Knysna MTB Timing

[Aedon]

I didnt want to hijack the thread about the manual timing at Walkerville but also had a dissapointment with the Knysna timing.

Decided to ride the shorter route with a friend after entering the long route.

 

Paid my "penalty fee" of R30.00 to change but no results available.

Managed to get hold of the organisers to complain only to be told, that when you downgrade they remove you from the schedule so you dont even get an official finish much less a finishing time.

 

Also got reminded that they arent responsible for the timing and that I should follow it up with some other organisation.

[Ratty]

The other organisation didn't get the timing accurate.  Ok, it was only out by a few minutes, but still annoying.  Why don't they use timing mats so at least the people who have timing chips can get an accurate time.

 

 

[GLuvsMtb]

I also downgraded to the 50 km and got a time. It was reasonably accurate (times are generally taken on the first riders of a group, as it is not possible to time 800 riders at the start) to your actual finishing time.

This race has become expensive (I think it was more than R150 to enter). They had the timing mats there for the road race, so why it was not used remains a mystery. I was also dissapointed with the goodie bags. We only got some jelly babies and bubble bath. One would think that pick n pay could have put a R20 voucher in to use at the Pick n pay food stall afterwards or something!

[MoreTrails]

Come on guys, are you really entering for the goodie bag or the fact that you may or may not have cracked a sub3 hour something or other. Its all about the ride, the traffic on the trail, the fact that people push you off the trail into the mountain side on climbs cause they are to knackered (from not training) to hold a line..... yeah, I am taking the piss...

 

Go to action photo, they seem to have the times. takes a while to sort through them and find your name but its there....even a mate of mine that was "disqualified" for starting in the wrong group is there. Oh, and you get to see your pics too  

[GLuvsMtb]

Sure we are there for the ride. Oysters are overrated (and overpriced ). but times are tough and will remain tough. Soon the events will be fighting for survival if they don't freshen it up. Cyclists are still consumers, and perception is important. The title sponsors could have done a bit more to add value, rather than try and establish a captive market for their product on the day. Sure Rotary is a good cause, but that doesn't mean that the title sponsors doesn't have to contribute to the people that keeps the race going (the cyclists).

And while we are moaning - next year they need to keep the 85 and 50 km routes seperate. That traffic jam along the only bit of fun stuff on the 50km route is frustrating to say the least. Surely they would have received this input before, but it doesnt seem like they give a hoot.

I'l lbe back for the long ride next year (if it remains under R200 for an entry, otherwise I will go and do the ride in the week after the race is over) and I will not be doing the road ride soon. Harkerville was much more fun on the Sunday than the road slog.

[mikkelz]

Overall I thought it was a very well run event - I rode the 50 km MTB race.

 

I must agree with the comments about the "goodie" bag. If I was a kid I might've found the jelly babies rewarding, but it was a little lame.

 

Re: timing - I didn't have a chip and started off in the middle of the DC group, so it took me a whole 5 minutes to cross the start line. Which obviously counted against my "official" time. I set my timer as soon as I crossed the start and stopped it immediately after crossing the finish.

 

I just bought a timing chip from RaceTec and hope to use it in the ride in Stellenbosch on the 1st of August.