Dragon Ride entries online tommorow 14th Dec

[Banjo]

If you plan on doing it the online entry starts at 0900 Wed. 14th Dec.
This year it sold out in 22 hours so dont delay.I m not doing it next year as it clashes with work and I only get 8 holidays a year so have to use them carefully.

I wasnt too impressed with the organization last year Huge badly marshalled que at the start left people waiting hours to start with not much being done to stop club groups barging in to the front of the que. Also parking was poorly organized.

Its in a new location this year (Margam Park) The organizers claim the new venue will solve all the problems , I hope so as its a great ride once you get going.

 

[Chris.IOW]

Only took 2.5hrs to sell out this time!

http://www.cyclosport.org/14-Dec-2011/news/wiggle-dragon-ride-sells-out-in-25-hours.html

 

[Banjo]

Incredible. After a lot of negative feedback on the 2011 Dragon I thought it could take at least a day and a half I guess I am a bit spoilt in that I can ride over the Bwlch and Rhigos starting at home .Have to carry my own bananas then though.

 

[davehann]

let me know if you are planning any rides banjo. i need to get some miles in

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

If you plan on doing it the online entry starts at 0900 Wed. 14th Dec.
This year it sold out in 22 hours so dont delay.I m not doing it next year as it clashes with work and I only get 8 holidays a year so have to use them carefully.

I wasnt too impressed with the organization last year Huge badly marshalled que at the start left people waiting hours to start with not much being done to stop club groups barging in to the front of the que. Also parking was poorly organized.

Its in a new location this year (Margam Park) The organizers claim the new venue will solve all the problems , I hope so as its a great ride once you get going.

As the person responsible for marshalling the start, I'm sorry of you felt it was badly marshaled. From where I was standing the queue was no longer (in length or time) than previous years ( allowing for the extra numbers) , however what was different was, that now it was quicker to join the queue( so more time waiting at one place rather than the journey to wait) and that because it was down and then back up, you could see how long the queue was. When I pencilled out the layout, weeks before hand, I anticipated that the very early arrivals ( I got on site at 5:30 and there were some already queueing then) and the last 25% wouldn't want to cycle all the way to the bottom to cycle back up again, so I left gaps in the crowd barriers every X yards to allow people to pop through. What I didn't anticpate were people being selfish enough to force their way in through those gaps and more to the point them getting away with it. I thought the cheers and jeers would be enough to shame them into doing the right thing, I was wrong. Once I saw what was happening I had the gaps nearer the start plugged, but by then number of people on the "in" side was too high to risk carrying crowd barriers through. The last thing I wanted was to have a rider knocked off their bike before the start! The new venue will make a huge difference.

The above is my apology and my explanation, and shoudn't be taken as the view of Lou, or the Dragon Ride.

 

[Banjo]

Wasn't meant to be a dig at you personally. My impression was that the marshalls individually were doing their best ,there just wasn't enough of them. Same applied in the car park. More parking bays could have been filled concurrently instead of filling one bay at a time. But that would have required more parking marshalls. I probably would have signed on again for 2012 if I wasn't scheduled to be working that weekend. so the above is meant as constructive criticism rather than whingeing. On a more positive note I road a shortened version of the route today from Nantymoel over bwlch Treorchy over Rhigos down through glyn Neath (stopped at Janns cafe) Resolven Cimla back over Bwlch in drizzle and low cloud at the top. Some roads have been recently resurfaced and no nasty bits anywhere at the moment. Hope it all goes well next time in the new venue.

 

[Banjo]

let me know if you are planning any rides banjo. i need to get some miles in

Sorry Dave only just seen this post or would have got in touch about today. Hills were hurting me today Your not the only one needs some miles in. I will try and let U know next time.PS have sent you a private message.

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

Wasn't meant to be a dig at you personally. My impression was that the marshalls individually were doing their best ,there just wasn't enough of them. Same applied in the car park. More parking bays could have been filled concurrently instead of filling one bay at a time. But that would have required more parking marshalls. .

I didn't take it as a dig at all.

I can't answer for the car parking, but I think I know what the problem was, and concurrent parking would IMHO have made the problem worse. As for lack of marshals , again I don't think that was the problem. the root core(s) were the new route that was forced upon us ( the landowers have installed a kissing gate in series with a antimotorcylce barrier ( feel free to complain to the LA about disabilty access) ) and the selfishness of a large chunk of the entrants.
In the last 35 years I have organised, officiated, managed and marshaled events the length and breadth of the country ( and Europe) , agricultural shows, showjumping, charity races, car rallies up to and including WRC events , classic car events , TTs cycle races, you name i have a shirt or tabard. Without doubt the ..... I think I had better stop there before I get myselfinto trouble.

 

[Banjo]

I think the biggest problem was getting over 3000 riders all heading for the same time start. I believe next time the different length rides will start at staggered times which should improve the situation enormously. Best wishes for 2012 ,