“Was this event fair race ? - Where did I receive T-shirt ? in the race pack, there was no t shirts. on the race day, no one gave it to me. stating D, police car made 3 rounds trip in inner cycling course. as result , following starting groups passed group D and the peloton broken. was this fair race ? it is easy to know when you see the race result , where do you see the D numbered participants. poor organizing.”

“A great event will be back insh'allah - The start was really poor; far too long in the pens, then had to do 3 x round the track as there was no Marshall to get us out the lead cars in the way and then having to merge with other groups was too congested and got a little dangerous. The rest of the route was great except for the last minute cancellation of downtown .... The most iconic part of the ride and also meant my family missed seeing me :( ”

“From a friend - Overall it was good. I enjoyed it. Getting into the course was a little stressful and after a mad rush with no warmup we found we were delayed due to low light. The course was changed at the last minute and I think the riders were a little confused as to the actual course. The signage was pretty poor certainly along the highway. The marshallers did a good job however. I think that the final 5kms was tight and there wasn't really a heads up as to where the finish line was when buried in the pack. I would probably do it again though as taking part was awesome. I love being around so many fellow cyclists. Also thanks to the hard work that the organisers and helpers put into the day. I'm sure as the even gather pace over the years then things will certainly smoothen out. ”

“It's an event I always will look forward to. - The event was better organized last year. It was the lack of cascading down information to the people leading the cyclists on the route and lack of people or signage at road bifurcations to show the route to the cyclists. Otherwise overall the event was great and look forward to the 2014 event surpassing the organisation from the lessons learnt. T shirt sizes were taken however no T-shirts were distributed. Why was it asked for in the first place? ”

“A great event & hats off to Stuart & his gang. - Generally overall a great event, but course marshaling & policing at centre road intersections could have been better. Plus advance notice for water stations would have been great. Also I believe there needs to be more emphasis on road discipline by many cyclists. ”

“Disappointed. - The car parking on entry was not organised and lacked adequate lighting. Gaining entry to the start line meant crossing through all the future stands, better lighting and higher placed signage would have helped. The stat being delayed was not conveyed properly due to the loud speaker not being commonly connected and only on getting to the front of the line could you hear what was being said. Leaving the NAS track was a problem due to in correct marshalling or signage and resulted in a large group of cyclist passing down a very narrow track and then joining the next set of riders who had just set off. A complete lack of traffic management when riding on the main roads and was made very dangerous due to junctions not being properly policed or protected. Vehicles other than the police had no visual flashing warning lights, roads lacked any proper signage to any of the other traffic. The section at the back of NAS has far too many speed bumps and is too narrow when a large group of riders are trying to ride down it coupled with motorists who have no idea what to do when a cyclist is on the road. All in all I was very disappointed especially after thinking to myself how well the lead up events were organised and run. Would I take part again, I don’t think so and sadly the 40 or so people that I cycled with are all under the same opion.”

“Not to happy - I only got to hear about the event whilst listening to the radio in mid / end September, this has been my first big event in Dubai and i was not too happy by the way things went, Firstly the event started Half hour late then part of the route was cut out, then the No marshals to direct the cyclist inside the cycle tract area - resulting in some groups having to do three full laps before someone mention that we need to turn off @ the 8Km mark, Water stations I felt should have been a bit more than the two on the route, This is not the first time that a cycle event has started late or that water stations have not been in place, the 65KM build up ride happened to be the same. The overall race did not reflect the correct times for all the riders that took part, as the front riders completed the ride in under two hour meaning that they only cycled 75km +- whilste the back markers most likely ended up doing close to 90Km due to the extra distance on the cycle track. In general I did enjoy the ride but feel that there is loads more room for improvement from the organizing staff if they want to have a bigger and better event next year as this event will surely be on every ones minds as to how things turned out. Regards to the event give aways could not comment as I was not able to be there. The other most important thing is for a better more direct speaker system should have been up to the very back off all the categories as information did not filter down the lines. The next issue would be before prior to the start of the event as some people have family's over and there did not seem to be any form of pre-refreshment stand available eg: coffee or snacks, this all came alive well after the starters gun went off. ”

“Cycling fun, but otherwise disappointed - Waiting at the start in the cold with no information for an hour was not nice. Us in the K group could not hear the announcements. Race packet pickup could also be in AD. On the morning of the event I did not get a goody bag and neither the event T-shirt I paid for because they did not have my size anymore. I logged ~82 km. Disappointing to see the goal just when I was gearing up to do my all the last 10 km. Wondered if I had done something wrong and if I deserved the medal at all. Just followed the marshaling. Otherwise I had fun while cycling and got nice encouragement at the halfway support station.”

