Scott 24hr 2009

[WildWassa]

This guy looked like he could handle a bike.

A skeleton peloton rounds the corner at Skeleton Road and Wild Dingo Track. While a rider runs with a flat tyre into the aid station.

OH!!! ... it was a dark night for some.

One guy came off the bridge and went down the Luge track by mistake, he stopped quickly and rejoined the DH track. He broke the tape. Then about 15 seconds later, the next rider came off the bridge and went through the gap in the tape ... and the next half a dozen riders immediately followed him down the Luge. None of these guys came back. I then walked up to the tape and repaired it.

Warren.

 

[spikenet]

Our team of 3 had a great weekend! First time we have ever been "competitive" and battling it out with the other contenders in our category was super motivating!

As already stated, the traffic at times was horrendous and its a fine balance between keeping your competitive spirit going and being understanding of the huge gaps in riders ability! Nothing worse then hammering yourself up the climb to loose huge amounts of time on a descent. I dont know how the organisers can address this, its just a part of this type of event.

Having the portable showers close at 10pm was brutal! nuff said.

The track layout was great, great in every way, I preferred it over the fig 8 of last year. Cant wait to see some pics!

congrat's to all the solo's who quallied for the worlds!

cheers and thanks for a great weekend!

 

[jmcavoy]

Schools girl crying on side of track cos some guy rode her off the track :-( not cool guys. hope the 5 seconds you saved makes you a 'better' rider.

we should put numbers on the back of bikes and dock teams 5 laps per incident with top offenders lists drawn up for event. If the timing was spot on, maybe then stu could highlight these 'gentleman' as they come through transition in future laps. This would stop a lot, if not all of these wannabes

My wife was pushed over by some wanna be racer, it's likely she has a broken Scaphoid (wrist xray results are still pending). He just rushed passed her with no waiting, no warning and over took her in a berm. He then looked back to see she had crashed, gave her a filthy look and rode off, leaving her there injured.

I understand the frustration with the lack of passing opportunities on such an over crowded course, but surely human decency should tell you after you have skittled an innocent woman, you should at least check she is ok.

If you are reading this, and you know who you are, I hope you are ashamed of the weeks of rehab you have caused, and the 5 seconds it saved you helped you get 500th place instead 501st.

We definitely need a way of dealing with these kinds of people as I have heard of over a dozen cases of women and girls getting knocked down by these guys, they need to identifiable with a rear number plate as you say.

All I can say is Karma...

 

[k_love]

lucky wheelie challenge was on - did that guy really wheelie for that long? And did he stop to claim his beer?

[/LIST]

yep, #49 jake coles and he wheelie to the bridge a minimum of 3 times,
missed his last one at approx 11.30am sunday,

when the wheelie comp first started jason english came through and when he saw the marker he called out that he would smash that next lap,

he did but after jake coles got to the bridge on the back wheel no one really tried to challenge it except jake himself.

rumour has it he took his half finished beer across the finish line

cheers to you, you provided US with entertainment

 

[ebuk]

But big thanks to everyone who was there.
Cheers!
Mullet
Who lost his big event Course Manager's cherry on the weekend. In what I believe was a successful event (honest and open feedback (on the course) is most welcome).

And our THANK YOU to you and everyone who helped, volunteered, sweated, worked, slaved and anything else at the event.

I'll add more later but I will say I thought the start was a mistake. Sending solo's off was ok but how long did it take the fast teams to catch them and then spend 7km's trying to get past the solo riders (150+ solos?).

It was nice to see Stromlo looking a lot greener this year.

 

[frameskin]

My wife was pushed over by some wanna be racer...

Mend well Kylie.

Dickhead maneuverers. I wiggle my pinky at you.

 

[FR Drew]

+1 for me, the tryhard gohards who pull this kind of crap ruin the event for everybody. Much love to Ky for a swift recovery.

I also echo the call for compulsory rear numberplates.

Dickheads should be identifiable, reportable and have their laps voided.

 

[Tom Foolery]

+1 for me, the tryhard gohards who pull this kind of crap ruin the event for everybody. Much love to Ky for a swift recovery.

I also echo the call for compulsory rear numberplates.

Dickheads should be identifiable, reportable and have their laps voided.

Rear number plates are one thing, but how will you prove it?
Some numpty (not saying anyone here is) could just say that <insert pro name> knocked them off, thus changing the outcome of the race.

