2011 Dirt Works 100km NSW - Entries open tomorrow.

[dinosaur_mtb]

Well DW has been run and won. I guess about 1300 riders were recruited at an average of $130 per rider head. Makes a gross of $169,000 give or take. The donation towards the St Albans RFS seems of, what was it $6500?, a bit mean. Say there were 100 RFS et al volunteers needed for the event, and conservatively they worked 12hrs each, and say we paid them $25/hr each.. $30000... somewhere along the lines there doesn't seem to be an equitable distribution of proceeds. I reckon that the donation towards the RFS et al should have been in the order of 10-15,000 at least.

 

[spudatm]

You are assuming that $169,000 is profit. I would think that after they pay their costs they would end up with a profit of considerably less than $169,000.

 

[dinosaur_mtb]

You are assuming that $169,000 is profit. I would think that after they pay their costs they would end up with a profit of considerably less than $169,000.

No I was not assuming $169000 as profit. That's very obvious, but this is a company which runs a large number of adventure events, and the wheels are well oiled in terms of scales of efficiency ... I still find it mean-fisted that with so much help from volunteers that so little is directed in return. And while I'm at it - bang for buck, at least Rapid Ascent give a T-shirt to for every entrant (Bike Buller), even if you only enter 1 of the stages. Heck a pair of socks - give me a break.... How much does a pair of Chinese made socks cost these guys?

 

[alchemist]

Sox are awesome, I've got far too many crappy $10 event T-shirts

 

[frensham]

................And while I'm at it - bang for buck, at least Rapid Ascent give a T-shirt to for every entrant (Bike Buller), even if you only enter 1 of the stages. Heck a pair of socks - give me a break.... How much does a pair of Chinese made socks cost these guys?

Love those socks! They are way better than a t-shirt and those from 'The Sock Guy' are excellent quality. Come to think of it, anything is better than a cheap chinese made t-shirt.......

 

[mittagongmtb]

The middle section through the old northern road was a lot of fun. Is it possible to ride other parts of the old convict trail and are there sections as much fun as those in the DW?

 

[Clyde Dave]

Well DW has been run and won. I guess about 1300 riders were recruited at an average of $130 per rider head. Makes a gross of $169,000 give or take. The donation towards the St Albans RFS seems of, what was it $6500?, a bit mean. Say there were 100 RFS et al volunteers needed for the event, and conservatively they worked 12hrs each, and say we paid them $25/hr each.. $30000... somewhere along the lines there doesn't seem to be an equitable distribution of proceeds. I reckon that the donation towards the RFS et al should have been in the order of 10-15,000 at least.

Why after every race does some knob have to carry on like this?!
They are a business! If you don't like it start your own!

 

[pinkbike]

No I was not assuming $169000 as profit. That's very obvious, but this is a company which runs a large number of adventure events, and the wheels are well oiled in terms of scales of efficiency ... I still find it mean-fisted that with so much help from volunteers that so little is directed in return. And while I'm at it - bang for buck, at least Rapid Ascent give a T-shirt to for every entrant (Bike Buller), even if you only enter 1 of the stages. Heck a pair of socks - give me a break.... How much does a pair of Chinese made socks cost these guys?

Give me a well run event over a free Tshirt any day. Also this is a business and they have staff to pay and need to earn a living, you've got to remember that this event is the results of weeks of organisation yet pay day comes from the profit off a single event.

Remember the fire service also got $5 per car for camping, so they would have made a bit more than that $6k. Plus other events don't even donate to local charities and rely on families and friends of racers for the vollie support.

I vote whole heartedly to forgoe a cheapo Tshirt at EVERY future event if the money saved gets donated to local services like at St Albans.

 

[mittagongmtb]

For those who have ridden both 50 & 100km tracks, is the 50km loop purely firetrail like the first 25km of the 100ker?

 

[alchemist]

Yes, with a descent almost as terrifying as Jacks track

 

[DaGonz]

For those who have ridden both 50 & 100km tracks, is the 50km loop purely firetrail like the first 25km of the 100ker?

Technically, the 100km is purely firetrail, dirtroad or road the whole way...

Cheers
Spoonie

 

[mittagongmtb]

Yes, with a descent almost as terrifying as Jacks track

That wasn't terrifying -it was a blast!

 

[Antsonline]

Great race, always well organised.
Had a blast as usual.
Only criticism would be putting the toilets 'faced in' on the grass, rather than 'faced out' on some road, so it doesnt get so filthy given the foot traffic. A minor gripe.

