[Event] Ford Trailseeker #1 Banhoek

[Faces Advendurance]

Event Name: Ford Trailseeker #1 Banhoek
When: 25/01/2025
Where: Plaisir Wine Estate, Simondium, Western Cape
Category: Mountain Bike

The Ford Trailseeker Series kicks off at Banhoek Valley Conservancy, with top-tier mountain biking trails starting and ending at Plaisir Wine Estate.

Known for hosting elite riders, Banhoek offers some of the best trails in the country, challenging participants with its scenic mountain routes. 

The event comes at a perfect time of year, allowing riders to test their skills and prepare for future races.

After the race, enjoy wine tasting and the welcoming atmosphere, making this event more than just a race—it’s a great way to start the series.

Go to Event Page.

[SamTaylor]

Who else rode today? Opinions? 
 

Other than the heat, it’s was a great ride. Well organised as always for faces/adveburence. I had a good deal of traffic to deal with on some of the descents - I really wish more marathon riders will spend some time learning descending skills (but also I must just work at getting an A batch seeding).

water points seemed well supplied, but I just ate potatoes and drank Pepsi/water.

the Gees was there at the start/finish, even with the heat.

my only complaint as a first time rider of the Banhoek event, is why not just call it Trailseeker Boschendal/Plasir or something? It doesn’t even scratch the surface of the amazing trails Banhoek has, especially more Kylemore side

[wolver]

Was a great event. Something seemed off with the seeding though, my assumption is that the seeding index weights Wines2Whales quite heavily (longer event?) as I passed a lot of people starting in C batch quite early on that I can't imagine them ever being faster than me.

[Mamil]

36 minutes ago, wolver said:

Was a great event. Something seemed off with the seeding though, my assumption is that the seeding index weights Wines2Whales quite heavily (longer event?) as I passed a lot of people starting in C batch quite early on that I can't imagine them ever being faster than me.

I think loyalty to the event is one of the main criteria for seeding. I was one of the C that you would have passed, demoted there cos i did the half last year. I've been as high as B but objectively I'm a D, maybe an E. 

Lovely day out, some manicured trail, some rough and techy bits, well organised, route nicely spread out to avoid queues at the singletrack. I appointed myself unofficial sweeper and played good Samaritan Florence nightingmamil sharing out my cramp medicine.

If I'm holding someone up on the tech bits I.always stop and let them through, I can't stand the pressure of being tailgated. 

 

[wolver]

1 hour ago, Mamil said:

I think loyalty to the event is one of the main criteria for seeding. I was one of the C that you would have passed, demoted there cos i did the half last year. I've been as high as B but objectively I'm a D, maybe an E. 

Lovely day out, some manicured trail, some rough and techy bits, well organised, route nicely spread out to avoid queues at the singletrack. I appointed myself unofficial sweeper and played good Samaritan Florence nightingmamil sharing out my cramp medicine.

If I'm holding someone up on the tech bits I.always stop and let them through, I can't stand the pressure of being tailgated. 

 

I'm not sure that loyalty counts, I've done most of the Trailseekers in the WC. I started the last one in Wellington in A batch and although I had a particularly bad race that day, I still finished in a time that put me in the top 10 of B batch with some A batchers behind... so don't understand how I suddenly got relegated backwards 3 batches (Wellington didn't have an elite batch like Banhoek did). Not complaining, it wasn't too bad having to pass people, but in the past the seeding system has been on point and one of the things that makes these races so great by not having traffic on the singletrack.

 

One thing that could do better is have separate queues for the marathon and half marathon at registration... it was chaos.

[babse]

2 hours ago, wolver said:

Was a great event. Something seemed off with the seeding though, my assumption is that the seeding index weights Wines2Whales quite heavily (longer event?) as I passed a lot of people starting in C batch quite early on that I can't imagine them ever being faster than me.

Nah i dont think w2w affected seeding. I checked pursuit africa website, it was a link i found on trailseeker site. Shows all my results and even some road events. 

 

I was seeded in D. Last rode a trailseeker in wellington 2 years back and finished top30 in A. I tried querying before event but had no response via their WhatsApp, email and didn't answer their landline. Nevertheless, a 25min que on race morning and by the time i got reseeded A batch and woman had all left. Started in B and fun was had. 

Trails were good and everything else.  WP had what it needed when i stopped to refuel. Hope that last WP lasted as that section must've gotten crazy hot later on... 

 

Hopefully be at next one later in the year.

[wolver]

As per the Pursuit website:

 

The peer-to-peer performance index is based only on actual, verified event results data*. It is calculated using two parameters: the Total Index and the Event Index. The Total Index is the average of the top three event indexes per discipline, while the Event Index is calculated based on your final position in the event, the strength of the athletes in the event, the event rating, and the event index over three years.

[Mamil]

1 hour ago, wolver said:

As per the Pursuit website:

 

The peer-to-peer performance index is based only on actual, verified event results data*. It is calculated using two parameters: the Total Index and the Event Index. The Total Index is the average of the top three event indexes per discipline, while the Event Index is calculated based on your final position in the event, the strength of the athletes in the event, the event rating, and the event index over three years.

I can't think that's the case - I'm a slower rider and this was the first time I've ever been as low as C. We'll see at the next one because I made lengthy stops to chat to other riders and help one guy who fell and another who was cramping and my total time was 5 hours - for wellington then I should end up in the last group - I'm looking forward to it, maybe I'll get to overtake someone --- I might even yell "track" at some poor unfortunate....

[Bub Marley]

Great event. First time riding trails in that area so was a treat. I started in E batch as this was my first taste so there was traffic to deal with but nothing major i feel. The first 15km was great as it allowed the bunch to spread out nicely. Very Rocky area though which caught me by surprise. But it was great as it allowed me to sharpen my skills a bit. 
 

My only complaint, not really a complaint but more some feedback is to have registration the day before. That wasted a lot of time I felt. And then definitely an earlier start in summer. The elites started at 6:30am. A half hour earlier start in summer makes a massive difference. People were swimming in the river there just to cool off. It was boiling. 

[DieselnDust]

16 hours ago, wolver said:

Was a great event. Something seemed off with the seeding though, my assumption is that the seeding index weights Wines2Whales quite heavily (longer event?) as I passed a lot of people starting in C batch quite early on that I can't imagine them ever being faster than me.

SAseeding is a loyalty system. I do t ride enough of their events to crack the A batch. Stage races don’t weight more unless individual stages are longer. You just have three more events in short succession for your index to be calculated and updated. To make A batch you may need to consider a racing license or place well in several stage races a year