“Marshaling will improve - Lack of marshalling was my main concern. unfortunately i fell at al manara st & was taken to hospital. fractured collar bone”

“Good fun but et down by basics - Waiting for the start was a pain especially as it was not too warm, the lead car got our route wrong in Nad Al Sheba and we were forced to do another loop and the last minute change in route was disappointing. The cycling was enjoyable and will compete next year :-)”

“Always a great event! - As the event grows in numbers here is feedback to help improve next year's event as the Spinneys 92 Challenge is a must have on the UAE calendar. 1. Race bag pick up was too slow. Goodie bag was a bit of a joke (tea!) 2. A parking facilitiy with more than one entry road 3. More toilet facilities 4. Better communication at the start so everyone can hear what is going on 5. Marshalling and signage was very poor. 6. Start at sunrise 7. Police and lead cars do not know how to safely escort cyclists. More education is needed. Flashing lights on cars would have helped as well. 8. Rather than choosing an iconic route through Dubai, choose a safe, general route which then won't have a last minute closure Looking forward to next year! Many thanks. ”

“Nice ride but not ver well organized - Some rode 82 km while others did 86 km? Confusion on how many times to go around the track in the beginning. ”

“Poor marshalling/route - 1. The last minute change of route was extremely disappointing. 2. The gentlemen in the green 4WD took group E on an extra 8 km loop around NAS because they got lost - very very poor organisation. Well below standard. 3. The gentlemen in the green 4wd were not briefed on cycle dynamics and several times stopped right in front of riders causing accidents. Their intent was good, their technique was poor.”

“Another great Dubai 92 - Going from strength to strength!”

“Great event - Disappointed in the shortened distance and some of the way finding was very chaotic (NAS start and also Internet City) ”

“Good event - Event pack collection takes too long. ”

“Just an experience....not the best! - Start in D group, big mess with NAS laps!been asked to Uturn at some point! find myself behind some F anG, so lost my group, did the ride on my own, just finding groups on and off to ride with. I had a flat tyre 5k before finish, tried to call the emergency contact provided to find out if there would be a support car coming up....nobody was answering....! Two guys stopped and changed my tube, Im very grateful for this...so overall feeling...is a bit disappointed! front fast groups have obviously more attention, support and safety. I just have to become very good then!”

“Has the potential to be a great event - The sudden shortening of the course was a great pity, but possibly beyond the organisers control. However, the multiple laps I did of the NAS cycle track at the start was due to poor marshalling and was avoidable. This also made a mockery of the event timings as I cycled around 87k and others did 80 or 84. At least this problem was avoided by the top seeded riders in the first 4 or 5 waves. I did enjoy the ride although I found Hessa Street particularly dangerous, as we had to cross several lanes of fast traffic to reach the flyovers. There were two marshalls but these were on the flyover, not before it warning drivers. An enjoyable and exciting morning, and I hope the organisers learn from the problems that occured. My thanks to the organising team and marshalls, I look forward to 2014 event - I think!”

“Great event that i will recommend to friends - Should there have been a free T-Shirt in given when collecting the event pack?? It stated it on the envelope but nothing was given, however another person was given one??”

“Awesome event - More prize giveaways to competitors. ”

“Great, but needs more road support for safety - Need more police/car support on the highways!”

“A great event let down by poor marshalling - The event started over 30 minutes late We (over 200 riders) ended up taking a wrong turn in the bike park and had to dismount and turn around, due to poor marshalling and route signage The cycle was inexplicably shortened on the morning of the cycle Not 92 but 83???”

“Potentially a great event - Last minute changes undermine the organisation of what could be a great event. Marshalling was shocking and at time VERY unsafe. I felt unsafe on many of the roads, even those which were not major thoroughfares (camels crossing roads - have people ensuring this does not happen!!) The fact that the course was 10km shorter than advertised also not great - felt cheated and unfulfilled at the end - real shame.”

