11/12 VIC DH Series

nev said:
wisey.... you need to ride the rockin track at maldon.
if you want steep and rough its a perfect track for a state round.
hopfully thats the track that will be run cause it will sort some people out.
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I have Nev, yeah, it's a fun track but I rode down there blind the first time and it didnt really cause me to slow down and check it out or be cautious, it was just loose and skatey, maybe it is better now. I do hope they get a good turn out and I'll be made to eat my words.

Edit - I do sound very full of myself here (which of course I'm not, lol) but I'm just being honest.
 
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no worries. ill most likely be helping with the track work for the maldon round.
id love to hear some ideas off people so we have have a good last round
 
I would love to see more steep and technical tracks in the series. However, as previously stated. There really aren't many tracks in Vic that fall into those categories. The committee really only can use what is available and on offer.
 
Glad that I raced all of last season, missing a few big names (Yack, Eildon, Baw Baw). Shorter series might be a blessing for the bank account which is a plus! Good to see a fresh track (Narby) being added to the lineup!
 
The line up isnt so bad! All good.
Racings racing, abit of variety is always good. Pedal, Flat, Rocky or slow. All good trails!
Narby should be sick. The trail looks awsome. Deffinetly be there for that..

Is Narby a public trail ? Wouldnt mind shuttling it!
 
I'd like to have seen Yack and Mt Taylor included, they're my two fave tracks. Looking forward to trying out Narbie too.

With no Yack, Barjarg and Mt Taylor though, the travelling times are reduced considerably, I might actually make it to all the rounds this year!
 
From what I have heard, Narby is a completely different track. Has some pretty talented builders working on it and the Local Counsil and DSE are loving it!
 
What going to be the go with the Youies?
Is GMBC (or Turbulence or whatever it's called now days) going to be fixed up by then or will they be racing Bandages?
 
samsty said:
I would love to see more steep and technical tracks in the series. However, as previously stated. There really aren't many tracks in Vic that fall into those categories. The committee really only can use what is available and on offer.
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So reading a bit between the lines Sam or Ian, was there more clubs that put in for races for next season or was it that a few clubs wanted a break for a year? You guys and BCG have done a great job for the last couple of years and from the outside I thought that momentum would be good for the club?
 
Might be the possiblity of a new track at maldon by the time the race is there.

Regardless of which tracks are run in the series the best riders are still the ones who will be winning.
If you don't like a flatter/more pedally track and want to do well, then you better train and get fit.

Appreciate that we can have such a great series. Don't like it, don't go, people won't miss you.
 
jacko13 said:
Might be the possiblity of a new track at maldon by the time the race is there.

Regardless of which tracks are run in the series the best riders are still the ones who will be winning.
If you don't like a flatter/more pedally track and want to do well, then you better train and get fit.

Appreciate that we can have such a great series. Don't like it, don't go, people won't miss you.
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Ah come on, the guys on the podium in Expert at Maldon were also within like a second of the Elite podium... that's ridiculous. If they raced Rockin then fair enough, but the Valley/City/Waterhole tracks are absolute beginner tracks with almost nothing other than fitness to separate riders, if that's what downhillers wanted in the first place then we'd all be racing on velodromes. Previous You Yangs tracks have had similar issues but even those were more tech than that! The most off-putting thing at Maldon (and part of the reason I didn't even bother going) was that they HAVE an awesome racetrack on the same hill, but instead chose to race a track that's good fun to ride but essentially silly to race. Shepparton was a good example of a short track on a small hill that did a very good job of separating the riders by making things super tricky the whole way. Cool to see Narby back on the calendar though, and the Beauty nats course is rad too!
 
Narby is an old school dh track that being revamped the guys are putting in so much effort and used to be one of the best tracks in Vic
 
Question - Is the mt beauty nationals course the one with the northshore drop at the end over the burnt out, tetanus-inducing matress? If so, I likey. That was the first track I ever rode downhill on - riding a BMX no less haha.

Track lineup looks sexy. As always :)
 
SillyWabbit said:
Question - Is the mt beauty nationals course the one with the northshore drop at the end over the burnt out, tetanus-inducing matress? If so, I likey. That was the first track I ever rode downhill on - riding a BMX no less haha.

Track lineup looks sexy. As always :)
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Its sign posted as DH-3. It has the big chute down the bottom then u jump onto the old 4x track or DS track
 
Just to add my two cents.

I think the VDHS needs to be more innovating and growing the sport. Well done to everyone in the background who has organized the new season but i think its a case of same old same old. There seems to be nothing different from the previous seasons. Not saying its a bad thing because it's a format that works but i think it can be developed further to make it more exciting for the riders, sponsors and spectators.

The VDHS should be working closely with Vic parks and other organizations to make more trails and more areas to host events. This could benefit the series by racing at more locations and would provide a chance for new clubs to be established which might attract new riders (imagine the turn out if the VDHS was able to hold an event at Mt Danenong).

Also i would like to see the current race tracks developed more. It was great to race at Mt Baw Baw, Barjarg and Mt Beauty last season as so much effort had been made to create new lines and get the event ready to race. All of these events had exciting areas for spectators and attracted a great atmosphere. However if you look at some other trails spectators seem to gather at the bottom of the track and don't really seem to make that much noise. Lets motivate the spectators and riders by creating something exciting for them to ride, watch or film.

How about if each club held a track build/maintenance day a few months out from an event and each rider who participated got a free lunch and a reduced entry fee into that event? This way the riders could have input into the trails and hopefully the VDHS could begin to have more creative and challenging tracks to race on. I think clubs would attract quite a few riders and if the day was co-ordinated correctaly there would be a whole heap of quality work completed.

So getting back to Muph's comment about not being that excited i think is a valid point for him to make. He has been racing for quite a while and is more then welcome to express his opninon within a public forum.
 
murphnat said:
Just to add my two cents.
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Some very good points there!!

Keep in mine though, that members within PV/DSE can be hard to deal with. I've had discussions with rangers about the legal building of trails and the closure of illegal trails and some of them are quite against the sport.

On the other hand, I've had experience with the ranger from Maldon, Noel, and he's really behind the sport and has made working up there really easy!

It can take years to get permission to build a legal downhill facility, and so its a path most people often don't chose to go down because it's a lot of time and money when they could just go build illegal trails themselves to ride.

I'm all for new tracks and variety, and its a shame that some people in the position to make that happen aren't as for it. Remembering some are however, and the DH scene is improving in Vic.
 
I like how the VDHS has tried to be different by introducing new tracks, but Im not sure it will pay off. I can see the strategy behind putting those two rounds first, thats all I will say. Its hard to put down clubs who are putting in unrewarded effort into getting tracks race ready. This series track selection is questionable, Its obvious we want to attract beginners into the sport as much as possible, but the last two series' the number of interstate riders attending our races has grown significantly due to the fact we have put up national level tracks (length/technicality) with the prize money.
Mt Buller only really have the lifts going for them, everyone knows every rock and every root on that track and have done it to death, we can all keep wishing they spend some money on the dh tracks, maybe discluding them from the series could force this. What ever happened to all that money the DSE gave Mt Taylor, the numbers may have been poor the last race but it was bad timing with other races and situated late in a long series, it was an awesome track and location. Not sure if Narbethong is under a different shire to Granton (both got hit by the fires), but the short course there is one of the best 2-3 minute track in Australia. Nothing can be changed now, but I just think the track 'race' quality is one of the most important factors of acquiring riders to races, not how good the pit area is or spacing them around victoria to make them more accesible by all. (excuse my rad punctuation and sentence structure)
 
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