nigelhicks

@Frosty is the SBS feed free? Or is it subscription? I have expressvpn so would like to give it a try. Thanks Nige

Aaargh. I literally just bought a year vpn subscription on Sunday to watch the cyclocross world cups and the grand tours next year. ... Hope the VPN will work with the uci YouTube channel as that shows the cx too 🤔😎 But still aaargh. I dont think that Chris Ball and his team thought this through very well when they took over. I really loved the gcn+ films. If you haven't watched them yet. Go watch the "slow- cycling" series before they go off. Those are amazing

I will say that after my moan earlier. The xcc and the dh has worked perfectly. Just been watching the DH now and it's absolutely perfect not a single blip ... (Touch wood). Hahah But then if you try and stream the cool touring movies then gcn+ goes for a ball.??? ... Very weird. Anyway.

@Red Birdwhat vpn are you using? I've never had one. (Cast to my old 15year old TV via Chromecast). But I'm having the same issues with crappy quality. I also need a vpn obviously to watch the tour later on. So need to figure out how to install one (and where to install it etc). Any advice from anyone would be great. Thanks. Gcn+ has such cool stuff on it. But it just sucks that it's so slow. Just like red bull when they started out 10 years ago.

Ya, there hasnt been any pull-back per-say in the Cape - just a deep dislike for CSA due to the way it was operated previously ... this is a hard thing to bring people back from. ... Also the way the series was operated as a private enitiy makes it hard to get volunteers etc. especially if they know the oke at the top is making cash - if its "for the riders" where it is the ballies on the commission (as it is in KZN) there are more okes willing to put up their hands to help where they can. The resistance is reducing though as GP and MP are being spearheaded by ladies (Yes you read that right - a LADY is running GP Enduro) and gents respectively who have ties to governing bodies there is less animosity and more room for growth (IMO). I would say that there should be a WP Gravity commission set up under WP MTB, and then they go to the venues and say - are you keen to host a race? YES? Cool we can help ... and off it goes. This is where we are at now where we have venues phoning us asking if we can bring races to them for a season. Then on top of that you have the big specialist events like you say - Ezel, and the likes - and this is where a private entity would shine. EG - The Epic!

Hey Robbie, Ya for sure - I was the Chair of Gravity in KZN for 10 years, so it takes some dedication. ... but I must mention that the budget I put in is the one we always do as a pre-season budget. So the 7K loss actually isnt want it ends up as - as we use lowest common denominator entries in our budgets to account for wet weather events etc. So although it looks bleak, KZN has never had a year where we make a loss. In general we end up with about 10k extra in the kitty which goes towards inflation factors for the following year. So all in all it is a good system for a Series that is designed to breakeven and be about the riders.

Ya - being affiliated and working with your local Commission and CSA is very helpful to an event organiser. I have seen it now with the GP and MP series too as they have blossomed with the help of the local governing bodies help. Working with all the commissions and event organisers we (CSA, Regional, and organisers) have been able to put together a full 2022 Gravity Calendar that does not have ANY major clashes with other gravity events - so this promotes travel for riders to go to other provinces etc. too and brings up numbers. Its a big job, but its been really good from a participation perspective and general overview towards the CSA Commission. All the events are discussed at each one of our CSA commission meetings and if there is are things we can help with for the events we make a plan to help with that. We did the same with the Enduro Champs at harties last year. Charl was so stoked to have the CSA team there helping in the background. Same with Witfontein for 2022 - They work closely with the local MTB Commission (Eden) so we sent them an award letter saying that they have been awarded the 3rd Round of the SA Enduro Series, and immediately the Eden commission went out looking for funding and sponsorship for the event on behalf of the organisers. We have had the same here in KZN where, when I was Chairman of Gravity, I would go to KZN Cycling or KZN MTB and they would help with funding for the series if they had budget. Same with asking to buy our timing system - I put in a proposal to KZN Cycling and they said yes. We also did this for development bikes for DH (we now have 8 development bikes for riders to use). So it is well worth working with the local Cycling bodies who are then linked to CSA.

