Guest Big H Posted February 20, 2011 Posted February 20, 2011 Saw some clips of this after the re-run of todays "stage". The guy from Cell C was not very convincing with his mumbling excuses but worst of all was mr Mocke who became emotional in trying to politicise the event with a cultural historical showpiece of the City of Joburg and ended up snivelling...... luckily they cut before he started crying. If cycling is in the hands of these guys we have no hope.
epoh Posted February 20, 2011 Posted February 20, 2011 I thought he had a valid point. You cannot showcase South Africa without including Johannesburg's rich heritage if your goals are to promote South Africa. No doubt it was more challenging than they anticipated. Next year give the metro cops doughnuts and make sure they are at the intersections to ensure road closure. It will make a BIG difference!
Danger Dassie Posted February 20, 2011 Posted February 20, 2011 I was present and there was no "mumbling" as Epoh said, Barry Mocke has a valid point, making a personal attack on him is hardly a constructive approach either.Between the three of them they admitted that it was perhaps too ambitious a route for the first Tour.There are some valid criticisms surrounding the PR and marketing, which most likely needs to be more mainstream in the run up to the event. Although there were ads on 702, The Star etc ....The actions of some Joburgers though were not caused by this, it definitely highlights the problems, but there is no excuse for some of the conduct from today.
Guest Big H Posted February 20, 2011 Posted February 20, 2011 I was present and there was no "mumbling" as Epoh said, Barry Mocke has a valid point, making a personal attack on him is hardly a constructive approach either.Between the three of them they admitted that it was perhaps too ambitious a route for the first Tour.There are some valid criticisms surrounding the PR and marketing, which most likely needs to be more mainstream in the run up to the event. Although there were ads on 702, The Star etc ....The actions of some Joburgers though were not caused by this, it definitely highlights the problems, but there is no excuse for some of the conduct from today. No personal attack..... he did start getting very emotional and seemed on the verge of crying. Form the aerial shots one could clearly see how the "rolling" roadblock suffocated during the first stoppage. They did not show much of the fiasco in Sandton but enough Hubbers reported on that. Thers is no excuse for the mortorists bad manners but it could have been alleviated if public awareness were at a higher level. If you are late going to your very important bridge game and you knew nothing about the bunch of normally arrogant cyclists in their silly tight clothes blocking you you may as well reacted the same way. In the end the actions of cyclists "behaving badly" on previous occasions could be blamed for much of waht happened today.
scotty Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) An ad in the Star 2 days before the actual event is not exactly whats needed , what about using the local community newspapers, Randburg Sun for instance. On the East Rand which hosts 3 races within a space of a month we have notices in the paper. I agree that Gauteng motorists and in particular Jhb motorists are intolerant and selfish, the race was held on a Sunday for crying out loud, what urgency and impact was there if you are delayed. Edited February 21, 2011 by scotty
kosmonooit Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) ... the race was held on a Sunday for crying out loud, what urgency and impact was there if you are delayed. Around lunch time on Sundays there is a mad panic to get to lunch dates on time, its a very dangerous time on the roads of Jhb (not that there is any safe time) And around Sandton it's worse with the hordes of nouveau riche suffering from God / Goddess complexes. Yes people here drive like selfish idiots most of the time, habits are bad and standards are low. Thats why I stick to back roads and pavements as much as possible though another great danger is rat runners (generally in SUV's yacking on cell phones) I say we as cyclist should do a mass protest in Sandton or somewhere here in Jhb: all meet at a major intersection at a given time and do a sit down / blockade / protest (at least for an hour) Edited February 21, 2011 by kosmonooit
Guest Big H Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) Around lunch time on Sundays there is a mad panic to get to lunch dates on time, its a very dangerous time on the roads of Jhb (not that there is any safe time) And around Sandton it's worse with the hordes of nouveau riche suffering from God / Goddess complexes. Yes people here drive like selfish idiots most of the time, habits are bad and standards are low. Thats why I stick to back roads and pavements as much as possible though another great danger is rat runners (generally in SUV's yacking on cell phones) I say we as cyclist should do a mass protest in Sandton or somewhere here in Jhb: all meet at a major intersection at a given time and do a sit down / blockade / protest (at least for an hour) I agree block an intersection in protest, but where will you find enough Caspirs/Buffels for such a protest. One big black Hummer with low profiles on chrome rims will scatta a hundred scrawny little cyclists with ease. Then also most of the so called protesters will be white...... Whiteys do not toi toi. The cops/metro will have a field day nuking you with mace and rubber batons...... It wil draw a massive crowd of spectators cheering the cops to beat those "cyclists behaving badly" ...... More spectators than the tour could draw...... And then cyclist will be free game everywhere!!!!!!!!! Bad idea to protest. Edited February 21, 2011 by Big H
kosmonooit Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 Its okay Big H I know how to toi toi and have had plenty tear gas and police batons back in the day so yeah let them come ... we will make sure the press are there, and it will be non-violent from our side, its worked before and it can work again.
SL7 Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 Shocking! But I'm sure they've learnt. I'm also sure though that there are competent event organisers that would have done a better job, maybe budgets were tight?
Guest Big H Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) Its okay Big H I know how to toi toi and have had plenty tear gas and police batons back in the day so yeah let them come ... we will make sure the press are there, and it will be non-violent from our side, its worked before and it can work again. It only worked in old Mahatma's days...... And getting 1000 cyclists to do the same thing is more difficult to find somebody who voted for the National Party. Edited February 21, 2011 by Big H
GrumpyOldGuy Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 Around lunch time on Sundays there is a mad panic to get to lunch dates on time, its a very dangerous time on the roads of Jhb (not that there is any safe time) And around Sandton it's worse with the hordes of nouveau riche suffering from God / Goddess complexes. Yes people here drive like selfish idiots most of the time, habits are bad and standards are low. Thats why I stick to back roads and pavements as much as possible though another great danger is rat runners (generally in SUV's yacking on cell phones) I say we as cyclist should do a mass protest in Sandton or somewhere here in Jhb: all meet at a major intersection at a given time and do a sit down / blockade / protest (at least for an hour) Thats totally uncalled for kosmonooit.
DJR Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 "And getting 1000 cyclists to do the same thing is more difficult" .......than trying to herd cats!
Guest coenie Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 Clearly they did not learn anything from SA Champs
jvdb Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 Ja well, a simple crit around Monty would have sufficed. But unfortunately CSA were to eager to run with the idea of "showcasing" Jo'burg... (probably the business case they proposed to Cell C to get the sponsorship in the 1st place)Although the idea of a "documentary" sounds great in theory the reality of taking a peleton of racing cyclist through the busiest parts of town is one that would take months of prep. Not seeing any advertisements, road closure notices or flyers being handed out at intersections building up to the event makes me to believe that this was a very poorly planned day. One not only endangering the lives of the riders but tarnishing the image a a sport not well supported in the 1st place and highlighting the little respect the sport receives in a sporting Nation of Soccer, Cricket and Rugby. If there is a next run, please take the race to the Cape to showcase the natural beauty of our country. And if it needs to be run on a shoe string budget (because JHB corporates are not interested) then so be it. No need to bring cycling to the people of Jo'burg, they're not interested in the 1st place. Hopefully lessons were learned and heads will roll, understanding business is one thing but you also need to understand the demands of the sport- you cannot run an international tour through Jhb with "rolling road closures"- that was a serious omission on the part of the organisers... as I said a ctit or short 10km loop would have been perfect....before hitting the mountains of the cape a nice bunch sprint would have been a spectacle of note...
Eugene Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 They are trying so hard to bring cycling to the people and to promote South Africa that they are forgetting about cycling in the process.
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