Lost City 103km riders taking 70km route

[Daxiet]

The results are finally out and after some hard work and a sprint I knew I had come 1st in my batch, personal achievement (All be it in C Batch).

 

However this morning I see some really cool results and would like to make special mention of 3 guys that to put it bluntly cheated and still chose to cross the finishing mats for an official time:

Van Niekerk, Christo

De Pinho, Tony

Coetzee, Andre

 

Unfortunetly the other guys chip is not linked to a name. All these guys have terrible times in previous races, but according to the results did a brilliant job all by themselves. Why do people still do this, is it a quick way to boost your seeding, furthemore why didn't Racetec have mats on the 103km loop to verify riders completed the full course. On the final 15kms to the finish we passed a number of C and D batch riders who had obviously opted for the 70km route.

 

I was in the front 6 of C-batch all the way to the finish, I ensured no one snuck away only to find these chops had cheated.

 

[davem]

Hi Darryl

 

You just made my day. Moved up from 18th to 14th in C. Even if not official.

 

Well cycled, I managed to hang with you guys to 45km and then you just powered away.

 

 

[Moab]

Shot Darryl.

 

I kept up with you guys until about 30odd kms then I fell out the back. Well done!! You kept the pace fast from the go.

 

My neighbour was in that lot that cut down to 70km and queried with them and requested a change but they refused saying that she must enjoy the season. This is going to mess up the seeding big time. She did 1min longer than me but did 30km less!!!

[Daxiet]

Thanks guys, good news is tomorrow morning the results will reflect correctly.

 

I think in all honesty the results are very skewed, the only draw back to an otherwise great race this year.

 

 

 

[clivem]

We reg'd and paid for the Lost City 103km but at the collection I asked to be changed to the 70km which they happily did & re-seeded us into the G group.  Issued us with G numbers and took our 103km numbers away.  We started in G.  So it can be legally done, its just a ball ache maybe for some people to change their numbers, or maybe they think they will get away with it and get a cool seeding for the rest of the season.

 

Saw the same on the Carnival City where we diod the 100km and were beaten by some dood who was like 60 years old - he took the short cut and finished with an average speed of like 48+ km/hr.  I know guys who reported them to their cycling clubs who then gave some weak excuses as to why this had happened.  We also moved up the final rankings after they were DQ!

[daggavis]

sorry, i'm new to this seeding (cycling as well) thing so please don't flame me for this question...i can understand it if some guys realize half way through the race they over estimated their fitness or are ill etc etc..but did they have no choice but to go over the timing mats? Or could they've gotten off their bikes and walk around the mats? What was the setup at the finish line?

[porky]

Do you think people do it "intentionally" for whatever reason, or just find they perhaps overestimated their fitness, cant manage the 103 on the day and take the 70km detour.?

 

I think most people probably dont even think about it, they are tired, hot low on energy and know they wont get home doing the 103, so just turn off.

 

Perhaps there are some that do it to cheat the seedings, but generally I just think most people just dont understand the consequences of their "change of plan".!

 

 

[Daxiet]

 

 

sorry' date=' i'm new to this seeding (cycling as well) thing so please don't flame me for this question...i can understand it if some guys realize half way through the race they over estimated their fitness or are ill etc etc..but did they have no choice but to go over the timing mats? Or could they've gotten off their bikes and walk around the mats? What was the setup at the finish line?[/quote']

 

The finish was well layed out, they could have ridden past on the right hand side. The mats a clearly visible below the finish blimp or whatever they call it. Then just a little way on is a backup mat that can equally be missed and is equally visible.

 

Sure some may forget their time is being tracked, but I think this is the minority. The rest either don't care or choose to give their seedings a nice boost.

Daxiet2009-08-24 07:43:09

[Daxiet]

 

Do you think people do it "intentionally" for whatever reason' date=' or just find they perhaps overestimated their fitness, cant manage the 103 on the day and take the 70km detour.? [/quote']

 

Just remembered:

In the race briefing letter, the race organisers said they would have a mat on the 103km route to verify all riders completed the correct distance. Anyone not to pass that mat would be DQ'd.

 

So maybe in some of these riders defence they thought it would be an automatic DQ, they didn't have to bother bypassing the mats. So a lot of these false results should be laid at the feet of the organisers. I really hope next year they will make a plan to eliminate this, not just try scare riders into keeping to the 103km route.