“Badly organised event - Online registration was a bit drawn out, registering on a website before registering on Premier Marathons; Race pack collectio from Revolution Cycles was a diabolical, similar to the Flag to Flag ride. They simply cant cope with the vlume of people; The start was delayed without any communication and my group plus at leat one other went the wrong way at NAS; The course was cut short withou any warning or explanation. This was poorly organised and poorly executed. However, it is such a large event on the calendar i would likly take part again despite the dissapointment.”

“Its a wonderfull experience - Its a good experience for @ I enjoy it..”

“Overall poor from the start - Very poor at the start of the race - the change etc, the marshalling was diabolical and two groups got lost!! I signed up for 92 kms not 79.5 as it showed on my odometer. Then I read the newspaper it says 87.kms?? go figure - I had clocked myself and positioned to be in contention for a very fast time, coming into Nadel Sheba took me by surprsie where I had 12 kms still left for 92km - unbeknown to myself the paleton was gone before I could get myself into place.... only to be disappointed by poor communication at the start.”

“A good event but not without a frustration or two. - A good event but route confusion a little frustrating. I know some of this was outside the control of the organizers but I heard of a couple of instances where better marshaling would have helped folks stick to the allotted route. Still enjoyed it though so, all in all, a job well done!”

“Event was OK. But could have been better. - Need more toilet facilities. Also, why was the race cut short, without advise.”

“Over all a well organised event and - Route not well sign posted at the start inside the cycle track - a number of riders took wrong turns and had to double back. Lane changes on on the main roads (flyovers / slip roads) were potentially unsafe at times”

“Great event. - Hi, it was a great event. Overall good organization, but could have done with a bit more route signage and marshalling in few places.”

“Great event - Well organanised event, with good policing of the course”

“Good. a bit disorganised especially at start - I enjoyed it however there were a few issues.. The start was very confusing especially being led around by the police car.. Our group E was led twice around the short track at maydam... plus Al Khilid road you do have to take your life into your own hands.. bit disappointing not to do the full distance due to Business bay being closed.. Plus the timing will not reflect the true time..Myself completed 89km according to the GPS.. However I believe the true distance is 83km.. That all be said .. I had a great mooring.. great ride.. good race and will be defiantly taking part next year :)”

“Great event thoroughly enjoyed - Great event, shame someone decided to lop 10k off in downtown area. ”

“Great event - Great event ”

“A great annual cycling event - Please start at 6:30 or even 7 am. Its winter, temperature is low and at least there is light at the start. Cycling in the dark is a disaster and not required. Please consider adding an extra day for collection of event pack. ”

“Bit chaotic b4 the start, otherwise a superb event - Bit chaotic at the start, trying to park and get to the grid. Could then have had an extra 30 minutes in bed as the start was delayed. But otherwise a superb event, enjoyed the ride immensely with a good spirit throughout. Dubai Police and all of the support drivers / volunteers were amazing, well done guys. Looking forward to taking part next year.”

“Awesome event looking forward to next year - Great organisation Steward, Donald and team”

“Needs more efforts in organising support station - The event needs better organisation”

“Overall great experience - Great event ”

“A good fun event. - I did not receive my event T Shirt when I collected my event pack and was not advised to do so by the staff . I have still not received this. I would therefore like to be given an event T Shirt or a refund of the 50AED that I paid. Thanks ”

“Poor marshalling but good flat fast race. - We did extra loops in the circular cycle track at the start. The police did a shoddy job not understanding cycling race requirements. While they escorted us, they go off and stop immediately on the roundabout ncausing havoc in the pack. Otherwise the race was amazing! Well done Stewart and team. I will definitely come back.”

“Good, but better last year. - With so many riders coming from Abu Dhabi would be good to have a collection point in AD. Race course being shortened by failure of the lights was a major problem. When were the lights found to be defective? Better free goodies last year. The two small roundabouts on the return leg (with the double ring of raised metal cats-eyes) are potential for disaster especially for the elite group travelling at speed, signage or a pre-race briefing would prevent what was very nearly a major pile up. Unlike other roundabouts you can not brake easily and many riders are changing lines to avoid the studs.”

