BMC 100 Awesome event!

[Sumgy]

If there is any one that went the wrong way in the bmc 50 or 100 due to badly marked tracks around the 10km point please contact me on 0417056346

There were a number of riders that went the wrong way due to signs missing and we are keen to discuss this with them.

We believe for the money we all paid to enter that the course should have been marked in a more proffessional manner.

Orienteering was not in the brochure.

What are you going to do, start a class action against the organisers??
FFS. You missed a turnoff.
I nearly missed one too but looked up at the last minute to see the sign.
If I had missed it, it was my mistake.
Stop trying to blame others.
This is one of the things that is wrong with the world in general, where people want to blame someone else for things that go wrong.

 

[fergo]

If there is any one that went the wrong way in the bmc 50 or 100 due to badly marked tracks around the 10km point please contact me on 0417056346

There were a number of riders that went the wrong way due to signs missing and we are keen to discuss this with them.

We believe for the money we all paid to enter that the course should have been marked in a more proffessional manner.

Orienteering was not in the brochure.

Its a pity people blame the organisers when there were vandals (motos and locals) around moving signs. One of the pre course sweepers found two different sets of "vandals" on motos. The other sweepers had to replace and cover signs deliberately moved. On the start line for the 50km race I heard 3 sets of motos riding the "mtb only - no dirtbikes allowed" wombat track.

Someone even used the same coloured pink spraypaint on trees to mislead racers. Fortunately it was discovered.

Please spend your efforts in catching the vandals/saboteurs etc instead of blaming organisers and implying it was a poorly designed course/insufficient markings.

 

[bashncrash]

dktb, mako and anyone else who managed to get them selves lost during the race, how about you drop me or woodend cycles a line and come and join us on our weekly thursday night ride. It may not get you the "justice" you are looking for but you will get to know all the trails in the area. And if you feel so strongly about it you could also be part of the the design and marking team for next year.

 

[Baz rides]

Before anyone gets carried away here, and I'm not trying to fuel any arguments about who's to blame... but I was also in the first 50km group and actually had a podium finish in my category - didn't get lost and I've never ridden there before...

There were times I wasn't absolutely sure that I was going the right way but I pressed on and there were other intersections where I had to slow down a little to decipher what the signage was telling me to do, it's like any other epic race that I've done.

At the same time I hope this has not stuffed up the final results too much - meaning that my result is not really legit....
However, in the past four 50km races I've done, I've had similar placings, sometimes better, sometimes worse, so it's not like it was a freak result.

If it was "vandals" that caused the problem that totally sucks the big ones. Otherwise I'm of the belief that part of racing is following the course. I have taken wrong turns in the past and thrown away good results because of it - but it's like crashing, it's a mistake, they happen and when you're racing it's surprisingly easy to do.

 

[crash bandicoot]

If there is any one that went the wrong way in the bmc 50 or 100 due to badly marked tracks around the 10km point

There were a number of riders that went the wrong way due to signs missing and we are keen to discuss this with them.

We believe for the money we all paid to enter that the course should have been marked in a more proffessional manner.

Orienteering was not in the brochure.

and maybe I could get compensation for banging my knee on a tree, who in their right mind would put a tree that close to the track.

get over it.......shit happens.

 

[Sumgy]

and maybe I could get compensation for banging my knee on a tree, who in their right mind would put a tree that close to the track.

get over it.......shit happens.

I want compensation for the mental anguish I experienced when I realised that the event was harder than I expected.
And the damage that I suffered when I realised that the first 20km took what seemed to be 2 hours.
And my beer was not cold enough, and they did not serve it in a glass, and there were no hot naked chicks serving it to me.
Plus it was too cold in the morning.

Kill me now.
What a pack of whining pricks.

