Fair call. Personally, I will travel anywhere in Victoria for a marathon race (as opposed to 3/6 hour enduros). The Yowie just counts with its 33km loops. Otherwise, there is not much in Victoria - Odyssey, Bendigo Golden Triangle. So it is a bit sad that we had two of our four marathons on the same day. I did Avoca every year it was on.
Lakes Entrance 100k Epic Marathon
- Thread starter benmwatkins
- Start date
You just have to look at the sponsorship changes, in the last couple of years teams have pulled out of the DH and XC to form enduro teams, such as Yeti and Orbea, taking top riders with them. Now everyone wants to ride the new enduro bike that Jared Graves and co. are on and they do it in enduro races. I still love watching the world cups too didnt miss one.
You can even see the difference in the Interwinter series this year. there seemed to be more people at redesdale in the torrential rain last year than the perfect conditions this year.
Fifteen.Hundred
Likes Dirt
I signed up for the 50km, I was contemplating having a crack at the 100km but with the lack of course maps and profile before the online cut-off date I was a little apprehensive on what to expect so chickened out.
First and foremost I had an absolute blast. Starting on the foreshore of Lakes Entrance made a nice backdrop and a 9:15am start was certainly welcomed, having my wife & 2yo along for the weekend gave them a chance to come down and enjoy the atmosphere. The numbers were not huge but in fairness the marketing effort on this event was pretty low key, the trails were a bit of an unknown and the fact the Yowie was on back in Melbourne (a favourite of mine) I could kind of understand the small number of entrants.
Anyway the first few kilometres was on bitumen under police escort through the town and up Colquhoun Rd for the first climb of the day. Part way up we move onto some 4wd trail running parallel to the road. Passing the small airfield we turned right into the first bit of singletrack. Flowy undulating and a bit of fun before we once again exited out onto the 4wd track continuing along Colquhoun Rd. Average speeds are looking pretty good at this early stage as we turn left onto some shared trail along Scrivener rd. Not a huge amount of singletrack along here from memory more of a walking trail with some steep decents and little pinch climbs, nothing too tough.
It was about the 15km mark we hit the start of what I think was the lollipop track. It started off with a little bit of undulating trail with some nice corners and a few little jumps here and there before turning into what can only be described as a winter Olympic half pipe littered with trees and dirt. No pedalling and no brakes needed (if you dared) as we zig zagged our way from side to side down the gully. The end of this section brought us just past the 20km mark. My garmin had me averaging a bees dick under 20km/h, not averages I’m used to seeing on marathon races.
The singletrack continued for the next 15km or so, no stupidly steep climbs (yet), just more flowy, undulating FUN terrain that rewarded confident riders regardless of fitness level.
Just after the 30km mark was a small little feed station. Good spot to have it in hindsight as almost immediately after it came the only 2 bitch climbs of the day. Not long climbs but pretty steep with some sketchy, loose energy sapping dirt. From here there was a little bit of fire road as we headed east towards Log crossing rd. Track Marshalls directed us to turn right where we continued along Log crossing Rd and after about 1km we were directed onto more singletrack which took us east again towards the top of Colquhoun rd. By now we had ticked just over 40km and back onto the outskirts of town. The next 5km or so had us travelling in reverse along Colquhoun rd along the same bits of 4wd trail we covered in the first 10km of the race. Our last bit of singletrack was riding (again in reverse) the very first bit we came across near the airfield.
From here on in it was all pretty much downhill. Turning Right onto Ostlers Rd it was obvious someone had been out with the ride on mower and in parts had created a make shift trail between the barbed wire fencing outlining the farmland & the trees lining the road. Ostler Rd became Myer st. and the last few hundred metres of bitumen was thankfully closed to traffic. Being high up on the hill the view through the finish line arch over the ocean was farking unreal and a little distracting.
All in all a great day on the bike. Plenty of singletrack and less climbing that I expected, only about 700 vertical metres but felt like less. I know the calendar is pretty full with events but thumbs up to the organisers for giving us one more great race. Here’s hoping numbers increase in the future. There are some worthwhile trails out there.