“Traffic Control - The traffic control arrangements were not adequate enough, and though the police did a good job wherever they were present there were many stretches where the riders had to weave dangerously through the traffic and some of the drivers were absolutely reckless and unrelenting. Crossing 3/4 lanes on al khail road with traffic coming in at full speed was no fun.”

“An enjoyable event and a firm fixture in the diary - I am concerned for the slower cyclists who are dropped by groups and as such left on main roads on there own. There should be some kind of sweeper system with either staff cyclists bringing up the rear or a van to pick them up for safety.”

“Enjoyed race, great weather, short of 92k - Escorts were confused and the start got delayed by poor planning. Also, missed going by the Burj Khalifa and up the Meydan Bridge. Other than that is was a great ride.”

“Not the best yet.... - The group I was in managed to lose their marshal & police support while in the Cycle Park. This meant that we arrived on Al Khail Road with no support whatsoever. A police car eventually came to protect us, but as we still had no marshal he had to both attempt to protect us and guide us at the same time. We lost riders down various slip-roads as it was difficult to understand the route after the last minute changes.”

“Support on course quite poor - Last minute course changes - not a great idea, could have been communicated earlier. Police escorts - a joke! They did not know where they were going, our escort was reading a map WHILST DRIVING, FROM THE VERY START - going round Nad Al Sheba with riders on both sides – VERY DANGEROUS. Then just pulled over - no communication regarding the additional lap or exit from the starting loop of Nad Al Sheba; our group ended back at the start again and it took until joining Al Khail Road for our escort to rejoin the group. Police did not use flashing lights on their cars – perhaps would be an idea so that other motorists were aware of something they needed to avoid. On course - signals should have been agreed with and provided by the support cars to make it easier for riders to understand which way they were going. On course signposting, could have been a lot better (small yellow signs don’t particularly stand out against a sand coloured background when travelling at speed (may be ok for a run event but not a cycle event), perhaps a bright dayglow colour next time). On course signalling by staff - a lot were not particularly interested in being there and signalling was poor. On course junction closing did work well however. Aid stations appeared to work ok. Starting village worked well, very well organised. Event Tshirts - possibly the most dull I have received throughout events in the GCC region. Greater variety or earlier race pack collection would be appreciated (living in Abu Dhabi and finishing work at 6pm, it is difficult to get to Dubai midweek two days before the event to collect packs – perhaps consider having the packs ready and available for collection the weekend before?) Event giveaways...a box of tea? really? No sports nutrition samples, pain relief sample patches, recovery drink etc?”

“It was a very poos event; safety-wise! - How stupid was it to go in circles around the cycle path not getting out on the route as the leading marshals did not know where to go! How do the organisers dare to put cyclists safety on the line, ie sharing road on Al Khail with speeding vehicles!!! The whole year and with the build-up rides safety was number one issue! All but lost on the final event!!!!!”

“An excellent day - Considering where this was, I thought it was reasonably well organised. Points to note: 1) we were kept waiting with a 30 minute delay, there was no explanation. Keep people informed. 2) The was a mix up on the initial lap which caused a crash. If you change anything inform everyone. 3) The marshals and the police did an excellent job. 4) The facilities were good. 5) The after event stuff was very good. 6) It was very well organised considering you could not close the roads. Well Done and see you next year!”

“Disappointingly bad organisation this time - Event bags info sent out late. Race started very late with no feedback to us Lead car completely screwed up the race for Group E sending us three times around Nad Al Sheba. Best bit of the course (Burj Khalifa) was cut out at the last moment with no explanation. Marshalling was not enough on the busy road sections. I otherwise enjoyed the ride, but would have been great had the organisation been up to scratch. Is there a way we can recover our placings to make up for the extra 8k cycled by Group E?!”

“Fun Ride but Course Marking Poor - I loved the ride. It was the most fun I have ever had on a bike. However, there was a lot of confusion about the course direction inside the cycle park. Course marking could have been better to keep everyone on track. Also, there was a long delay at the start which was okay. Signage for support stations could help riders get fluids. I never saw the stations until I was next to them and then it was too late.”

