It's no use simply posting your complaints on a messageboard/forum! Herewith a copy of the e-mail I despatched to both Ride magazine and the event co-ordinators on Mon a.m.
"Dear Chainmail
Having promised my children, 9 & 7 years old respectively, new bicycles for summer, we all eagerly awaited "Africa's Biggest Cycle Show". What better place to get advice, ideas, comparisons etc on children's bicycle requirements?
Seventy Rand to get us all in.....bit steep, but hey.....it's a special day....we're going to be looking at the latest and greatest!
Well, what can I say...."disappointment" doesn't quite capture my feelings....more like "disgust". I have been cycling myself for ten years, have completed eight Argus tours but have yet to visit such a sorry and poor excuse for a cycle expo. Sure, there were a few items of interest but to even try to compare this expo to the "free" show available to us annually in Cape Town, would be an exercise in futility.
Three children's bikes on display, that is if you don't count the 1975 chopper. How could any right-minded cyclist accept this embarrassment as the biggest cycle show in Africa?
My wife, a non-cyclist, summed up the whole waste of time and money quite succinctly -
"They needed suckers like us to help pay for renting the dome for the world record attempt."
"Anyone using this expo as an opportunity to investigate getting into cycling might actually be put off."
So having failed dismally in our primary objective, I am now left wondering how long South African cyclists will continue to accept being ripped blind by poorly run cycling events and even worse run so called cycling shows.
I realise that perhaps writing this letter is itself futile, as it will, in all likelihood, not be published by the expo's main sponsor. So onto my list of events "NOT to support in 2003" goes another large tick."
Send your complaints in, guys!!!
Mutton