Fisan Posted February 22 Posted February 22 Had the privilege of doing an insanely beautiful race in the Western Cape. Views worthy of paintings....but...the littering. Now I may sound like an old Oomie (FWIW I did recently move up to "sub-veteran") but the amount of Goo sachets strewn on the otherwise pristine Renosterveld was just plain gross. One or two may have been case of accidently dropping it - or thinking you put in your shirt pocket but missed. I can forgive that. But when the count is 50 (no exaggeration here), its no accident anymore. Unforgivable. Where the blerrie F is the respect for our trails? Anyways, great event. Good vibes. Amazing day. Rant off. mazambaan, MBMtbGirl, wolver and 6 others 6 3
Stephan Posted February 22 Posted February 22 If the event you are talking about involved five climbs, then I fully agree. By far the most amount of spent sachets and wrappers I’ve seen for a very long time.
WaynejG Posted February 22 Posted February 22 On the recent Herald event here in PE, the amount of power aid bottles on the side of road was shocking. Worst of all most were at least 3/4 full. Not only litter but wastage. Those bottles cost a sponsor a lot of money Zebra 1
babse Posted February 22 Posted February 22 3 hours ago, Fisan said: Had the privilege of doing an insanely beautiful race in the Western Cape. Views worthy of paintings....but...the littering. Now I may sound like an old Oomie (FWIW I did recently move up to "sub-veteran") but the amount of Goo sachets strewn on the otherwise pristine Renosterveld was just plain gross. One or two may have been case of accidently dropping it - or thinking you put in your shirt pocket but missed. I can forgive that. But when the count is 50 (no exaggeration here), its no accident anymore. Unforgivable. Where the blerrie F is the respect for our trails? Anyways, great event. Good vibes. Amazing day. Rant off. Inexcusable... So much wrong in that nevermind the amazing trails and mountain.
Jbr Posted February 22 Posted February 22 Shocking behaviour especially from mountainbikers… most of the races I do (road and gravel) you see people throw they’re junk out of their pockets when we ride by waterpoints at least
milky4130 Posted February 22 Posted February 22 I can assure you from firsthand experience riders do this deliberately road & off road. Even called out a few when I noticed it.
dave303e Posted February 23 Posted February 23 we live in a country of "I" specialists... Me, myself and I... No one gives a second thought to anyone, they will just complain when the next mtb race can't use those trails and climbs again. Some p***** organised a road race east of Pretoria decided to spray paint litter zone on the tar and put up litter zone signs for his event last year. Except this was on the R104, so cars thought this was a great thing and were dumping trash along there for weeks after the event. We as a community went and cleaned it up and cleaned the paint of the road. IceCreamMan and ChrisF 2
Shebeen Posted February 23 Posted February 23 (edited) On 2/22/2026 at 10:38 AM, Fisan said: Had the privilege of doing an insanely beautiful race in the Western Cape. Views worthy of paintings....but...the littering. Now I may sound like an old Oomie (FWIW I did recently move up to "sub-veteran") but the amount of Goo sachets strewn on the otherwise pristine Renosterveld was just plain gross. One or two may have been case of accidently dropping it - or thinking you put in your shirt pocket but missed. I can forgive that. But when the count is 50 (no exaggeration here), its no accident anymore. Unforgivable. Where the blerrie F is the respect for our trails? Anyways, great event. Good vibes. Amazing day. Rant off. Disgusting. People really think someone else is going to come pick up after them. Even if that is the case (and it's a serious deferral of duty) then stuff blows away. Hardcore zero tolerance name and shame is the only viable option here, and the riders need to be empowered to do it. Sort of related, this is what i picked up in 2km between waterpoints at the peninsula marathon 8 days ago. There are bins, "but someone else will get it". Windy day and guess where the stormwater drains go.... edit:stupid HEIC image format Edited February 23 by Shebeen Mook 1
Robbie Stewart Posted February 23 Posted February 23 I was just simply disgusted by the retards riding the epic who discarded their gel sachets and other litter on the trails at Contermanskloof last year. At least this year that global dick measuring contest's prologue is confined to Meerendal, so maybe the organiser can go clean the mess up themselves, although I highly doubt it. ChrisF, Pofkat, Louis_Theron and 1 other 1 2 1
dave303e Posted February 23 Posted February 23 19 minutes ago, Robbie Stewart said: I was just simply disgusted by the retards riding the epic who discarded their gel sachets and other litter on the trails at Contermanskloof last year. At least this year that global dick measuring contest's prologue is confined to Meerendal, so maybe the organiser can go clean the mess up themselves, although I highly doubt it. do they even know you are eating 300grams of carbs an hour and spending 4grand a day on Maurten if you don't throw the empty sachet on the floor? Don't get me going on marathons and water sachets.....