 

[BrumbyJack]

One guy came off the bridge and went down the Luge track by mistake, he stopped quickly and rejoined the DH track. He broke the tape. Then about 15 seconds later, the next rider came off the bridge and went through the gap in the tape ... and the next half a dozen riders immediately followed him down the Luge. None of these guys came back. I then walked up to the tape and repaired it.

Warren.

Hi WildWassa.... was it you I was having a conversation with???

Were you the good samaritan repairing the bunting below the bridge and I got off to walk and another girl did a massive brake skid and stacked, then a whole heap of guys came through and some idiot decides to pass going down the hill and through the rock garden and starts abusing us all???

I spent most of my climbing getting off to let people pass on my night lap, made sure I was on the tail of the field for the first lap so I didn't have people trying to pass me. I got a sweet run through Skyline as I'd let everyone pass at the top, then karma repaid me with a fun run on my own, only place I had someone catch me I had somewhere to let them pass.

Not enough passing places... I got so pissed off with having to let people past all the time (and getting hurt in the process) I didn't do another lap after my night one. Not the passing riders fault, it was the lack of space to do it and I refuse to hold other riders up.

Overall I had a good time... obviously need to be much fitter then I wouldn't have to stop and let people pass on the climbs, but that's to be expected when you haven't ridden for 2 years. At least I can hold my own on the downhills still!

 

[dhd]

My wife was pushed over by some wanna be racer, it's likely she has a broken Scaphoid (wrist xray results are still pending). He just rushed passed her with no waiting, no warning and over took her in a berm. He then looked back to see she had crashed, gave her a filthy look and rode off, leaving her there injured.

I understand the frustration with the lack of passing opportunities on such an over crowded course, but surely human decency should tell you after you have skittled an innocent woman, you should at least check she is ok.

If you are reading this, and you know who you are, I hope you are ashamed of the weeks of rehab you have caused, and the 5 seconds it saved you helped you get 500th place instead 501st.

We definitely need a way of dealing with these kinds of people as I have heard of over a dozen cases of women and girls getting knocked down by these guys, they need to identifiable with a rear number plate as you say.

All I can say is Karma...

Sorry to hear that Jase. Hope she gets better soon and it isn't a break.
People who do Sh1t like that need a bullet.

I found the event great fun and surprised myself being able to actually ride to the top of stromlo non stop 3 times in 14 hours! I did find it a bit frustrating on the downhill bits where I probably could have made up quite a bit of time to be stuck behind a train of twenty slow riders, But hey, I guess that's the nature of the event and we all had to live with it.

 

[Sumgy]

One guy came off the bridge and went down the Luge track by mistake, he stopped quickly and rejoined the DH track. He broke the tape. Then about 15 seconds later, the next rider came off the bridge and went through the gap in the tape ... and the next half a dozen riders immediately followed him down the Luge. None of these guys came back. I then walked up to the tape and repaired it.

Warren.

That is where I ended up following a couple of kids who were going a bit slow and then I had a couple of the faster guys come through behind me.
I pulled to the left to let them go at the bridge and they roared through.
The kids took off again and headed down into the Luge. I di not even think and just followed them. Suddenly they hit a little gap jump and I thought, "Hang on, this is not right".
Yelled out to them to ask whether they were sure we were going the right way. They replied, "Nope, we are just out for a cruise".

WTF??? A cruise?? At 3.30am, while there is an event on you are out holding up riders on a course that is already clogged up??
Funny now, but again, WTF?!?!?!
Luckily I joined up on the fireroad again and continued on my way.

 

[shineslike]

a view from the crew

as pi11wizard's wife, my experience of the weekend was one from the pits. mrs wittman13 and i spent most of the weekend filling drink bottles, changing light set-ups, lubing chains, preparing food, charging batteries, organising clothes, and just doing whatever we could to make life that little bit easier for the solo riders.

it was my first pit crew experience, and it was great fun. watching mrs red racer in action was amazing (we were camped right next door). she was the most organised and pleasant crew boss - making sure that jason had everything he needed, and doing so twice per transition (catching him both on the way into and out of transition, to double the value of each pit stop). and she still managing to have a word to her neighbours through the night.

the riders were amazing - particularly wittman13, whose robotic focus was incredible - and it was lovely to meet a bunch of sweet people, and to share the event with them.