“Poor course demarkation at the start - The course was poorly marked and marshalled during the starting laps with some people doing 2 laps , others 3 and some of us 4 .”

“Great event with problems - Loved the event and the concept. Delays at the start, changes to the course, marshall vehicles getting lost and several other issues slightly detract from the day itself. Picking up the event packs was slow and painful but the event itself was great fun and one to certainly repeat and with the increase in participation I can see these hiccups being straightened out. Well done to the team for organising this. Quite expensive an event though.”

“Snafu in course...made timings irrelevant - There was a total mess at the startup...some people did 82 some 86k...total snafu...”

“Quick online results - Enjoyed the race and thank you for very quick online results after the event.”

“Good Idea but needs serious improvement - Marshalling was diabolically bad ! Route needs to be taken OUT of Dubai for the safety of the riders or get proper marshalls that know what they are doing and know the route and procedures. Roads MUST be closed before someone gets killed. For the price of the entry the Goodie bag was very sad ! Races in other countries are half the price to enter and far better marshalled”

“Good, but roads need to be closed!! - Great event but I feel that the roads need to be closed as it did not feel safe. It was fine for the first half when there were large groups of cyclists together which made you very visible to the drivers, but as all the cyclists got spread out there were parts which were very dangerous, such as Al Manara Road. If the roads cannot be closed in future years then one lane needs to be closed for the cyclists on the larger roads which is coned off from the cars - this would help massively with the safety.”

“It was an achievement to have successully complete - There was no clear instructions during the strt of race and we had to go around the loops in Meydan. The course was then shorten to 83km without inform the participants. ”

“Good event but last year is better. - It would have been better if Cat. A is placed after the elite group. ”

“Route signage - Route signages absent in the first part of the track. Needed more control in some conjunctions. ”

“Great event - shame there were a few hiccups - Huge amount of effort required to organise such a massive event - thanks to everyone involved!! Shame some small things with bug impacts went wrong on the day (lights/signage). Hopefully with the size the event is becoming, next year race packs can be collected in AD too and the route will be well signposted/marshalled. The souvenir jacket / t-shirt was a bit average. After race stalls etc excellent. Thansk to everyone for their hard work.”

“Not for everyone - The course was acceptable but starting over one hour late made it terrible to ride in the traffic ! It could have been better organised.”

“Lack of communication on day about start and route - Start was shambolic. Delayed an hour. Then some riders were made to do two laps of Nad Al Sheba whilst others did one. So I was passing riders who started a few groups below me. So timings and distances were negated. Clearly not even 92km. Not all of us have on bike computers so actual distances remain a mystery. One urinal and one toilet for 1600 riders. ”

“Fun event just let down by poor route management - The start was a debacle - standing still waiting for a delayed start for over an hour is not acceptable for a high quality sports event. The last minute change to route and non-closure of roads (albeit well communicated in advance) meant that there were a number of times when our group (Group C) had no idea where we were going, had no protection or support from either police or ambulance, and had on a number of occasions to avoid dangerous road and traffic situations). It is clear from the times posted and anecdotal GPS tracking feedback that different groups covered different distances meaning that the course markings were inadequate or difficult to follow. The queue for pick up of race day packs was long and I suggest have the packs ready the week-end before to allow more fleibility in terms of pick up. Post race events and on site facilities were excellent. Overall I commend the efforts to build on and improve this race but think it is very important to obtain a route which can be closed and with clearer markings.”

“A great initiative but improvements needed! - The Cycle Challenge is a fantastic event that gathers over 2,000 cyclists and for that reason, as the event has grown so much, it needs to be taken to the next level. Here are my comments on the race: The start was delayed 1 hour due to lights on the track not working - should have been sorted in advance, my starting group was taken T laps around the 6km loop at Nad al Sheba, then taken the wrong way before everybody had to stop, turn around and then go the 8km loop and out - this is unacceptable, the lead car should know the track, the course was changed last minute without explanation - should have been explained why, the lead car/police took some riders down the Al Ain exit onto al Khail Rd and then riders had to get off their bikes and run up the ramp to get back onto the course again - unacceptable, the men standing signalling with sticks should be told how to wave the sticks and point in the direction the cyclists should be going and not just wave them. It was confusing when approaching at speed and then you need clear route instructions to follow! Overall a good event, but as it is now such a popular event and ever growing, these issues should not happen. Also, the roads should ideally be closed. It did feel a bit scary negotiating big cement trucks through Al Quoz and speed bumps and pot holes in the road. I know many fellow cyclists shared the same opinion. Looking forward to taking part again in a safer and slightly better organized event on the actual race day!”

