Rules TERMS & CONDITIONS
CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION
- This event is affiliated with Cycling South Africa and as such is governed by the rules of Cycling South Africa in every instance. Please visit https://www.cyclingsa.com/mountain/ for the complete rule book.
- Participants must be in good physical condition to participate.
- The minimum age to enter the Marathon is 19 years.
- The minimum age to enter the Half-Marathon is 15 years.
- The minimum age to enter the Fun Race is 9 years.
- The minimum age to enter the Fun Ride is 6 years.
- A rider’s age is determined to be the age he/she would be on 31 December of that year.
- In the Trailseeker Series, Nippers or sprogs participating in the Schools Mountain Bike (MTB) category are permitted to use flat pedals, cleats or toe clips
Indemnity
- The organisers, sponsors, volunteers and event personnel are not responsible for any injury or damage that may occur during the event, or cancellations, delays or re-routing due to extreme weather (including, but not limited to, heat, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires, storms, lightning and floods), accidents, acts of war or terrorism, military conflicts or riots, pandemic or endemic outbreaks or for any reason that, in the organiser’s discretion, will protect the safety and security of Event participants and spectators. In the event of such cancellation, there will be no refund of entry fees.
- By entering this event, participants agree that Faces, their agents, officers, directors, employees, volunteers, and sponsors shall not be held responsible for any death, illness, injury, loss or damage of any kind sustained by any rider while participating in this event and all related activities, caused in any manner whatsoever.
Refund Policy
- No entry fee shall be refunded to a participant for a cancellation of the Event due to acts of God (so-called Force Majeure), which acts shall include but not be limited to adverse weather conditions, riots, strikes, political unrest and/or any other occurrence not within the control of the event organiser.
- No refund shall be given if a participant cancels their entry into the event. The event organiser may consider a refund under exceptional circumstances such as illness and/or any other extraordinary circumstance. In that case, the organiser will evaluate a request for refund on merit and such refund shall be at the discretion of the Event Organiser.
Basic MTB Rules & Etiquette
- Riders must complete the entire route, and the responsibility for following the official route lies with the rider.
- A rider is not permitted to take any shortcuts or take advantage of a similar nature against competitors.
- Riders who exit the course for any reason must return to the course at the same point from which they exited.
- Any walking, running or riding by a rider, carried out without the intention of directly re-joining the course, or other activity in breach of the regulations, which takes place outside of the marked course area, can result in disqualification.
- A rider cannot receive any technical assistance along the course from an outside party.
- Riders must respect the countryside and ride only on the official route.
LATE ENTRIES
- Entries will close on the Tuesday before each event, and unfortunately, we will not be able to accept any late entries.
WITHDRAWAL
- Participants who wish to withdraw from the race must inform the organisers immediately on the Faces Emergency Number +27 66 247 2123.
- Failure to inform the race directors may cause a search and rescue action the cost of which will be for the participant’s account.
- Merely informing another participant or a marshall on the route shall not be deemed sufficient notice of withdrawal. In such an instance, the race organisers cannot be held liable for any costs involving a search party.
EVENT BATCHING
- Please make sure you start in your allocated batch.
- If you do need to change your batch for whatever reason, please arrange a batch change with the registration personnel before the start of your race.
- Starting in a batch earlier than the one allocated to you will result in disqualification.
- Starting in a batch later than your allocated batch, will not lead to disqualification, but your time will reflect incorrectly.
Rules
AND SAFETY
FAIR PLAY
- Slower participants must make way for faster riders.
- Riders must take caution when the route is not clear or coming to an intersection or road crossing.
- Riders should be prepared to brake before steep down-hills.
- Riders must obey all traffic rules.
- Bike repairs should be done in a visible area on the edge of the trail, road or path and not on the trail itself.
- In case of a sprint to the finish, you must hold your line.
- No outside seconding or assistance is permitted under any circumstances. Outside assistance includes assisting with bike maintenance, water and nutrition support and physically assisting riders.
SAFETY & BAD
SPORTSMANSHIP
These rules are essential to the safety of riders and if disregarded may lead to immediate disqualification. Faces has the right to disqualify any participant on the following grounds:
- Technical or equipment problems.
- If a rider has been declared medically unfit to ride by a medical official.
- Disregarding any of the fair play rules.
- Unsportsmanlike behaviour.
- ”Pushing” or “pulling” by a third party.
- Any disrespect to the environment or race personnel.
