Kowolski Classic 2014

[SF Trailboy]

Having just finished the 3 ring circus I have signed up for the half Kowolski and am keen to know a little more about it.

Never ridden Kowen or Sparrow Hill and will only be riding East Kowen (just doing the half - 50km) just wondering what peoples thoughts are on it?


Is it Technical?

Climing metres for the half?

Well run?

My racing experinces are limited - Im a mid fielder and ride for fun type. I have raced Jet black at Mt Annan (team), 1/2 Fling, 3 Ring Circus and the husky 50.

Any insights would be appreciated.

 

[stinky 510]

Lots of fun and very well run.
the hardest bit i found was not stopping at the half way feed station for a coffee and a bacon and egg roll.

 

[stinky 510]

i wouldn't call it technical, just lots of fun single track...
here is a strava screen shot of my ride last year.

 

[BLKFOZ]

I've raced the Kowalski Classic 50km the last 2 years and was planning on racing the 90km this year but I can't make it anymore unfortunately.
It's a great race on mainly single track so make sure you plan your start wave carefully - too far back and you'll be stuck in traffic, overestimate your ability and you'll be the one holding people up.........
Climbing is moderate for a 50km race at around 800-900m.

http://app.strava.com/activities/83996636

 

[Kowalski Brothers]

The comments above are on the money. Nothing too technical out there – at best there's a couple of sections that require commitment as if you go at them half arsed you'll stall, dab then walk. Just be realistic in your wave selection and you'll wear a big silly grin on account of all the corners. The only thing I'd add is to keep an eye on your fueling. Having so much single track means you have to pick your moments to throw something in your mouth or take a drink. Personally, I reckon I'd stop for a bacon and egg roll offered to me on course. Every, single, time.
Viva la Kowalski

 

[SF Trailboy]

Absolutetly the best event I have ridden.

Hats off to those at Self Propelled and the kowolski brothers and all the volunteers.

Walked away after 3h 41 minutes of pure bliss with the biggest shit eating grin on my face after an event ever. I'd guess about 4km of fire road in the whole 50km.

Will 100% be back next year, aiming to be much faster, thinner and just as satisfied....

 

[SlowManiac]

Awesome event! I did the 100km, had an absolute blast. My only criticism is that the congestion in the first 50km was really bad. The wave starts need to be re-though IMO.

But overall I had a brilliant time!

 

[pistonbroke]

Awesome event! I did the 100km, had an absolute blast. My only criticism is that the congestion in the first 50km was really bad. The wave starts need to be re-though IMO.

But overall I had a brilliant time!

The problem is 95% of the field think they are in the top 20%.

 

[SlowManiac]

Yeah that is a problem but starting the 50km field with the 100km field also caused issues.

Also they split the waves - so if you selected wave 3 that was further split into wave 3a, 3b and 3c. I was in wave 3c and so didn't have the chance to line up near the front of wave 3.

I'd like to see the waves allocated on past race results.

Maybe a slightly longer firetrail section to start? The waves were at 3 minute intervals and we caught the wave ahead of us with the first km.

Anyway - it was only a slight dampener on a great, well organised race. I'll be back no matter what they decide!

 

[Ackland]

I'd like to see the waves allocated on past race results.

Similar to capital punishment?

I couldn't make it (family commitments) but a friend had the exact same issue with the splitting of wave 3 into 3 based on last name rather than expected finish time.
Even at Cap P, some of us in wave 2 had caught wave 1 by the first singletrack

 

[pharmaboy]

The problem is 95% of the field think they are in the top 20%.

Lol so true - BUT there's also people who think they are in the 30th percentile, but know how optimistic the rest are from experience and so go in the top 10% anyway. It becomes self fulfilling.


Realistically you need to start waves 15 minutes apart to stop the the big long wait at the single track.

Not as bad as some of the big 24s like the mont where a fit roadie will power up the firetrail into 30th position then proceed to lose 200m every 2 km to the train, and comes to the firetrail and no one can overtake as he blasts up the firetrail - shits me to tears that

 

[Ackland]

Not as bad as some of the big 24s like the mont where a fit roadie will power up the firetrail into 30th position then proceed to lose 200m every 2 km to the train, and comes to the firetrail and no one can overtake as he blasts up the firetrail - shits me to tears that

That's why you have elbows right?

 

[Machine]

Yep i was in wave 3B and was stuck behind a couple of guys doing about 15km/hr having a chat, talking about bike gear and what not. After a few ks of this i ask if i could pass whenever he had a chance but he continue to chat away. The guy behind me was getting pretty piss off also, so the next clear section i said passing on your left as it was clear and he called out "D#$Khead". He then decides to stop chatting and decides to chase me down and said that move wasn't needed. There were other slow riders out there but they were nice enough to slow down on a clear section and wave me pass and i did the same when there where faster riders behind me, i would ask if they wanted to pass if yes i would call "pass left or right". Not hard at all.

 

[tprmc78]

Self seeding

Similar to capital punishment?

I couldn't make it (family commitments) but a friend had the exact same issue with the splitting of wave 3 into 3 based on last name rather than expected finish time.
Even at Cap P, some of us in wave 2 had caught wave 1 by the first singletrack

I don't know what the answer is. I did Capital Punishment entered my previous results top 30-40% for 100km field and they started me in the 50/60% field which was massive about 200 riders. Guys on fatbikes in the same wave................... enough said on that one................ was a hard start to the race to try and get in front of everyone at least with the fire roads you have more passing sections.

