A serious network for serious vibes at FNB Wines2Whales

The FNB Wines2Whales mountain-bike stage race has brought a generous helping of gees (rhymes with “fierce”) to South Africa’s Western Cape province since 2009.   

That’s a South African word referring to the incredible spirit and thrilling vibe of the race. It’s summed up in the hashtag #SeriousGees, which the race organizers say captures the excitement of the starting line, the riding experience, the smiles, the thumbs-ups and the memories made.

FNB Wines2Whales, which is part of the Epic Series of races, comprises three events named after wines produced in the area: Chardonnay (with a focus on women riders), Pinotage (perfect for first-timers) and Shiraz (men’s teams, mixed teams and more). Each event runs over three days in November this year.

NTT DATA is once again playing a critical role as the Official Technology Partner of the race, providing secure, reliable connectivity as we do at other major events, including the Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon, Botswana’s Route 73 mountain-bike challenge and the Absa Cape Epic.

Tough riding made easy

The 2024 edition of the race goes back to its roots by following the original route from Lourensford Wine Estate to the beautiful coastal town of Hermanus via Oak Valley Estate. The picturesque route takes in pristine, world-class trails in South Africa’s prime wine-growing regions and stunning sea views – sometimes even including the whales mentioned in the event title.

This year, I’ll be attending FNB Wines2Whales for the second time, both in my official NTT DATA capacity and as a rider in the Shiraz event. The riding is tough, but the amazing scenery keeps one going – as do the well-stocked water stations along the route, where friendly volunteers hand out drinks and snacks, and the hype music and MC that help the riders maintain proper gees.

At the race village, a huge dining hall serves three meals a day and, at the end of every day, there is a ceremony to hand out the winners’ jerseys for the day, announce the route for the next day and share videos and pictures.

Wi-Fi you can rely on

When a Wi-Fi network works exactly as it should, users almost stop noticing it’s there – it’s a seamless user experience. That’s the importance of maintaining secure, fast and reliable connectivity, no matter how many users have joined and what they’re uploading or downloading.

NTT DATA’s high-quality Wi-Fi network covers the FNB Wines2Whales race village end to end, offering high-speed access and an excellent user experience for everyone – from the event staff and riders to the many volunteers and service providers. We also provide internet connectivity for registration and at the starting and finish lines at Lourensford. 

Our support team is on the ground for all three events. They deploy the technology ahead of time and monitor the network during each event to make sure there is enough bandwidth available and to keep the hardware operational.

Keeping in touch – or saving lives

The network has sufficient bandwidth for watching and uploading YouTube videos and social media posts, or for riders to video-chat with their family and friends back home. In 2023, we handled more than 500GB of traffic, 2.6 million network requests and 242 applications with ease.

We also segment the network to ensure the most appropriate level of service for specific categories of the nearly 900 users – the riders, members of the media, the event operations staff and, of course, the medics. In the event of a serious injury or illness, the MediClinic race facility needs access to a secure and reliable network to check riders’ medical information and communicate with major hospitals.

Our partnership with FNB Wines2Whales perfectly illustrates how we combine NTT DATA’s wide-ranging global experience in networks, cloud and more with a local touch to deliver solutions tailor-made for each client – or, in this case, each race to the finish line.