 

[rootri]

there were alot of places the organisers did a very below par job, start and preso's etc, and there is absolutely no excuse for how shitful mountain goat beer is, but course marking was not one of them. i started at the back and finished at the front, so spent a lot of time solo riding between groups on the fire trails with no one in sight and encountered no problems.

give yourselvs an uppercut

 

[tasty.dirt74]

It has taken me over a week to figure out what my thoughts are in relation to the BMC 100.
Mainly because it was my first longer distance event , and secondly , it took me over 9 hours to finish.
At various stages throughout the event I was wondering why we (I) was actually doing this !
Why punish yourself for no other reason but to finish.
The tail enders , (me definately included) were not in it to finish first or in the first 100 , but to accomplish a goal which we had set for ourselves. Kudos to all the riders who were able to ride the event in in under 6 ,7 or 8 hours .
The goal was to finish the race.
Personally I managed to finish ,not in a writhing ball of cramps , but finishing with the bike in 1 piece , as well as myself.(I am now a fan of Endura! )
For all the people who are complaining,Have a think about the dude who was placed 3(I believe) , yet ADMITTED that they had missed a turn , and relegated to a lower position. That is a great story ,and it shows true character to do so. I would like to buy them a beer(if they drink).
All in all , I truly believe that the event was well run and when you take into account that the complaints are coming from probably less than 2-5% of the racers , it shows that the problems mentioned are definately in the minority, and that the complaints are coming from people who should reflect on exactly WHY they missed turns etc as the VAST majority of riders managed to make all the turns .
Whe I spoke to the marshall at each station , they conveyed info that would suggest that they did as much as humanly possible ,ie:early morn runs on motorbikes to check all the signs etc. It is unfortunate that locals who dont appreciate "their" trails been used by others have been indicated as possible suspects in this.
I will definately be a enthusiastic participant in the Dirtworks 100 this weekend as I was in the BMC 100.

 

[Baz rides]

I was in the lead group and was in 6th place had just passed the rider who ended up in 3rd overall.

Just passed him? But then he managed to take the right turn and finish in 3rd?... now I'm really beginning to question blaming the trail marking...

This is beginning to sound like the aftermath of a handicap road race

 

[nathanbal]

give yourselvs an uppercut

What a pack of whining pricks.

get over it.......shit happens.

i think the above sums up most of the feelings here!

 

[DW-1]

I want compensation for the mental anguish I experienced when I realised that the event was harder than I expected.
And the damage that I suffered when I realised that the first 20km took what seemed to be 2 hours.
And my beer was not cold enough, and they did not serve it in a glass, and there were no hot naked chicks serving it to me.
Plus it was too cold in the morning.

Kill me now.
What a pack of whining pricks.

QUOTE OF THE DECADE.

Elvis.

 

[Johnny Come Lately]

My wife who organises stuff always says that you should take out the best and worst 5% of comments and consider the rest as your legitimate comments.

I just say, like many others before me, HTFU!! I had a great time. The weakness of teh event was me.

 

[dktb]

Just passed him? But then he managed to take the right turn and finish in 3rd?... now I'm really beginning to question blaming the trail marking...

This is beginning to sound like the aftermath of a handicap road race

Sorry what place did you come in last year?

 

[dktb]

dktb, mako and anyone else who managed to get them selves lost during the race, how about you drop me or woodend cycles a line and come and join us on our weekly thursday night ride. It may not get you the "justice" you are looking for but you will get to know all the trails in the area. And if you feel so strongly about it you could also be part of the the design and marking team for next year.

Not particularly concerned about "justice" but when a race organizer stands to take $130,000 in entry fees I would hope that goes into running a safe and well marked MTB event. Not go into the promoting an adventure race or multi sport event. I have been warned by mates who will not do Otways or BMC's for to this reason.

 

[dktb]

QUOTE OF THE DECADE.

Elvis.

Your employer has their name spread all over the event, would you not be a little concerned as to the quality of the event and the return on your investment? Or did you not come down for the race?

 

[Baz rides]

Sorry what place did you come in last year?

