VIC 3 Races, 3 Hours, 3 different months. The GMBC GAZEBO SERIES. DEC 7, Jan 31, March 2

akashra

akashra

Eats Squid
DoubleD said:
It was tough out there, with a lap taking about 30 minutes 40 for the slower riders it's not a hard call to pull in early if putting in another laps means you'll be doing 3 1/2 hours racing instead of 2:50.

Lots of people were cramping. I passed the B grade leader when he was was pulled over with cramps, and I probably passed 4 or 5 others beside the track massaging or stretching out cramps. I was cramping in calves, thighs, etc from about the 2 hour mark and I drank over 2 litres during the event. :mmph:
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I've heard this comment from a few people now about people cramping, but found it rather surprising. Sadly at the end of lap 2 my derailleur got really hungry, so I spent a heap of time fishing a chain out that was wedged in good. Turns out the 31s I was tapping out were wayyyy down the field in pace, but I finished the event confident I could do another few hours at that pace, since I never found myself pushing hard - it was all down to lack of grip, not lack of energy. I just couldn't find any grip all day - it felt like I was riding on ice, tyres just sliding everywhere and couldn't keep any decent speed through even the flat, flowing sections. While I never lay the bike down there was plenty of sideways drifting going on ;(
 
K

kbekus

Likes Dirt
It did start to warm up around 11 o'clock so perhaps that contributed to the cramping? I struggled with grip too - I find those tracks quite skatey - a hardpack base with a nice layer of sandy grit on top is slippery to me. It took about 4 laps for me to have faith that the slides were going to be predictable.
 
R

ringburner

Likes Bikes
Pressure

akashra said:
I've heard this comment from a few people now about people cramping, but found it rather surprising. Sadly at the end of lap 2 my derailleur got really hungry, so I spent a heap of time fishing a chain out that was wedged in good. Turns out the 31s I was tapping out were wayyyy down the field in pace, but I finished the event confident I could do another few hours at that pace, since I never found myself pushing hard - it was all down to lack of grip, not lack of energy. I just couldn't find any grip all day - it felt like I was riding on ice, tyres just sliding everywhere and couldn't keep any decent speed through even the flat, flowing sections. While I never lay the bike down there was plenty of sideways drifting going on ;(
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Rowe-Boat, You should always feed your chain before a big race... Haha.

Seriously though - what tyres were you running and what pressures? Sounds like the pressure may have been too high.
 
M

mmatrix

Likes Dirt
Round 2 is a Twilight Race. At Duck Pounds Schools house this Friday Night Jan 31st.

Yes Crew.
Gazebo Round #2 this friday night In the Kurrajong side of the You Yangs. More info www.gmbc.com.au.

BRING LIGHTS. the last hour is in the dark.
 
M

mmatrix

Likes Dirt
pre event entries close at 11pm tonight

GAZEBO pre Day entries Close at 11pm tonight.:thumb:

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PRE ENTER IF YOU PLAN ON RACING!!

Please help us help you by Pre Entering .
Last year this event attracted many more riders than we expected and was a wonderful event. By pre entering you save us a lot of time and work on the night. We want to start the event on time.

Gazebo Rd 2
Seniors, Juniors/Young Guns
3hr Enduro from the Duck Ponds School. Low key, fun club racing with A, B, C and Women's grades (1 & 2hr Enduros for the Juniors too). Bargain-priced, fun, club racing. GMBC members $25/rider, non-GMBC members $30/rider. MTBA racing licence or Day Licence required ($20 seniors, $5 juniors). NB: to meet MTBA Junior Policy requirements you must be at least 15yrs old to race in the 3hr event

Rego open 5.15-6.15pm, 3hr Enduro starts at 7pm. 2hr Enduro (15-18yr olds) and 1hr Enduro (12-14yr olds) also start at 7pm.
Gazebo Round 2 (Seniors), (Juniors) & (Dirt Squirts) pre-entries are open online and will close on Wednesday at 11pm.

Dirt Squirts (3-12yrs old)
Rego opens 5:15pm. Racing starts 6pm.
No lights needed for Dirt Squirts.
U/8 - 20 minute Enduro
U/11 & U/13 - 30 minute Enduro
MTBA members - $5 entry, Non-MTBA racers - $10 entry










https://www.registernow.com.au/mtba/ERegister.aspx?E=1749
 
akashra

akashra

Eats Squid
Entered this ages ago; rode a mountain bike at the end of last year; since forgot how to ride a bike. Hrm. Could be interesting.