I finished the Kowalski 50km in just under 3 hours after starting in wave 3c and was following a guy around for most of the race who had a belt-drive single-speeder who appeared to pass all the slow riders in wave 1 and 2 and 3 we caught with ease. I just hooked onto his wheel for a fair amount of the race. Only came across one really slow rider about the 35km mark who appeared to hit the wall and was quite hard to pass but I just waited for a safe opportunity to pass. On the final steep fire road I must have passed about 15 people as there were only a couple of us riding.

Overall the vibe of most of the riders was good on the track.

On a side note, I think enduro is killing MTB skills for the marathon events. Most of the riders I noticed bombed the downhill flowy singletrack but when the trail turned slightly technical and uphill they were walking or crashing. Obviously not getting the skills by attempting the uphill technical trails as most would rather lift to the top and bomb back down.

 

[sclyde2]

IIRC, the wave selection descriptions were something like:
1. Aim to win
2. Aim to podium in category
3. Above average
4. Average/ mid pack
5. Below average / cruising
6. Aim to finish

One look at the wave rider list, it was pretty obvious what was going on - it had only about 100 people in a combined wave 5 &6. So, nearly 90% of riders think they are average or better. I have read on other threads about people who weren't able to even finish last year, then this year putting themselves into wave 4...

While it seems that self seeding is a waste of time, I suppose there is not much other choice. Dunno how you'd do it based on previous years' results - what about good riders who haven't done the event before?

It seems to me that the biggest issue is having the waves so close together. 3 minutes is nowhere near enough, when you have strugglers going in "above average" wave 3. They are caught by the following wave before the first bit of singletrack.

I also didn't get how most of the firetrail sections were downhill. What is with that? If they they don't want to switch that around (and have the vast majority of fire trails only on climbs), they really should put a cap on numbers. Either that, or spread out the waves to at least 5 mins, or even 10 mins.

From the rant, you can probably guess that I was affected. At the time, I was getting pretty frustrated with getting stuck behind all the people who went in the wrong wave. Think longest conga lines I've ever seen. Which completely stopped every time a technical or steep section approached. It seriously took nearly an hour an half before I was able to ride singletrack for more than 10-15secs at my own pace, without some clown in front jamming their brakes on. I finally got past the last conga line creator just as I passed the half way water stop.

In the end, I was probably more frustrated with myself, for me starting in the wrong wave. I should have learnt from last year, but figured that I wasn't currently up to the wave 2 level, as I have done almost no xc this year (and had a bit of time off the bike due to injury), so went in wave 3b. Must've passed over a hundred people, many of which were either cruising, unfit and struggling up hills, or obvious single track novices, wobbling their way through corners/obstacles.

Certainly would go wave 2 if I did it again.

 

[cleeshoy]

I did the 50km last year and seeded myself in Wave 1 or 2 (I had aspirations of a podium in my age category - In the end I think I got 10th or something - one of those days!). When they called us up to the line I recall seeing a 1-2 guys in runners, plastic pedals and t-shirts lining up next to me. I did think "this will be interesting - are they serious?". As the gun went off the same guys got swamped and I never saw them again. After i crossed the finish line, I waited near the finish to cheer some mates who were going "slow and steady" - My mates finished over an hour behind me (they started in Wave 4) and they still beat the those 1-2 guys home. Some people think they are much faster then reality

As to a solution, perhaps spreading out the waves by a few more minutes might help?

 

[Theawfulone]

Has anyone seen any photos from this event? I heard there were plenty from the media on course

 

[Ky1e]

Has anyone seen any photos from this event? I heard there were plenty from the media on course

Good friend of mine was there, stay tuned, i'm sure he'll have some up soon!

http://www.vettasmedia.com/

 

[SF Trailboy]

With my 3hr 40 minute time you can see I am not a serious racer. I did the right thing and started in wave 4. Having said that I passed more people than I should of. I cant believe people are not honest with the seeding. Its not that hard really you should have a fair idea of how long its going to take I was sure i'd be between 3.5 - 4 hrs. I think this is the way waves should be. I know first timers will stuff up but if you have done other events etc you should have a fair idea of what you are going to do. The 'mates pairs and groups' can be painful and there was a few of those out there, but surely if you are have a pleseant social ride you are happy to get out of the road. I know I moved when asked and there was room. There is really no reason not to when you are asked for track. I would say that more up hill fire roads would not hurt. Lots of passing is done at Wingello during the willo and circus on the uphills.

The photos where done by aurora images, so keep an eye out on their site.

On another issue, how good was the pizza - I really thought it was a great post race food, sure beat fatty bacon and sausages....

 

[cleeshoy]

SF - sounds like you are one of the honest ones out there. Seems most people need a reality check!

Unfortunately it's the same with most of the big races. Did the Highland Fling a few years back and we estimated our time to be 5.5 - 6.0 hours so we lined up in the second group. Somehow we found ourselves at the back of that group as a bunch of retards pushed in front of us - riders who clearly were not capable to finishing the 110km in under 6 hours. up the first short, sharp climb, those idiots slowed right down, blocked others and then eventually were spat out the back when the track widened, never to be seen again. In the end I think I finished that race in 6:02 so I reckon I got pretty close to my estimate.