My humblest apologies, I didn't race this particular event last year. Congrats on getting 3rd last year...

I never questioned your riding ability, just suggested that possibly, just possibly, you missed a direction that other riders in very close proximity to yourself did not.

It's a shame that a little mistake made on the trail has left you with the urge to blame and flame others. I hope the organisers place a large flashing arrow at said intersection with your name on it next year to alleviate such a situation repeating itself.

 

[Sumgy]

Not particularly concerned about "justice" but when a race organizer stands to take $130,000 in entry fees I would hope that goes into running a safe and well marked MTB event. Not go into the promoting an adventure race or multi sport event. I have been warned by mates who will not do Otways or BMC's for to this reason.

Well you should have listened to your friends.
Vote with your feet and dont come back next year. That will show them.
That way we wont have to listen to your whiney little complaints.

 

[DW-1]

Your employer has their name spread all over the event, would you not be a little concerned as to the quality of the event and the return on your investment? Or did you not come down for the race?

my employer? sorry. I've not come out on the forums and actually said this before. mainly because most people know this allready. (it's not like it's a big bad secret or anything)

In a sense DW is my employer. I've worked my ass of for it for the last 15 years since I founded the company. And now that that is out of the way.

JUDGING by the amount of people complaining v's the amount of people that had a great time on some fun trails (which was the purpose of the event)... I'm happy with my companies investment in both the event, the riders and with the crew from Max Adventure and Woodend Cycles that stage the event.

I'm sorry your experiance wasn't what you expected. The emails that I've received from happy riders makes me believe that most people had a great day out.

Was I personally there? No I was recovering from the flu and stayed home. (this time). I was down to ride though. Pulled out the week before. I was there last year though and rode the 50klm. (I was the fat slow guy on the green Ibis). My business partners (both of them), our GM + about 12 other staff were there to ride the trails. (all but 1 made the long haul from Sydney to do so).

Yes... it would be sweet if no-one got lost/went the wrong way. But geez... the organisers rode (by m/cycle) the entire course prior to the event ON THE DAY to check markers... if one or two were pulled down by vandals... after this, what do you expect them to do?

We made a decision many years ago with the very 1st DW100 in Sydney that we weren't going to be ever offering massive $$$ to the winners. We wanted the events to be rides that people enjoyed and had fun at. Hence the fact that we give out the most prizes by lucky draw. Not to the "winners" like most events. We always wanted these events to be rides "for the average trail rider". Not the gun pros. If they (the pros) want to attend (and they seem to enjoy it) then fine. But we don't pay them heaps of prize money to be there.

Me... well barring any sickness, I'll be there next year for the full 100k.

Look at the end of the day... if you didn't have the same fun experiance that (apparently) over 95% of the other riders had... then you vote with the wallet and don't attend next years event. It is after all... your choice.

Elvis.

 

[Shane-O]

Wow. I thought MBR's were pretty easy going... this thread has changed my view somewhat.

I have never been involved in a sport that was so damn cheap. The events cost almost nothing to enter, and you get so much stuff in return... I almost feel guilty enough to try and give some of the stuff they hand out back. There are stacks of marshals and others involved, and the logistics of setting up a 100km trail through publicy open bushland is amazing.

Well done organisers for keeping these events super affordable, and easily within reach of everyone from your elite whinger to your happy go lucky baggy bum newbie. If it wasn't for you guys sacrificing your lives to put these events on... well, the events wouldn't exist. Many thanks.

S.

 

[pchdisco3]

Well said Elvis.

Unless the area is closed to the Public then you will never be able to keep fools from having some fun at some elses expense.

In my younger day I rallied cars in these forests and we had road closures (obviously for public safety) with a lot more volunteers actually blocking all access track/roads, police support, and a car zero which ran the stages a few minutes in front of the first car. Unless you have a mass of volunteers then you will never stop fools stuffing around with the course signs.