Speaking with Ben and the guys at rego, they did acknowledge that while researching a date for this event they did overlook the Yowie and having their event on the same day was not intentional. Hopefully it’s sorted next time and people like myself can do both.
First and foremost I had an absolute blast. Starting on the foreshore of Lakes Entrance made a nice backdrop and a 9:15am start was certainly welcomed, having my wife & 2yo along for the weekend gave them a chance to come down and enjoy the atmosphere. The numbers were not huge but in fairness the marketing effort on this event was pretty low key, the trails were a bit of an unknown and the fact the Yowie was on back in Melbourne (a favourite of mine) I could kind of understand the small number of entrants.
Anyway the first few kilometres was on bitumen under police escort through the town and up Colquhoun Rd for the first climb of the day. Part way up we move onto some 4wd trail running parallel to the road. Passing the small airfield we turned right into the first bit of singletrack. Flowy undulating and a bit of fun before we once again exited out onto the 4wd track continuing along Colquhoun Rd. Average speeds are looking pretty good at this early stage as we turn left onto some shared trail along Scrivener rd. Not a huge amount of singletrack along here from memory more of a walking trail with some steep decents and little pinch climbs, nothing too tough.
It was about the 15km mark we hit the start of what I think was the lollipop track. It started off with a little bit of undulating trail with some nice corners and a few little jumps here and there before turning into what can only be described as a winter Olympic half pipe littered with trees and dirt. No pedalling and no brakes needed (if you dared) as we zig zagged our way from side to side down the gully. The end of this section brought us just past the 20km mark. My garmin had me averaging a bees dick under 20km/h, not averages I’m used to seeing on marathon races.
The singletrack continued for the next 15km or so, no stupidly steep climbs (yet), just more flowy, undulating FUN terrain that rewarded confident riders regardless of fitness level.
Just after the 30km mark was a small little feed station. Good spot to have it in hindsight as almost immediately after it came the only 2 bitch climbs of the day. Not long climbs but pretty steep with some sketchy, loose energy sapping dirt. From here there was a little bit of fire road as we headed east towards Log crossing rd. Track Marshalls directed us to turn right where we continued along Log crossing Rd and after about 1km we were directed onto more singletrack which took us east again towards the top of Colquhoun rd. By now we had ticked just over 40km and back onto the outskirts of town. The next 5km or so had us travelling in reverse along Colquhoun rd along the same bits of 4wd trail we covered in the first 10km of the race. Our last bit of singletrack was riding (again in reverse) the very first bit we came across near the airfield.
From here on in it was all pretty much downhill. Turning Right onto Ostlers Rd it was obvious someone had been out with the ride on mower and in parts had created a make shift trail between the barbed wire fencing outlining the farmland & the trees lining the road. Ostler Rd became Myer st. and the last few hundred metres of bitumen was thankfully closed to traffic. Being high up on the hill the view through the finish line arch over the ocean was farking unreal and a little distracting.
All in all a great day on the bike. Plenty of singletrack and less climbing that I expected, only about 700 vertical metres but felt like less. I know the calendar is pretty full with events but thumbs up to the organisers for giving us one more great race. Here’s hoping numbers increase in the future. There are some worthwhile trails out there.
Speaking with Ben and the guys at rego, they did acknowledge that while researching a date for this event they did overlook the Yowie and having their event on the same day was not intentional. Hopefully it’s sorted next time and people like myself can do both.
I too would have loved to have raced, and sad to have missed this one - but logistically it just wasn't going to happen for me, time off work, kids, etc... (nor was the Yowie and that's 5 mins up the road from me). Shame as it sounds like a great event and I am sure without the clash with the Yowie the numbers would be good.
As Quiggs said it's probably worthy of a new thread but he brings up an interesting observation and it's one that has been witnessed at our road club (and surrounding clubs) as well, participation numbers are well down in most races. Despite good marketing, good weather, etc...
pistonbroke
Eats Squid
Is it a bad idea to put on a major event during school holidays?
cleeshoy
Eats Squid
Am sure events like this have been scheduled during school holidays before with some success?