- Not wearing a helmet.
- All helmets must comply with international ‘ANSI’ standards.
- Appropriate riding attire, including a shirt, must be worn at all times.
- Smoking on the route is not permitted.
RIDER IDENTIFICATION
- Riders must display their race numbers at all times.
- Bike numbers must be firmly fixed on the front of the bike, and may not be obscured by cables or any other item.
- Race numbers may not be modified or mutilated in any way, including cutting, adding stickers, removing existing stickers or trimming.
- Removing or obscuring any official sponsor logos or advertising may result in disqualification from the race.
- Race and category leaders are obliged to wear the leader jerseys supplied by Faces.
NUTRITION & WATER POINTS
- Riders retain the ultimate responsibility to carry enough water and nutrition with them.
- Faces will provide water at official water points on the route.
ENVIRONMENT
- We will enforce littering, cutting trails and environmental abuse with stiff penalties. Every participant who is caught disregarding the environment will be fined with a two (2) hundred Rand penalty for the first offence and disqualification for the second offence.
- In the case of environmental concerns, Faces has the right to cancel, delay or reroute the race. Participants will not be reimbursed in a situation where the event or part of an event had to be cancelled due to environmental conditions that were out of Faces’s control.
RACE TIMING
- Riders have to report to the start line at least 30 minutes before the start of their race.
- Riders will be briefed 15 minutes before the start.
- In the event of a batched start, riders will be briefed before the start of each batch.
- The start line will remain open for 15 minutes after the start “gun”.
- Timing will start with the start “gun”.
- Riders that do not reach designated cut-off points in time will be prevented from continuing and will be swept from the course and classified as DNF (did not finish).
- Cut-off points can be enforced at any time if the organisers deem the situation as unsafe.
- Riders who start in a batch higher than the one they were batched in, will be summarily disqualified.
- Riders may start in a group lower down. The responsibility lies with the rider to report this to the timing personnel to ensure accurate times.
- Riders are only eligible for the overall prize podium if they started in the first batch of a particular distance.
DISCRETION OF THE CHIEF COMMISSAIRE
- Where any additional rule interpretation is required, or where specific provision for any incident has not been made in these rules, the decision of the chief commissaire will be final.
- There will be no reimbursement of costs to the participant in case of disqualification.
COMPLETION IN THE SERIES
- Riders’ ID numbers must be correctly filled out on the online entry process to correctly validate the rider’s number board.
- Riders will earn points per event.
- Riders will earn points from a maximum of 3 out of the 6 events.
- Riders will only climb the series points ladder by earning higher points after completing more than 3 races at events.
- Higher points after 3 races will replace lower points. ie. The best 3 races out of 6 will count.
- Points are tallied per distance.
BASIC MOUNTAIN BIKE RACING RULES & ETIQUETTE
- Riders must complete the entire route, and the responsibility for following the official route lies with the rider.
- A rider is not permitted to take any shortcuts or take advantage of a similar nature against competitors.
- Riders who exit the course for any reason must return to the course at the same point from which they exited.
- Any walking, running or riding by a rider, carried out without the intention of directly re-joining the course, or other activity in breach of the regulations, which takes place outside of the marked course area, can result in disqualification.
- A rider cannot receive any technical assistance along the course from an outside party.
- Riders must respect the countryside and ride only on the official route.
E-BIKE
UCI RULES
The E-bike category does not fall under UCI and CSA rules and is “unregulated”. Due to the fact that we have no control over how Riders manipulate their E-bikes’ maximum speed, we are unable to award Prizes or Prize Money. The E-bike category is therefore, not a competitive category but a social one.
GENERAL
- An E-Mountain Bike is a bike operated with two energy sources, human pedal power and an electric engine, which only provides assistance when the rider is pedalling. E-Mountain bike events must be organised in accordance with the following bike standards:
– Engine of maximum 250watts
– Engine assistance up to 25km/h
– Pedalling assistance only, although start-up assistance not exceeding 6km/h without pedalling is allowed. - Riders 19 years and older qualify to ride an E-bike.
- Riders need to ensure their battery is fully charged and will be sufficient for the duration of the distance. We do not offer battery changes at water points or along the route unless otherwise communicated.
- Please make sure you start in your allocated batch.
- If you do need to change your batch for whatever reason, please arrange a batch change with the registration personnel before the start of your race.
- Please note the E-bike category is a social category, and no e-bike rider can be in contention for prize money.
