Silverstar MTB...not for me! ...my 2 cents

[L.T.G]

I faced a dilemma this past week, either pull out of the Silverstar or change my entry to the 20km. I have a nagging ankle injury, and would rather do bits of lots then lots of nothing! also, needed to be back at work asap this morning!

I'm glad i did the event, I'm a Krugersdorp boy and it was nice to have an event on my doorstep (almost literally) .... and a big thanks to iTec/Silverstar all involved.., no hassles... BUT not for me again, don't get me wrong..not complaining, simply sharing..way toooo much tar for me and way way way too much traffic for an event...

 

So as mundane as the 20 was, ..I'm glad i did it as opposed to the 40, as there was alot more tar involved...i'm not a fan of tar..I like getting dirty.

 

been there, done that..

rather give a Magalies Nandos everyday!!!

 

and lastly to the lady, that got splashed with my mud by me,through the SINGLE watery muddy crossing on the whole route, that thanked me for being "awesome".... it you don't want to get dirty, get white socks and a road bike..stay away from an mtb.... (no offense to roadies)

 

 

 

 

 

[nathrix]

I did the 40km race. It was ok, but it was my first and my last. Too much tar.

[crasher]

It was nice though to belt it down the hill at 70kmph on a mountain bike

[jagwil]

Had a great 51km ride from Centurion to the far east of Pretoria and back. Sounds as if this was the better option.

[crasher]

Despite the tar it was still a nice way to spend Saturday morning I stay just down the road so was nice to not have to drive far to ride.

There were some nice sections in between the tar I enjoyed it

 

BUT we needed a beer tent in the carpark!!

crasher2009-09-12 08:46:45

[thehermanator]

I faced a dilemma this past week' date=' either pull out of the Silverstar or change my entry to the 20km. I have a nagging ankle injury, and would rather do bits of lots then lots of nothing! also, needed to be back at work asap this morning!
I'm glad i did the event, I'm a Krugersdorp boy and it was nice to have an event on my doorstep (almost literally) .... and a big thanks to iTec/Silverstar all involved.., no hassles... BUT not for me again, don't get me wrong..not complaining, simply sharing..way toooo much tar for me and way way way too much traffic for an event...

So as mundane as the 20 was, ..I'm glad i did it as opposed to the 40, as there was alot more tar involved...i'm not a fan of tar..I like getting dirty.

been there, done that..
rather give a Magalies Nandos everyday!!!

and lastly to the lady, that got splashed with my mud by me,through the SINGLE watery muddy crossing on the whole route, that thanked me for being "awesome".... it you don't want to get dirty, get white socks and a road bike..stay away from an mtb.... (no offense to roadies)

 

I was very sad that I could not do this race, was looking forward to it for such a long time, but my fork packed up and I arrived very late from Cape Town last night, reading some of your comments I don't feel that bad anymore.




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[Andre 77]

It was a good race and I enjoyed the tar, will do it again next year.

[Guest colonel]

where can the results be seen??

[crasher]

http://www.spectrumsport.co.za/Silverstar_MTB_Results_20090912.pdf

[Jules]

I quite enjoyed this race. Say what you like about it but it didn't suffer from a malaise that plagues most mtb races: a mass start straight into single or jeep track, leaving the unfit guys who thought they belonged on the front blocking the okes who actually deserved a spot there.

 

 

 

A start up Krugersdorp hill was just the ticket to sort the field out.

 

 

 

I suppose the results will be on spectrum sport but the first five places were Alex Pavlov, Jock Green (jock disputed alex's first but i think they reached some arrangement in the end), Henry uys, me and mark elliot.

 

In the women Sam Oosthuizen won followed by, i think, Carla Rowley. Well done to bored girl on collecting third in the senior women.

[Thug]

Well done Jules & BG !

[L.T.G]

 

Had a great 51km ride from Centurion to the far east of Pretoria and back. Sounds as if this was the better option.

 

it was

 

[ChainSuck]

I really enjoyed this event! The climb at the start was exactly what is needed at most of these events, as it sorts out the field nice and early into the race.

 

The race did have to change course at last minute, and thus the inclusion of the tar decent (which I loved), otherwise as you'd have seen on the route map, we would hve decended on some single/jeep tracks in the hills on the otehr side of the R28. Taking this into mind, I think the organisers did a great job in still providing us with 40km (almost) to ride.

 

You had to love the sprinklers at the end

[crasher]

Yes just finished cleaning all that orange mud off!!!!

[AndreZA]

It was nice but boy that Hillsnax is terrible on a MTB. I love it on a road bike and do it a few times in a row when I do train hills, but I could just not get going. I liked the tunnels going through underneath the road and thought they should have just put something down so that you could ride straight into them instead of dismounting.

[WR 1.0]

Even with the hill spreading out the field, there was still some bottlenecking at the techical sections on top of the mountain.

I am inclined to say that the route should have been run the  other way around.

There was also some riders that turned around and rode back on top of the mountain. Dodging them got interesting between all those loose rocks!