ChrisF Posted February 23 Posted February 23 16 minutes ago, Robbie Stewart said: .... that global dick measuring contest's prologue..... WOW ... How about you tell us how you actually feel about those that ride the Cape Epic ? Two friends are riding this year. They have worked blerrie hard for the last 12 months to get to this point !! At best they might podium in their age cat, as they have done in a couple of races leading up to this. Realistically just finishing properly is their aim .... And these are people that read the Hub .... nee magtig man, kom ons ondersteun liewer ons vriende as wat ons sulke beledigings rond slinger .... PS - my only gripe ... that wont be able to get leave that week ... really wanted to join them on this tour, washing bikes after the stage, helping where possible .... going to be theeee longest week in the office Zebra 1
Shebeen Posted February 23 Posted February 23 36 minutes ago, ChrisF said: WOW ... How about you tell us how you actually feel about those that ride the Cape Epic ? Two friends are riding this year. They have worked blerrie hard for the last 12 months to get to this point !! At best they might podium in their age cat, as they have done in a couple of races leading up to this. Realistically just finishing properly is their aim .... And these are people that read the Hub .... nee magtig man, kom ons ondersteun liewer ons vriende as wat ons sulke beledigings rond slinger .... PS - my only gripe ... that wont be able to get leave that week ... really wanted to join them on this tour, washing bikes after the stage, helping where possible .... going to be theeee longest week in the office What are you on about? This is a thread about littering in pristine mountain areas on racedays because you feel like you have earned the right by paying the entry fee. Cape epic has a terrible reputation in this regard, because they allow their clients to do it and "someone will go clean up". If been to trails 2/3 weeks after epic has come through and seen loads there just off the trail, indicating that a clean team swept the area and did a half arsed job. if you're going to be kumba ya about your tjommies who have dedicated their past year to this race, cool - please tell them to stash their trash. openmind 1
GLuvsMtb Posted February 23 Posted February 23 The ACE actually have a very strict anti-littering policy that is being enforced. Other events can take note and do the same. I raise my boys to only take pictures and to only leave tracks when we ride or hike. It's the way I was raised. Daniel de V, ChrisF and Zebra 2 1
Zebra Posted February 23 Posted February 23 I have done Epics - 3 of them - back-to-back (context? - done a few, to compare...) and have never seen the littering you mention, and did not enjoy your 'retards' and 'dick-measuring' contest 'chirps'... I worked damn hard for my Epic spot, raised my own sponsorship, ZERO litter from myself & my partner, and have never seen any real 'degree' of littering, other than OBVIOUSLY someone can easily drop a gel sachet between gloved hand and back pocket.... If nowadays littering is a 'thing', then I stand corrected... BUT, I reckon your 'retards' (C.E.) and 'dick-measuring' comments (C.E.) have no place here, on the Forum. Chris. SwissVan, Mamil, Akon and 2 others 3 1 1
Mamil Posted February 23 Posted February 23 (edited) Sometimes words are litter too akso - who uses Maurten - if you're after expensive processed sugars it has to be Amacx. Edited February 23 by Mamil
Shebeen Posted February 23 Posted February 23 jussis, okes have been uniquely touched on their Absa Cape Epic studio. Reputations like this are not given out willy nilly, they are earned. It must be near the 3rd week of March already. I guess I'll wait for my deep Pietersfontein Valley Montagu contacts to tell us how the Absa Cape Epic behaves compared to say, L'Eroica. openmind and IceCreamMan 1 1
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now