“Great Event - Directions were a bit poor and support in traffic was sometimes lacking”

“Some lessons to be learnt - Right from arriving at the venue there was no traffic management and marshalling of the pitch dark parking area was non existent. The start was delayed because no one knew how to turn the cycle track lights on. Then the course was changed at the last minute but no marshals were posted on the area that got changed. Our group lost its lead vehicle when a breakaway group formed so we were totally undirected and unprotected for the course change and the section of the ride on the 6 lane 100kph highway - confusion was rife and I for one did not feel safe. After the event it turned out that different groups did different routes and different distances meaning that the results were non comparable between groups and next years seedings will also be affected. The majority of these issues (apart from the late course change) should all have been taken into account. This was the 4th edition so the organisers should know better.”

“Poor marshalling - Overall not too bad however the route changed last minute which was poor....Myself and friend did 87kms but the majority did 79kms I believe. why? Poor marshaling! The roads should be closed, especially as it is very early Friday morning. Come on Dubai, you can do better says the report card....”

“Great event, some poor marshalling - I enjoyed the event, flew in from Scotland to take part,and will come again next year. Great roads for cycling and great fast flat route. Marshalling was a bit poor at times as some riders had done 78km and others around 86km due to the marshals making some do an extra lap of the cycle park, which clearly affects the result times. But still had a ball and will take part again. ”

“A great challenge with some changes needed to the - There was no signage and we saw no police for the whole length of al Khalil road. At times it felt unsafe both there and in al quiz with little to no traffic management I saw only two water station both of which were tiny would suggest at least another two stations. The start was poorly organised and no one seemed to know which route we were supposed to take around nad al Sheba ”

“Very good, confusing start - Very good but the course was changed and the start was confusing”

“Great event! - It was my first spinners 92. I loved it. Only the start could have been faster and the directions from police and Marshals was not always clear enough. Shame we could not go around the burj. That would have been a real highlight. ”

“Fab day but needs much more safety considerations - Overall another fab day, loved it mostly but lack of toilets always make a bad start, 1650 entrants, physically, I think 8 loos!! Lead car took us wrong way! lack of marshals, police, signage made certain areas consdirably more dangerous than they should have been. Village was great, discounts, atmosphere comaraderie, support fab, despite the negatives, a fabulous day, thanks to all concerned as always.”

“Ride not what is advertised - Had a lovely time riding with my friends but the course was not what we paid to do...considering there is no goodie pack...this is actually what you pay for...safe ride around icon of Dubai...not straight up freeway...”

“Great event but not value for money - My first time and i quite enjoyed the thrill of riding on the freeways of Dubai. Comments 1) The initial exit out of Nad Al Sheeba was very confusing. 2) There was no water station 10Km from the finish. The first water station at 50K mark was GREAT. 3) Gents toilet at the start was clogged and probably extra port-a-cabins are needed since 86% of the riders are men. 4) Police and support cars did a GREAT job to marshal the traffic ”

“Great event.. few Hiccups - Was a great and successful event.. a few hiccups but otherwise perfect... great job guys!”

“Shambolic start. No support vehicles. - Despite the start mess I joined the SWR team and we enjoyed a self managed well disciplined and fun ride”

“Spinneys supermarket - Started much later than stated, not sure why? It would be better to have how far is left to go on the Spinney signs and also i had no idea that i was about to finish until about 500 metres to go.”

“Excellent spin with a difference. - No sign or marshal at 1st junctions in NAS. Ended up doing 82k and not 92k. Police cars should have had blue lights on at all times, would have helped a lot. Beats going around Al Qudra in circles. Excellent ride.”

“Great event - very much enjoyed it - In particular the seeding to start cyclists of similar age groups makes a massive difference!! More control etc amongst the more experienced riders makes a safer ride for faster cyclists :)”

“Great race, good fun - Police did an exceptional job this year! Really made the ride much safer this time around.”