Oh - and what it is about MTB riders in a road bunch? That first 10km is the scariest part of the race! Sure, everyone practices their tech skills doing drop-offs, and jumps and wheelies etc, but how many people can ride in a bunch without rubbing wheels / tyres? So many crashes and near misses for basically nothing. Embrace the peleton people!


Just one thing I was thinking......
...how about running the course in reverse one year? The climb up Jacks would be incredible after 5km of fireorad and a river corssing to split the field, then the same type of first 30km across Womerah.
Down to the road and then the canoes, then the fantastic climb up Shepherds (I do this one a bit and its great fun, and techy), GNR would be interesting that way around, and then similar all the way back to the village.

I know its sacrelidge to change the course now (people love comparing times etc year on year) but it would keep it fresh and fun.

 

[alchemist]

...how about running the course in reverse one year? The climb up Jacks would be incredible after 5km of fireorad and a river corssing to split the field, then the same type of first 30km across Womerah.

Yeah but no, we've done that before.

 

[Pizzaz]

Yeah but no, we've done that before.

Hmmm, I missed the first year but did it the second (pre-bridge)... not an experience I'd care to repeat!

But the suggestion of going up Shepherds (or was that Shippards?) Gully is a good one and will be the option I take next time I go up there for a potter!

 

[beaver44]

"Well DW has been run and won. I guess about 1300 riders were recruited at an average of $130 per rider head. Makes a gross of $169,000 give or take. The donation towards the St Albans RFS seems of, what was it $6500?, a bit mean. Say there were 100 RFS et al volunteers needed for the event, and conservatively they worked 12hrs each, and say we paid them $25/hr each.. $30000... somewhere along the lines there doesn't seem to be an equitable distribution of proceeds. I reckon that the donation towards the RFS et al should have been in the order of 10-15,000 at least. "

While this is all a bit off topic ...
Lets not forget that the RFS is fully funded by the state government and have a yearly budget that is in the 100s of millions...and they dont have to pay their workforce...Kind of makes you wonder where it all goes?
I think $6500 will buy all the beer and BBQs they can handle for at least a year!

 

[Steve_N]

That wasn't terrifying -it was a blast!

All of the major descents (into Ten Mile Hollow, down to Settlers Rd and down to Upper MacDonald Rd (I think??)) were awesome. I think this was due more to the bike (FS 29er... ) than the rider though... The descent to Settler's Rd was particularly fun, esp. considering the number of other riders I passed on the way down...

Great race, always well organised.
Had a blast as usual.
Only criticism would be putting the toilets 'faced in' on the grass, rather than 'faced out' on some road, so it doesnt get so filthy given the foot traffic. A minor gripe.

Of the whole weekend, the placement of the toilets was my only gripe... There were a number of campsite areas dotted throughout St Albans. A few toilets in each area would've been super convenient instead of having to traipse all over the country side to reach them...

 

[michaelg]

Last year the 50klm and this year the 100klm.
Have to say I do pefer the 100klm course as it is more technical and a greater challenge.

Loved it !!!! I am definately looking forward to next year, And a better preparation.

 

[Steve_N]

The best feed in town was that Turkish Gozleme- Freshly made pastry filled with
cheese, spinach mushroom or with beef and chicken. Went down a treat for $9 and a 2minute wait.

I grabbed one of the chicken burgers from around the corner at the Portuguese stand... Not bad for $7... This supplemented the big bowl of pasta I bought with me...

 

[mrc]

I thought the race was great. I think it's my 5th or so time now, and enjoyed the ride as much as any. The conditions were far from as bad as they may have been, and it was actually pretty good fun in the mud (though my bike probably disagrees) Well done on another well organised race.

That said there were some other gripes about the overall event itself..

- Camping. I arrived at 4:30pm only to be shepherded into the camping ground 3.3km out of town. This was a pain the ass and really detracted from the cycling community vibe that happens at these events. I'm not sure how they decided St Albans was full, maybe marshal the area a bit better next year and enforce smaller camping areas? There were only 2 portaloos, and NO fresh water on site.

- Food. The Fickle Wombat situation was a joke. Not the event organiser's issues, but the staff there were way under prepared and had no sense of logistics. Gordon Ramsay would have been having a fit. The portions were minuscule and the wait was about 65 mins in the queue, then another 45 for the food to arrive. A few more food carts and options around town would be a really good idea, both before and after the race! Maybe getting another bar set up somewhere would be good too, those pub queues are pretty slow moving at night..

Other than that, good fun, will be back etc. ;-)