packing up camp through the use of a children's buggy (thanks ebuk, b-rad) strapped to my bike was amusing, but handy (knopey - i think it was you letting me through the gate all sunday morning?). also made it much easier to hit the road early for the drive back to newie.

the one thing i would say to the organisers from a pit crew perspective is that it would be handy if solo riders and their crew were given a map of the course in their pack. while i (now) know maps were available on the website, i didn't at the time, and it would have been handy to know a bit more about the course (like knowing that there was a killer hill soon after leaving pits, which could have changed approaches to food etc).

overall though, it was an amazing weekend, and great to be a part of it. met some lovely people and saw some great riders giving a lot of themselves for the event (including my own awesome pi11wizard, who did an amazing job).

and - as a random by-product of the event - thanks to starting a conversation with a girl wearing a scott t-shirt at my work today, i now think i might have a group of ladies to go riding with

 

[nskz]

My first Scott 24hr and I must say I had a ball. I entered in a team of 6 to lessen the initial exposure somewhat but those early morning laps were still killer. I didn't really have any problems getting passed people with only a few exceptions where people seemed to ignore me. Likewise I always kept an eye out for fast riders approaching as you both lose far less time if you pre-empt their request to pass. I felt really sorry for what must have been at least 15 people stopped fixing flats on the run down from the top lap 1.

Pros:

- The track was awesome, showed off the best of stromlo, was technical as a MTB track should be (with B lines for those less inclined). Heaps of single track (as it should be). The top down to the end of double dissolution was awesome, although I never got a clean run on any of my 5 laps.
- Organisation was top notch, we didn't have any timing difficulties which I guess sways my opinion somewhat.
- The general vibe in and around the camp areas.
- The good samaritan who stopped to lend one of our team a chain breaker and power link after he broke his chain, many thanks. If you read this let me know so we can send you a power link or 10!
- The teams of people cheering all around the track.
- Solo riders (including the girl on the ridgid SS!) inspirational.



Cons:

- Traffic, lap 1 particularly was a shitfight. Absolutely pinning it for 1km up a fire road only to stand around for what seemed like an eternity as everyone filed into the singletrack...I can't imagine what it was like further back.
- The train that ensued up said singletrack.
- Closing the showers at night when they are needed the most. Crazy.
- The queue for the toilets.
- The bunting, I thought it was a bit light on in places.
- Arriving at the pits on lap 1 thinking YOU BEAUTY, only to climb out of them again for 3km...so cruel haha.
- The bog hole near the end.



That seems like quite a few negative but most are minor, all in all a fantastic weekend and event. I'll be back next year for sure!

 

[sclyde2]

One guy came off the bridge and went down the Luge track by mistake, he stopped quickly and rejoined the DH track. He broke the tape. Then about 15 seconds later, the next rider came off the bridge and went through the gap in the tape ... and the next half a dozen riders immediately followed him down the Luge. None of these guys came back. I then walked up to the tape and repaired it.

I was one of the culprits who took out the tape after the bridge. maybe it was a little after that one that you mention above, as, when i got tangled up in it, there as a nice hale bale (I think) waiting there to cushion my fall. In the end, it was probably a stupid passing manouvre (as I later realised that the guy I was overtaking was not one of the usual tortoises), but I came out of the bridge with a trajectory slightly to the left (after overtaking), enough to put me into that sloping-down-to-the-left part (that i couldn't turn out of). the guy i just overtook ended up crashing into me, as he followed me in the same direction. kinda funny really. i don't really know how i came out of it with all skin intact. thanks for putting the hay there.

as for the other comments/winges/constructive criticisms of the event, I 100% agree with all the comments regarding the severe overcrowding on the course, and the need to either go back to the 2 lap format (most preferred), or reduce the numbers of entrants, or add at least 5km to the course. it was ridiculous. in regard to what the event is about (i.e. riding great trails, with a competitive twist to it), it was certainly a huge step backwards when compared to 07/08. a great trail wasted, because most of the fun bits were spent sitting behind someone. it wrecks the trail too - on my last lap, i noticed a considerable amount of trail widening/deviations/shortcuts, undoubtedley because of people trying to get past EVERYWHERE. it would have sucked equal amounts for both the very fastest (always trying to get past) as it would've for the very slowest (having people asking to get past all the time, having to stop etc). i don't think we want more fireroads for passing (everyone prefers single track), or rear number plates to keep the rude overtakers in check (a bonehead idea that doesn't address the source of the problem). we want more trail per rider, so there is simply less passing altogether.