 

[clivem]

If u change en-route from the long to the short route then you are disqualified, and common decency says you should communicate this fact to the organisors.  Or better still dont pass the mats, or take your chip off before crossing the mats.  You shouldnt really even get a time for the short leg, cos you have ridden with the faster riders and received an unfair advantage. Much like the juniors cannot ride with the vet bunches, similarly the racing ladies, etc.

[Guy2607]

Hey Darryl

Good on you!! Its about time these schlenters get there dues. I used to ride with people who did this on a regular basis for good seedings for the 94.7 and Argus, even give their chips to faster riders etc.

 

Come the day of the event they start earlier and make utter fools of themselves by being dropped in the first km. Needless to say I refused to ride with them anymore and they dont belong to our club anymore, but unfortunately continue to do this.

 

These people will get theirs one day as soon as the race organisers realise that the only way to stop them is to have mats along the route. Com'on guys start realizing that you are only fooling yourself and everyone sees what you do.

[porky]

If u change en-route from the long to the short route then you are disqualified' date=' and common decency says you should communicate this fact to the organisors.  Or better still dont pass the mats, or take your chip off before crossing the mats.  You shouldnt really even get a time for the short leg, cos you have ridden with the faster riders and received an unfair advantage. Much like the juniors cannot ride with the vet bunches, similarly the racing ladies, etc.[/quote']

 

I am with you.

 

I just think a lot of riders dont understand this. I am sure there are those who do it intentionally, but an equal percentage probably just dont realise the issue.

 

Most times its not malicious, a bit of a sugar low, tired legs and an overheated brain all contibute to the rider just wanting to finish.

[mudda]

Cyclists will allways be going on the shorter route, for what ever reason. (Could even be as a result of valid technical/health reasons). They are probably just thinking about getting back to base in one piece.

 

The answer to the problem has been discussed before. Two sets of timing mats. The computer system can then correlate the entires and DQ those with no match. Problem solved.

 

 

 

[Guest Agteros]

 

The results are finally out and after some hard work and a sprint I knew I had come 1st in my batch' date=' personal achievement (All be it in C Batch).

 

However this morning I see some really cool results and would like to make special mention of 3 guys that to put it bluntly cheated and still chose to cross the finishing mats for an official time:

Van Niekerk, Christo

De Pinho, Tony

Coetzee, Andre

 

Unfortunetly the other guys chip is not linked to a name. All these guys have terrible times in previous races, but according to the results did a brilliant job all by themselves. Why do people still do this, is it a quick way to boost your seeding, furthemore why didn't Racetec have mats on the 103km loop to verify riders completed the full course. On the final 15kms to the finish we passed a number of C and D batch riders who had obviously opted for the 70km route.

 

I was in the front 6 of C-batch all the way to the finish, I ensured no one snuck away only to find these chops had cheated.

 

[/quote']

 

Daxiet good on you for reporting them. Saw them as well I and also do not have recollection of them leaving us behind at any stage.

 

Sorry I could not help more at the front I worked 'against/with' my HR monitor...

 

Dunno if it were you guys who said one to the other "Maak hom bietjie suffer" I was just hanging on, trying to go as fast as possible.

 

Was a great ride, thanks guys!

 

[echo]

I have not been cycling (racing) for the last few years, but if something like this happened due to a mechanical failure or for any other reason and you had to change your route to the shorter one, we removed our timing chips and put them in our pocket. This is even worse for MTB races with loops. ( never saw anyone changing to the longer distance)<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

[Daxiet]

 

I have not been cycling (racing) for the last few years, but if something like this happened due to a mechanical failure or for any other reason and you had to change your route to the shorter one, we removed our timing chips and put them in our pocket. This is even worse for MTB races with loops. ( never saw anyone changing to the longer distance)

[/quote']

 

Your point about MTB is spot on. I try avoid doing races made up of 2 or more laps for this reason, did a race down in Heatonville where and entire section could be skipped by hoping onto the return road about 5m away. Urban Assault is another race where shortcuts are taken and the 2nd lap is skipped. On MTB races with laps there should be a mat to verify 2 laps have been completed. The Telkom Satellite Challenge (MTB) was good in this sense, they had hand held scanners at the furtherest point verify a 2nd lap was completed.

 

The Lost City MTB had the same problems yesterday and will continue to have them until a mat is put out halfway through the lap to verify riders pass it twice.

 

Hopefully race organisers will start to put more effort into ensuring accurate results and stop relying on integrity. I see Brett the organiser of the Illovo Eston MTB posted a couple weeks back about this issue asking for suggestions, so some are already working on it.