“Despite numerous improvement points, still great! - Negatives: This is the worst ever finish line / sprint straight I have ever had in any race over my 23 years cycling! Who allowed photographers to stand 25 meters after the line - in the middle of the road - to take photos of guys sprinting in at 50 km per hour!!? Also the blue plastic crates they were standing on, just leaving it in the middle of the road? WT*? I was unlucky enough to ride over one of these and really lucky to not crash in the sprint! Need to still see if my bike was damaged! Guys REALLY! You would think that the finish line would be kept open / clear of everything! This is seriously a lack of safety awareness making me think I should skip this ride going forward. Having someone standing in the road + leaving a road hazard? Bloody lunacy! Have toilets / porta-cabins next to the starting shutes (one more tip to take from the Argus). Also perhaps mini-cycle expo next time for race pack collection...? Have pre-determined route - stick to pre-determined route. If problematic, skip the Dubai scenic route and have us ride the cycle track past Bab-al Shams. Have been suggesting the "open road rather than city route" now for some years! Will it be done once someone is killed? Despite groans, it is still great to be able to take my bike out locally for a race (esp. as there are not that many - but growing...;). Great festive feel to finish area afterwards, friendly fellow cyclists, good support from police (best so far). Lastly - KUDOS to the guys in our A bunch. We rode and worked like men possessed! ”

“Good fast race - There was a few spots where the group as was in could has gone wrong and there was a wrong turn in the very beginning where a lot of riders got wrong - 1/2 delay to start is not fantastic. Great race anyway - fast track when you are from the cold and hillie North Europe and I would like to do it again if I get a chance - by the way result should be sent by sms or email”

“Awesome fun, see you next year! - A great ride around town, despite the last minute change of route we still got to take over the city for a few hours. Thanks to all of the support crews too.”

“It was an amazing well organized event - Thanks for everyone involved in putting this amazing event together. For next year I suggest having a better Police and RTA support for the ridders. Not that this year was not great but it could still improve. Overall it was amazing and thank you all.”

“Not such a good start but fine after that - Late start .......and course change resulted in 3 laps of the race track before I could get on the road so time v distance a bit distorted. Shame the 92km distance was reduced. Overall a good ride.”

“Poor organisation of route and start !! - 1-registration , area was too small , 3 people were doing one persons, job just lacked organisation .2 -Sun rise was not taken into account and therefore no surprise for the 35 min delay, when the lights did not work , when they realised this ,why were we not informed ? 3 -Route change 2 min before the start again poor organisation ! 4 -route markings extremely poor , they did not exist . I would rather have no event pack and better route marking ! I have taken part in many rides of up to 34000 riders , where the route marking and road closures were of much better standard !sadly only when someone gets hurt will this change !from the outside it looked like this event was done at a min cost for max profit ! simply the most dangerous ride I have raced in ! you would think cycle safe dubai would have more of a say to make things safer !”

“Good event..but only clocked at 88km on my comp - Signage not so good. Very poor inside camel track. Did everyone do 88km? I would suspect not as I saw a whole bunch of riders leaving the track at a different place than me and my pack. Near the end some a**whole pushed me twice with his hand some guy with e60? Bib in moviestar kit. A real jerk. Nearly took me out and another guy. ”

“Spinneys Dubai Cycle 84 with bad marshalling - A lot more bad things then good but i enjoyed it and with a few improvements it could be a really good event!Here ar my problems 1) parking needs to organized better because it took a long time to park.2)The people in the back waves could not here the PA system, more speakers towards the back!3) A contingency route because after all this is Dubai, road work central!! 4) no information about the delay 5) horrible Marshalling and very limited signage, got lost several times and also did 8 km short of 92( this defeats the purpose of the 92 ). 6) Car control, it was OK but some areas need to handled better because of the erratic drivers. ”

“Very enjoyable route- felt vulnerable to traffic! - Group H - Led the wrong way at the start! Great to ride in a large group for the 2nd half of the race. The first half I felt nervous amongst the traffic. Witnessed cars tyre screeching to miss some other riders!”

