Crickhowell Merida pics

titus4t

Now online here

MilitantGraham

And the results are here, http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/results/results.php

Once again they have lumped all the results together so it's impossible to tell where I finished in my category.

With a bit of "Select All" and "Sort by Column" I worked out I was 579th out of 660 overall or 188th out of 252 for 80km.

How many of those who entered for 80km did the full route without cutting short on the 50km or 70km routes though ?

With 660 people (plus quite a few who entered and didn't turn up, judging by the gaps in the rider list) paying £30 each to enter, it would be nice if Merida could make a bit more of an effort keeping track of who does which route and publishing some proper results.

gaz047

good effort graham, well done, was a tough day out did the 80km route myself.
only had 7 days notice for this one, usually build up over a couple of months!!! i've done a couple of 50km rides this year and was fine till then, but found the last 30km killer (that mud didn't help!!).
anyway made it round in 6:47 so happy with thatb(was aiming for 7hrs). wouldn't be surprised if a few did opt for a shorter route due to the conditions.
we've our second nipper arriving in 2 weeks so doubt ill be able to make the next two (live in cheshire so would need to camp over) but ruthin isn't too far away so fingers crossed for september.
agree about the results, cause if people do drop down to a lower distance, theres no annotation on the results (looks like they flew round due to finishing times!!). not essential but it would be nice if it was accurate.
it was a well organised event and had a chilled atmosphere (as usual with the meridas).
good luck on the next one!

MilitantGraham

Got to agree on the last 30km.
Hitting that tram road out of Tal-y-Bont after having already done 50km has got to be the most demoralising section of any ride I have ever done. It just went on for ever, and then a bit more.
Then after thinking it must be all down hillback to the finish, only to be faced with a couple of up hill pushes through ankle deep mud.

Good venue and good route, Shame about the rain, although I fell in a stream near the top of Grwyne Fawr, so I couldn't get any wetter anyway.

baccodaddy

i,d agree about results .i knew there were only six people in front of me on the 50k course because i started at the front and had eye contact all the way .nobody passed me after the first summit and yet when i crossed the line they said i was 26th h.impossible,there was no one in front of us i sat behind nick craig for the first 5k for christ sake .it is annoying when you are trying to challenge yourself and people cut the course and then theres no way of telling they did .

MilitantGraham

I entered for 75km on the Sunday at Builth, but after having already done 50km on Saturday night I changed my mind and did the 50km.
I got my number board marked with blue paint at the split so they would know who had done which distance, but when I looked at the results pinned up at the finish line I was still listed as 75km. I knew a few other riders I had spoken to on the course were planning on cutting from 75 to 50km as well.
They told me it would all be sorted before the results were published on the web. It wasn't.
I know for legal reasons they can't hold a "race" on public RoWs and have to be careful about posting the results in alphabetical order, not finishing order, but most riders enter for the challenge of beating others or their own previous results, so they could try harder to give people what they want.

gaz047

lol! that tram road was the worst bit for me too, when we came out of the forest i thought it would be near the top, but it ramped up!! although the surface improved i was firmly in "get you home mode!"
would like to do a night enduro, what lights do you use?
baccodaddy - that must have been annoying especially as you were so far up the field, the only time i see nick craig is in the queue for the pasta party!!

MrChuck

I did the 80k (in almost exactly 7 hrs) but a lot of people were calling it a day at the second feed station, a lot of them with no brakes. I'd be surprised if half the people entered for the 80 did the full distance so I'd agree it's a bit disappointing when you can't see what's what in the results.

That said, practically speaking I'm not sure what they could easily do to sort it out.

MilitantGraham

MrChuck wrote:

That said, practically speaking I'm not sure what they could easily do to sort it out.

How about orienteering style check points ?

Each rider is issued with a "bingo card" and ties it to their handlebars.
There are numbered check points on the course with large marker boards.
Attached to the board is a clipper with a unique pattern.
The rider stops by the board and clips the appropriate number on their card.

Unlike orienteering the marker boards are clearly visible, not hidden in the hedge.
For the early stages where riders are likely to be bunched up there are several identical boards and clippers a few metres apart to avoid queing.
The checkpoints are sited at natural bottle necks and slow sections to keep the flow of the ride going.
At the end of the event, the cards are handed in.
Only those who have clipped all the correct numbers get credited with completing the distance.
And finally, most important of all, every rider gets the distance they have ridden listed against their name in the results.

A bit more work for the organisers, but no more than an actual orienteering event or a multi lap enduro where every individual lap time is recorded and posted in the results.