KZN Gravity is run as follows: - 4 Committee members (Volunteers) form the backbone of KZN Gravity who are a subsidiary of KZNMTB Regional Commission. - Event dates and venues are selected with the help of the CSA Gravity Commissioner (me). - KZN use a suite of service providers that we have used for years - so get good prices (Medics, marshals, timing) - Timing - KZN Cycling own the Sport Ident timing system that KZN use - we just pay an operating fee to Elite Timing who are our "operator" for the system. - There is no prize money only cool medals etc as this brings down costs. - KZN get sponsorship (Minnaars sponsors the series with money, but we have lots of other sponsors with product that replaces actual prize money) - The series is run to breakeven - whereby Enduro and DH are run on the same weekend at the same venue - this reduces overall operating costs - and costs for riders (travel etc). - KZN entry fees are now about R400 for a single event (Enduro) or I think R550 or so for dual events (Enduro and DH). So this promotes more participation. Just for interest sake - here is the link to my 2020 budget for the KZN series before I stepped down as KZN Gravity Chairman. - Its pretty scary what things cost. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16_T-Cu_3lENbavqN31GIIbZO2OQ_Gu0Ggx8mBSd3n6A/edit?usp=sharing

@Jewbacca the bold comment above is not quite correct - it comes down to your business case. Wildair are a company and therefore want return on their events - but also want to make events up to a global standard (for good reason). Therefore there is big prize money etc. that pushes up costs. KZN on the other hand is operated by a 4 person committee who are volunteers on the KZN Commission. These events are run on a budget with local sponsorship, but the Enduro events make money that is then used to offset costs for the regional DH events. This makes the series a breakeven. So if you play your cards correctly Enduro can be profitable - but not on a large scale like CTCT or Epic etc. You need to cut your suit to fit your cloth - so event zones etc. are a premium, and okes need to pay if they want that. KZN events do not have prize money, as we worked out ages ago that the cost of prize money (R300-200-100) for a podium per class amounted to about 10% of our total entry income. This amount (about R6000) covers the cost of timing at an event - so rather than add more costs KZN reduced costs to help try and keep entry fees down. It removes the frills of the event - but makes it more accessible to riders because of lower entry fees. WCDH is operated very similarly to KZN with a commission who operate the events. So it can also be run on more of a downscaled budget. As you say Gravity works in KZN - and now in Mpumalanga, and GP who are hosting booming Enduro series. But again they are all linked to their local Governing Bodies, and then to CSA. So (although okes hate CSA), the governing bodies and CSA can assist the organisers with getting sponsorship etc. for their events. The GP series is a case in point - as the GP commission bought the timing system built by IRide Africa and used in the Cape Enduros. This is now being used for the GP series, and the Mpumalanga series with cost benefits for both series. The system will be used for the Enduro National Champs event in Mpumalanga later on in the year too .... so its good to see the collaboration between event organisers, local commissions and CSA. This however, is not the view of EWC, who do not want to have any part of the commissions etc. and want it as a private series. But each to their own I guess.

Hey Headshot - the only Enduro event in the WP that is currently sanctioned is the Witfontein Enduro in George on the 7th August - this event is the 3rd Round of the 2022 National Enduro Series. Wildair who operate the EWC series privately generally only put out their dates late in the year as they have their series between August and December generally. Best plan is to get hold of Wildair directly and ask. Cheers Nige

Hey Sean There haven't been any races there since the snow-bath of the KZN champs last year - but the trails were well worn in. Send me a DM with your email and I can send you the google earth file for the enduro stages we used for the event. Then you can just make them into gpx files - you can access the trails by starting at the Drakensberg Brewery, pay your trail fees, and then ride across to the stages by Ardmore. I believe that Cathkin Trails have replaced all the bridges that were washed away, so the trails should be in ok nick. Cheers Nige

Thought we may as well add this here too seeing as there is no racing https://m.pinkbike.com/news/throwback-thursday-chainsmoke-1996-full-film.html

We (CSA) have plans already in place for the National DH Cup series and SA Champs DH to happen early in 2021. I have 3 of 4 venues lined up already with the 4th province confirmed last night. ... Dates for the first races will be revealed soon.. but 2 of the venues will have lift access.. also we are in talks to have the first round of the cup series ranked as a UCI cat 2 event so that our guys and girls can get UCI points for their world cup campaigns. As for Enduro. ... Although we had to cancel the SA Champs for 2020. The same venue will host for 2021 and it's going to be INSANE. Also some lift access. And possibly a SA E-Enduro Champs too. All will be revealed soon once I have stuff signed off.

Other than that the Mpumalanga guys are on it as well and are planning a full series that will be sanctioned and everything. Chatting to schalk they have some absolutely amazing venues planned and sponsors etc. So after the apocalypse is over there will be some amazing Enduro events starting up north of the boerewors curtain.

@MarcBurger. There are lots of great plans. Charl is putting together at least 3 extra Enduro lines off the top of Harties if I remember correctly. The iron throne bike park will also host the SA Enduro Champs later on in the year. With a number of SA firsts ... I can't say much now. But CSAs Gravity division and Charl and his team have something RAD planned. You won't want to miss it