t think there are cutoff times but I could be wrong. 
 

I think it’s rather technical for your first race. Perhaps enter some other events before entering this one to gauge what you are comfortable with. 

[RobynE]

I would recommend the 25km - it’s still pretty tough out there! 

[Sandro]

As already mentioned, rather do the 25 km first. You need to have a seeding for longer rides to do the 50 km anyway else you won't be able to enter. Maybe try some of the other rides like the Trailseeker series first to get first hand experience of the rides. Most importantly, have fun.

[ChrisF]

6 minutes ago, Sandro said:

As already mentioned, rather do the 25 km first. You need to have a seeding for longer rides to do the 50 km anyway else you won't be able to enter. Maybe try some of the other rides like the Trailseeker series first to get first hand experience of the rides. Most importantly, have fun.

 

Might add that the Trailseeker series has a difficulty rating above that of the normal bazaar races ...

 

The 40km Trailseeker routes, in the Western Cape, pushes the limits for new riders.

 

 

Newer riders need not chase distance ... a few shorter events and the progression will be natural from there

[Chadvdw67]

12 minutes ago, Sandro said:

As already mentioned, rather do the 25 km first. You need to have a seeding for longer rides to do the 50 km anyway else you won't be able to enter. Maybe try some of the other rides like the Trailseeker series first to get first hand experience of the rides. Most importantly, have fun.

I entered the 55km 947 MTB race with zero seeding or any longer "recorded" rides, you just get a crappy starting time

 

In my personal opinion, the 55km is not technical at all, but, the distance is a real challenge to finish, especially as a new rider

[Sandro]

3 minutes ago, Chadvdw67 said:

I entered the 55km 947 MTB race with zero seeding or any longer "recorded" rides, you just get a crappy starting time

 

In my personal opinion, the 55km is not technical at all, but, the distance is a real challenge to finish, especially as a new rider

I must say I was quite surprised by how many riders last year battled with very basic obstacles, maybe they should enforce the seeding rather. Bottlenecks were ridiculous in the heat.

[Chadvdw67]

4 minutes ago, Sandro said:

I must say I was quite surprised by how many riders last year battled with very basic obstacles, maybe they should enforce the seeding rather. Bottlenecks were ridiculous in the heat.

Fair enough, there is a really shocking lack of basic skills out there

[ChrisF]

5 minutes ago, Sandro said:

I must say I was quite surprised by how many riders last year battled with very basic obstacles, maybe they should enforce the seeding rather. Bottlenecks were ridiculous in the heat.

 

Few weeks back it was sad to see people falling, some getting hurt, in the latter half of a red route race. Not even a long distance... just enough climbs to tire out the riders, then a few twisties where you had to be alert and ready to react.  

 

Put egos aside ... start with shorter routes.  

[Grace Nock]

On 5/19/2024 at 7:18 PM, ChrisF said:

 

Few weeks back it was sad to see people falling, some getting hurt, in the latter half of a red route race. Not even a long distance... just enough climbs to tire out the riders, then a few twisties where you had to be alert and ready to react.  

 

Put egos aside ... start with shorter routes.  

We been training since Jan. We ride every weekend at the trails around us, lol and yes have fallen a few times, but have been doing the harder trails, and have seen a major improvement.  Also been doing the longer trails 42km.  So hope we ready for 94.7.  

[ChrisF]

50 minutes ago, Grace Nock said:

We been training since Jan. We ride every weekend at the trails around us, lol and yes have fallen a few times, but have been doing the harder trails, and have seen a major improvement.  Also been doing the longer trails 42km.  So hope we ready for 94.7.  

 

Sounds like you DID your training.  Hope you will have a good race day. 

 

 

After 20km you will see the others who did not ....

[JJDT]

Just to add what has already been mentioned, ride one or two other events prior to your "main" race just to get the feeling of what to expect one race day.

It is one thing just to ride the local trails as opposed to be in a race. You need to be somewhat prepared on what race day will happen, bottlenecks, someone making a mistake and fall in front of you(will you be able to stop in time or swerve to avoid falling yourself), extreme heat(you will most likely start in the last batch at a very late time and depending on your speed it maybe a very long day).

Enjoy the MTB journey...