i gotta say that the A-lines are certainly a good addition. they came in handy every single time when i was stuck behind someone. maybe more of those too?

if some of this kind of stuff isn't done, i can't see how it can be both be the "australian 24 hour mtb championships" and an event for punters/beginners at the same time. the only reason i've read on here for the abandonement of the 2 lap format is some thing to do with cost/logistics. given that the event organisers are collecting something like a quarter of a million bucks in entry fees, you'd think that they could ........ blah blah blah.... better stop now

 

[spikenet]

i don't think we want more fireroads for passing (everyone prefers single track), or rear number plates to keep the rude overtakers in check (a bonehead idea that doesn't address the source of the problem). we want more trail per rider, so there is simply less passing altogether.

if some of this kind of stuff isn't done, i can't see how it can be both be the "australian 24 hour mtb championships" and an event for punters/beginners at the same time. (cut) given that the event organisers are collecting something like a quarter of a million bucks in entry fees, you'd think that they could ........

two great points there sclyde2. The discussed numberplate idea is a joke.. really. What about riders who refuse to allow passing until firetrail? I came across a few of those.. Just the same mentality

This was the first time I attended a presentation and was nice to see GU's and the odd beanie thrown to appease the crowd. What surprised me was the teams getting one trophy per place. Are they supposed to time share it? Seemed a bit light on to me..

 

[Sumgy]

two great points there sclyde2. The discussed numberplate idea is a joke.. really. What about riders who refuse to allow passing until firetrail? I came across a few of those.. Just the same mentality

Ummmm, it is my understanding that the rider wishing to overtake is the one that needs to get off the trail.
Calling track should just be the signal to the rider in front that you intend to pass and that they should be prepared for you to come past.
If they move over that is super helpful but they are not really obliged to do so.

That being said, the rider calling track should still not be a dick about it and should make sure that he can pass in a manner that is safe for both him/herself and their fellow rider.

 

[gixer7]

we want more trail per rider, so there is simply less passing altogether.

+1.

In my opinion the only way to do it is to revert back to the double lap format. Simply making the track longer really makes it harder for the newer/less fit riders.

1.5 hour laps are already pretty long for the slower riders - I can't see 2 hour laps being a good thing.

sclyde - you also make a good point about it not being much fun to have riders constantly wanting to come past - something we can sometimes forget when we spend more of our time overtaking.

 

[gixer7]

Ummmm, it is my understanding that the rider wishing to overtake is the one that needs to get off the trail.
Calling track should just be the signal to the rider in front that you intend to pass and that they should be prepared for you to come past.
If they move over that is super helpful but they are not really obliged to do so.

That being said, the rider calling track should still not be a dick about it and should make sure that he can pass in a manner that is safe for both him/herself and their fellow rider.

The rider being overtaken should move over, if possible and when safe to do so.

That's my understanding and how I've always done it. Having the overtaking rider have to ride off the track will just cause accidents if/when they suddenly have to get back on course cause of rocks/trees/photographers etc etc

 

[FR Drew]

If you act like a cock and force people off the track, irrespective of if they were holding you up, at best you ought to get your lap voided.

An accident is one thing, forcing someone off the track is quite another.

If you're in a team jesrsey on a rare bike (like say, Perren was last year on his yeti full carbon proto) then it's equally possible for people with an axe to grind to report you to the race officials even if you've done nothing wrong.

No rear numbers only protects the arzehats who know that they won't be identified as they vanish into the distance.

Some may think it's a dumb idea, but I would bet less people would be tools in the course if they knew folks could name and shame them.

 

[Sumgy]

The rider being overtaken is obliged to move over, if possible and when safe to do so.

That's my understanding and how I've always done it. Having the overtaking rider have to ride off the track will just cause accidents if/when they suddenly have to get back on course cause of rocks/trees/photographers etc etc

I have been told differently and am not trying to put either rider in a dangerous position. On a largely singletrack course such as Stromlo it is very difficult to overtake without either the lead or overtaking rider going off track.
Not sure whether it is best for the slower, and possibly less skilled rider to have to get off the track though.