Hope the lights last ;)
 
K

kbekus

Likes Dirt
Another great event, thankyou GMBC, Parks Vic and the You Yangs. I've never ridden in a large group in the dark before and it was eerie seeing lights dotted around me throughout the trees. Also made it quite hard to know when to pull back onto the track after pulling off to let people go past - I'd look back and see lights as far as I could see.

Riding at night definitely had a different style to it - with a morning ride I know I need to taper my effort a little as it heats up, whereas with this event it got cooler which was nice. Also absolutely need both a handlebar mounted *and* helmet mounted light setup... just a handlebar light wasn't sufficient.

Dunno if I'm being over sensitive but some of the overtaking last night was a bit rough too, a couple of jerks out there. To the guy who abused me because I pulled back out on him when he called for the track from about 100m away, F U buddy.

The track was fun, super dusty but quick. There were a few decent stretches of fire road which I think helped given it was a night race. Looking forward to round 3.
 
pistonbroke

pistonbroke

Eats Squid
I hate cocks who call track from miles back. I think they expect people to just superman off the bike into the bushes because they're coming.
Always seem to get a couple of cocks like that at the Youies.
 
M

mmatrix

Likes Dirt
thanks for te kind words.

kbekus said:
Another great event, thankyou GMBC, Parks Vic and the You Yangs. I've never ridden in a large group in the dark before and it was eerie seeing lights dotted around me throughout the trees. Also made it quite hard to know when to pull back onto the track after pulling off to let people go past - I'd look back and see lights as far as I could see.

Riding at night definitely had a different style to it - with a morning ride I know I need to taper my effort a little as it heats up, whereas with this event it got cooler which was nice. Also absolutely need both a handlebar mounted *and* helmet mounted light setup... just a handlebar light wasn't sufficient.

Dunno if I'm being over sensitive but some of the overtaking last night was a bit rough too, a couple of jerks out there. To the guy who abused me because I pulled back out on him when he called for the track from about 100m away, F U buddy.

The track was fun, super dusty but quick. There were a few decent stretches of fire road which I think helped given it was a night race. Looking forward to round 3.
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Please accept our apologies for the bad behavior of one or two riders.
Once an event gets to a certain size is seems there is always one rider who lets the red mist of racing get in the way of good manners. At race brief we always explain the rules and try to emphasize the importance of manners. Obviously this rider let us down.
Your post with the FU comment in it probably doesn't help either. Maybe next time explain what happened but don't make matters worse by posting FU etc. lets try and keep it all friendly. Thanks again for coming down and your kind words regarding the event .we hope you can come and race again.
 
quiggs

quiggs

Likes Dirt
Easy start naming them! That will pull heads in.

I gave a knob a spray at the Wombat 24hr last year when he decided that he "needed to pass, because he was racing!" about 18hrs in to the race. I kindly told if he could literally wait 10 seconds we would be out onto double track, it didn't matter to him then proceeded to push pass.

I got my satisfaction about 10kms later when i caught him again, you can use your imagination to the conversation that then took place :blah::blah::blah:

quiggs
 
M

mmatrix

Likes Dirt
99% are great.

quiggs said:
Easy start naming them! That will pull heads in.

I gave a knob a spray at the Wombat 24hr last year when he decided that he "needed to pass, because he was racing!" about 18hrs in to the race. I kindly told if he could literally wait 10 seconds we would be out onto double track, it didn't matter to him then proceeded to push pass.

I got my satisfaction about 10kms later when i caught him again, you can use your imagination to the conversation that then took place :blah::blah::blah:

quiggs
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when riders get tired they get emotional and irrational .
no matter how hard we try to get people to be nice there are always one or two, giving someone an earful back is probably not how we would suggest dealing with the situation however after 18 hours of riding it's understandable. . but on the other hand most of the riders are wonderful, they chat have a laugh say hi. lets focus on the good riders. 99% of them.
 
Timmy!!!

Timmy!!!

Likes Dirt
mmatrix said:
...lets focus on the good riders. 99% of them.
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I reckon you are spot on with your estimate of 99% being good. Everyone I interacted with last night was very well behaved, and quite sociable. All the people who passed me were very polite, and they ALL said "thanks". All of the riders that I passed were equally polite. It made me feel good about being a mountain bike racer. This event is gaining in popularity for a reason: it's one of the best MTB races on offer. Period.
 
S

splinter1959

Likes Dirt
No problems

I was lapped by more than 100 riders in the race, about 40 or so lapped me twice or more.
Some yelled early, some yelled when they were right behind me.
Some could go straight past, some had to wait.
No one got upset, everyone was polite, some even said thank you or yelled encouragement.
All in all a good race, I just need to train more.
 
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