“Great event but awful start organisation - This is potentially a fantastic event: raising the profile of cycling is a great achievement in car-obsessed Dubai. However, the organisers really need to look at what went wrong this morning when many of us cycled an extra 5+ km due to shocking marshalling out of the cycle park. This really should not happen in such a show-case event! Also a shame about the last minute route change around the Burj, but I suspect the organisers had control over this.”

“My first ever cycling marathon last year. Great! - Excellent organization and pre event communication. Traffic control much better than last year. Would be nice if course changes every two years, as gets mundane by 2nd year. Keep it up. Superb job.”

“Great event, thanks - It would be great to have event pack collection in Abu Dhabi too.”

“Unsafe, badly organized, bad day for cycling - You blew it. Sorry folks. This was supposed to be the day when we take cycling to the next level in DB. 1600 people. Our best day to be...ever. But nothing worked, including (1) careless and inadequate pre-race communication, (2) access to the venue bottlenecked, (3) clueless parking attendants making the bottleneck worse, (4) delayed start and inadequate communication about it, (5) route change hopelessly explained and causing an unsafe situation, (6) badly thought out starting waves and loss of control about riders jumping waves in both directions (7) lead cars getting lost (on a closed track!), generally not knowing the route and causing riders to fall with dead stops in the middle of the road, (8) badly badly signed route, (9) signers not even pointing where to go or checked out, (10) traffic control dangerously absent, (10) a water stop 10 yards after a speed hump with 20km to go (who came up with that one?), (11) due to chaotic start riders in the same wave riding significantly different distances and no way to unscramble the timing system. Overall a bad day for cycling in the UAE. Need to rethink format, allocate proper resources, sort the road safety out, upgrade support staff if you have 1600 people on public roads that are not closed off. Either do it properly or not at all. Please. A day like this harms cycling and multiple riders went down today or simply felt unsafe due to very bad organization. ”

“Sort out the support on the course - Great event but needs more marshalls on the course. Felt very unsafe. ”

“gracias - Gracias”

“Disorganised but fun - Got off to a bad start with the support vehicles leading the cyclists down the wrong path which resulted in a couple pile-ups and bruises. The course was great and the police did a good job at keeping roads closed/giving clearance to cyclists over traffic. Sadly it seems the course was shy about 8km of 92! Having said all that the organisers did a great job, thanks to all and i will defo do this again!”

“Awesome event - There are enough cyclists now for a total shut down of the roads for cyclists. Navigating Al Khail road was challenging.”

“Good ride, but a bit hot! - The ride was very good, but was it shorter this year? I finished much earlier than I had predicted (25 mins early approx.) There were more police escorts this year, and they were more effective, which made me feel a lot safer on the roads than last year. Overall, an excellent morning. Looking forward to next year! ”

“An enjoyable ride but not well marshelled! - Pity about the last minute adjustment to the course, not as well organised as previous events - too many last minute hicups. All in all a enajoyable ride though - thank you.”

“Great Event - The pre-event organisation was excellent. The race itself whilst great fun was not well supported except at traffic lights. Crossing the exits on Al Khail Road was an exercise in blind faith, madness and adrenaline - definitely not for the faint hearted. The were several incidents of confusion as to which way we were supposed to go and had I not been in the midst a of a large group - I would have been lost. However, it was still tremendous fun and I would definitely do it again.”

“Needs better direction and pre ride build up - J group and h group lead the wrong way round cycle park. I did an extra lap at the start which added about 4km. I wasnt alone. On course there were times when we didnt know which way to go. No lead vehicle for a bit then a car that had nothing on it to say it was official. Km to go marker boards would be very useful. Due to the course change the finish came around quicker than I realised.”

“Great event, but... - I really enjoyed the event - my first road race, so it was fantastic riding in the huge pelaton...but... race began half an hour late. No problem in itself, but it just made more people need the very scarce toilets. Some portaloos are a must for the future, particularly if there are going to be more entrants. Also, my starting group (H) followed the leader at the start, and somehow took a wrong turn - looked like quite a few groups did the same thing. Really not sure how this happened, but obviously some marshalling is required at every junction. So, small quibbles, but a great ride.”

“Thanks alot - I hope to see more of the cycling races. There are alot of people riding only and like to cycling races. This will help you attracked more rideres and get an amounts of mones. ”