Aggies Posted May 26, 2010 Share MTB in South Africa grew extremely fast over the last two years! The general feeling of most riders I spoke to (middle to end of pack) is of the opinion that race organizers is getting it wrong. They are making races too technical. You would have had a wonderful experience during a specific race in 2009, just to find the "new" route for 2010 being too technical. Fact is that 90% of MTB riders only get to train on offroad once a week and maybe get some minor technical routes once a month. To expect all to hit the same technical stuff as pros becomes rediculous. Take the MTN series as an example: People that have done both the 75 and 50 at Clarens vowed never to do it again!! The general suggestion is to make the normal Marathons and Half Marathons fair to 90% of riders. Leave the serious technical stuff for areas within the Ultra Marathons and for XC. You present the riders, please express your opinion and also think about the sosial riders that will not be hub members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svm3000 Posted May 26, 2010 Share it is a mountainbike race , learn to ride off road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robrider Posted May 26, 2010 Share Not even a little bit!! I think in the last 2 years races such as MTN (and others) have steped up to the plate to provide much better routes. They are becoming more technical, but are not unridable. If you riding a dual suspension, and you think its too technical, maybe you should stick to road riding and craiter cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowta Posted May 26, 2010 Share Most are not technical enough!! Even the cyclo-cross racers in Europe ride more technical stuff than some of the "Mountain bike" races Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratty Posted May 26, 2010 Share In the western cape, we now have so many routes close to home to go practice our skills on so no excuses about not getting to ride off road. I will only do a race if it is technical, unless its something like Karoo to Coast which u do for the awesome scenary etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennyg Posted May 26, 2010 Share Ride road then...or the shorter distances. Just my 2c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svm3000 Posted May 26, 2010 Share Spot on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted May 26, 2010 Share MTB in South Africa grew extremely fast over the last two years! ? The general feeling of most riders I spoke to (middle to end of pack) is of the opinion that race organizers is getting it wrong. They are making races too technical. ? You would have had a wonderful experience during a specific race in 2009' date=' just to find the "new" route for 2010 being too technical. ? Fact is that 90% of MTB riders only get to train on offroad once a week and maybe get some minor technical routes once a month. To expect all to hit the same technical stuff as pros becomes rediculous. ? Take the MTN series as an example: People that have done both the 75 and 50 at Clarens vowed never to do it again!! ? The general suggestion is to make the normal Marathons and Half Marathons fair to 90% of riders. ? Leave the serious technical stuff for areas within the Ultra Marathons and for XC. ? You present the riders, please express your opinion and also think about the sosial riders that will not be hub members.[/quote'] Sorry Aggies ... you are joking right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudsimus Posted May 26, 2010 Share Shees..if you moan about a race being to technical then you need to slap some slicks on your MTB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecnic Posted May 26, 2010 Share A proper mountain bike race can never be to technical, Learn to ride it or ride road, I was in a bike shop a few days ago and a good road cyclist asked if the weekend mtb race was technical, the answer was no, to which he replied then I'll ride it, thats the wrong attitude. Saying a mountain bike race is to technical is like me saying road race are to far, technical makes a race and seperates average riders from great riders. In all fairness technical is all part of the challenge, I'm not saying make it suicidal but it must by no means be easy. There are non technical races to do, so stop complaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreZA Posted May 26, 2010 Share Marathons and Ultras should not be technical at all. There there challenge is the distance. XC should the technical one. But if you look at the condition of our roads it looks like road racing is the technical event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hipster Posted May 26, 2010 Share The more technical the better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bduplessis Posted May 26, 2010 Share More Technical = More Fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danger Dassie Posted May 26, 2010 Share Which "90%" Would that specific race be the Epic? I know plenty social riders who are faster than pros in the technical bits, but then what is your definition of "technical" ? Clarens is a challenge, if people can't make the full route perhaps they need to question how they approach their own skillsets, not to dumb down the route. For myself I feel there are more than enough events catering to riders across the board. So perhaps people should choose their events more carefuly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChigginLeg Posted May 26, 2010 Share Roadie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggies Posted May 26, 2010 Share Not even a little bit!!I think in the last 2 years races such as MTN (and others) have steped up to the plate to provide much better routes. They are becoming more technical' date=' but are not unridable.If you riding a dual suspension, and you think its too technical, maybe you should stick to road riding and craiter cruise.[/quote'] Maybe the hub was the wrong place for such a poll as you are all diehard MTB'ers. I personally don't have a problem with Technical stuff as I am in the same category. I am refering to the fact that the general sosial rider is starting to find it too difficult. Don't we want to grow the sport? I do every race possible and have at least 10 close friends that also try the sport. Most are getting reluctant to enter as they don't enjoy it anymore. Who is losing? The sport. By the way, it is related to the shorter distance where you will find the newcomers and the sosial people. The people that starts with a R4k bike and out to enjoy it and admire your skills. I have noticed a decline in participation at some events. Maybe the answer is to have more XC races for the experienced riders and be aware of the fact to grow the interest with marathons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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