Standard Bank thugs

[MaxUmis]

Yes this is a rant.

And the rant goes like this: I would be embarrassed if I had my name on the backs of riders behaving like a bunch of sea pirates off the coast of Somalia in a race. In this weekend's Amashova race a Standard bank bunch joined up with our already massive bunch and shouted, pushed and shoved their way to the front about 6km from the N3. At that stage we were clocking 50 km/h +. One mistake, one nervous wheel, one sudden move and we could all go down, and at that pace, it will be ugly.

 

To whom ever who said okay to having the Standard bank name printed on the backs of these okes, I now associate your brand with words like: inconsiderate, endangering, arrogant, bullies. Good luck in trying to get me to ever use your services

[Spinnekop]

PMS?

[fandacious]

wait.... lemme recap

 

* you were in a bunch.

* the bunch was going fast

* there were lots of other people in the bunch

* you got nervous because of pushing in the bunch

 

sounds to me like you should go ride mtb...

[MaxUmis]

From the Amashova thread.

 

Hi MaxUmis, thought I would respond to you since I was one of the guys riding for team Standard Bank today. It was the fifth day in our tour to Durban, we left Jo'burg on Wednesday and rode through to Durban, got there Friday. Then did the Shova up ride from Durbs to PMB yesterday and the Shova proper today. In the process we raised over R1.3m for charity and got 650km into the legs :-)

 

Today we were on a mission to break 3 hours by as big a margin as possible (not even a whopper of a hangover from last night could stop us) but unfortunately our "celebrity" batch got given a 7:40am start time, which placed us behind several batches that were slower than us. Our two marshals that have controlled our ride over the last 5 days, and who did spectacular job of doing so, did their best to get us through the traffic safely today. Its natural when cyclists see a big, fast bunch coming through to want to jump on, but you wouldn't believe how many dangerous situations this created with lines being crossed and riders being switched.

 

Sorry if we seemed hostile or rude, certainly not intended, we were just trying to get to Durbs as quickly, and most importantly safely, as possible. There was no malice intended, and no pushing or shoving that I witnessed or was aware of. Glad you had a good ride overall.

 

Well done on raising R1.3m, and good on you for owning up, but I'm sorry, your muscle flexing endangered my life and tainted an absolutely brilliant day. So you break the 3 hour mark. So what? I did it with really bad case of ITB and with only gym work as training, and a young laaitie did it with a prosthetic right leg(I was seriously impressed by him). A bunch of big names doing it in under 3 hours proves nothing other than you're content with spoiling the fun for others just so you can feel mucho.

Edited October 18, 2010 by MaxUmis

[Jackes]

 

sounds to me like you should go ride mtb...

 

Play Wii-Sports Resort ?

Edited October 18, 2010 by Jackes

[MaxUmis]

wait.... lemme recap

 

* you were in a bunch.

* the bunch was going fast

* there were lots of other people in the bunch

* you got nervous because of pushing in the bunch

 

sounds to me like you should go ride mtb...

Were we racing for money or fame or even a case of beer?

No.

My point is that there was NOTHING to gain by behaving that way. Only a very high risk that someone was going to get hurt.

[Eldron]

From the Amashova thread.

 

 

 

Well done on raising R1.3m, and good on you for owning up, but I'm sorry, your muscle flexing endangered my life and tainted an absolutely brilliant day. So you break the 3 hour mark. So what? I did it with really bad case of ITB and with only gym work as training, and a young laaitie did it with a prosthetic right leg(I was seriously impressed by him). A bunch of big names doing it in under 3 hours proves nothing other than you're content with spoiling the fun for others just so you can feel mucho.

 

So they caught you right? Why not just keep left, let them pass on the right and let them go? That would have limited the danger to a few seconds.

 

Two dangers are apparent here to me:

1) The Standard Bank guys overtaking you (overtaking is always dangerous).

2) You hanging on to the Standard Bank group - if you had let me go then there would not have been many issues...

[perry]

wait.... lemme recap

 

* you were in a bunch.

* the bunch was going fast

* there were lots of other people in the bunch

* you got nervous because of pushing in the bunch

 

sounds to me like you should go ride mtb...

 

 

HEY HEY no comments on him riding MTB instead.

[Spinnekop]

mmmm....maybe a good point there MaxUmis.....not worth it taking such risks?

 

But if there are some guys that does shove and ride risky, rather leave them be and ride your own pace? (But I bet you the whole bunch hopped on their wheels to try and get a better time?! and that's why you could not just leave them alone and had to pickle with?

[kosmonooit]

Maybe they are all a bit edgy given forthcoming round of retrenchments

[MaxUmis]

So they caught you right? Why not just keep left, let them pass on the right and let them go? That would have limited the danger to a few seconds.

 

Two dangers are apparent here to me:

1) The Standard Bank guys overtaking you (overtaking is always dangerous).

2) You hanging on to the Standard Bank group - if you had let me go then there would not have been many issues...

I was in the left lane and I only stuck with my bunch.

 

And if you'r really such a big guy, why could a B bunch hang on to your wheel?

[Parks cycling]

MaxUmis, get over yourself! Especially considering that Flex has already acknowledged your rant, provided an explanation for what you might have considered to be inconsiderate behaviour...and more importantly apologised:

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/1723-amashova/page__st__80

 

I can also only imagine the number of cyclists in your group that wanted to jump into the faster Standard Bank group and contributed to the chaos. I don't think it is fair that you choose to pick on a group just because they have the same kit on and make an easy target.

[b-unit]

 

To whom ever who said okay to having the Standard bank name printed on the backs of these okes, I now associate your brand with words like: inconsiderate, endangering, arrogant, bullies. Good luck in trying to get me to ever use your services

 

Sounds to me like these guys were hand picked to fit the brand.

[MaxUmis]

mmmm....maybe a good point there MaxUmis.....not worth it taking such risks?

 

But if there are some guys that does shove and ride risky, rather leave them be and ride your own pace? (But I bet you the whole bunch hopped on their wheels to try and get a better time?! and that's why you could not just leave them alone and had to pickle with?

 

Look, my issue is with HOW they passed us, not with BECAUSE they passed us.

Catching a faster wheel is part of the game. Okes catch my wheel all the time

 

If you approach a dangerous situation, does it make sense to do so smooth, polite and safe? or do you just go in like a bull in a china shop?

 

Flex, where were your marshals when you were approaching the N3?

[mudda]

In the open bunches, racing follows this pattern:

 

Either you get dropped off the back of your bunch ,or you stay in the bunch or you pull at the front of the bunch.

 

If another bunch joins you, I say its a free for all. They either pull away from your bunch, or the bunch gets bigger and they pull you along.

[flex]

MaxUmis, I'm really not going to get into a pointless debate with you over this one, but it seems you've missed my point. Our marshals were doing their best to keep the situation as safe as possible, and yes - they did this by shouting for riders to keep left as we came up on their right hand side (apologies again if this seemed rude but its difficult to introduce yourself, get to know each other and then politely ask you to move over when you're doing 60km/h on a bicycle). There was absolutely no pushing that took place. I'm not sure how you think that shouting for riders to keep left and join the bunch on the back, instead of trying to cut their way into the middle, creates risk - when in fact it avoids it.

 

No further comment from my side. As I said in my previous thread, there was no ill intent but only the intention to keep all riders safe. And it must have worked because we all got to Durban safely.