Carnival City Macsteel National Classic 2011

[Puncture Girl]

A huge BIG thank you to all the marshalls and fabulous people who gave their all for the 20km. Potholes were nicely marked, marshalls were FANTASTIC and supportive. I thoroughly enjoyed myself on this very short route

 

Michelle

[doris]

well dones guys was awesome!!!

 

Bar the cycling jerks continually across the white line and the litter bugs

 

cyclists are their own worst enemy

[Wrigs]

What an awesome race - great access, great parking, great marshalling, great route and great times.

[Ricycle]

A lot of har work obviously went into this one - well done to everyone involved! Marshalling was great; roads, potholes, bumps etc were well-marked (or filled in the case of the potholes!); bit of a hiccup when Cat 3 bunch caught the ALs (but nothing beyond control); and the HeliVac bike marshalls with my bunch were fantastic . Oh, and the food & drinks before and after the race were divine and much appreciated - thanks!

[djvr]

And so the CAT3 bunch this time caught the A bunch

 

Thanks for a very well organized race. Eish that uphill drag back to the finish line from where we joined the short route, got the better of me today BUT still managed to do beat my previous PB by 18 minutes

[chris_w_65]

A huge BIG thank you to all the marshalls and fabulous people who gave their all for the 20km. Potholes were nicely marked, marshalls were FANTASTIC and supportive. I thoroughly enjoyed myself on this very short route

 

Michelle

 

 

Remind me again how far you drove in your car to cycle 20km?

[Puncture Girl]

Remind me again how far you drove in your car to cycle 20km?

 

It was more about getting Harry (Harry thread over in Chit Chat)to the race. Decided at the last minute to enter the 20km Haven't ridden since 94.7 - was a nice way to get to know my bike again

[TNT1]

Frosty, do you perhaps know anything about the 20km route?

 

edited to add: Found the route...cannot complain - it's flat

 

Michelle

 

Flat? It's 20km...

 

Edit: Go Harry?

[MichaelH]

Great ride...thanks to all involved! One of the "Must Do" races!

[TNT1]

Oh, yeah, I'm sure I saw that pantani, bling king fella. Doesn't he ride anymore? Looked a bit plumpish... Also, is that still Michelle with him taking photo's? What's with the dark hair?

[Frosty]

Cat3 never caught the AL bunch, it was the leftovers of those dropped due to the high pace.

AL (60-odd) finished in 2:30 and Cat3 (45) in 2:32.

However, we didn't want a repeat of 2 weeks ago, which is why AL started before C3.

[TNT1]

we didn't want a repeat of 2 weeks ago, which is why AL started before C3.

 

How'd you get that past CSA? We tried, and a firm FU was on offer.

[Frosty]

I played the bad cop (from a licensed cyclist point of view) and then our Rotarian organiser stepped in a good cop and tried to reach a compromise.

 

My mail mentioned:

 

Strike 1 - they organised SA Champs [cock up]

Strike 2 - they decided on the start order for your race [cock up]

Strike 3 - they tried to bring a big race to the city centre on their (the new regime) first attempt [cock up]

 

Told them we've been doing this for many years and know what we're doing.

Told them to rather stick to what they should be doing - timekeeping, policing the bunch, results, etc. and leave the rest to us.

 

 

 

I've have just sent them an email saying THANK YOU for compromising, and hope this won't be the only race allowed to mix the start groups. Learn from your mistakes, share your success.

[henco]

Thanks to the organisers for a well organised race! This was our first Carnival City race and we will be back next year for more

[Frosty]

Oh, and I sent them the average speeds of the groups for the past few races, plus the average speeds from last year and 2009.

It's all in black and white and logic would tell you to put the groups in order of fastest to slowest. Providing the fastest time is a group and not an individual.

[Burnie]

I did the 103 km, riding with CL. I think it was a well organized and enjoyable event.

 

I have one suggestion for organizers in general if I may:

Please always print an emergency telephone number on the cyclists' race numbers. I noticed that the Dischem R4S and Emperors races, among others did have an event emergency number clearly printed.

 

I rode with a small random bunch some minutes behind the leading CL bunch. A crash involving three cyclists occurred right in front of me at speed. I decided to stop and see if I could help. We were in the middle of nowhere (a couple of km's before the 65/103 split on the 103 km loop). The injured were in pain, and didn't look okay to me. (I hope and pray they are up and about). I had my phone with me but no number to call! Calling 112 was a bit in vain, but was all I could try to do.

Fellow cyclists simple whizzed passed, dodging the broken bikes and laying people.

 

Luckily after a couple of minutes the leading DL group arrived with their marshal and a police van. The police jumped out and assisted.

 

The emergency number wouldn't have made a real difference in this case, but something similar could happen somewhere more isolated. At least the comforting effect of a number to call for injured and helpers, makes it worth the print.

Edited February 27, 2011 by Burnie