Rocky Trail's SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix Series 2011

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toby

Likes Dirt
Best race I have ever done...

When I went to bed on Friday night with rain hammering on the roof I was thinking, if it wasn't part of a series it would be so easy to pull the pin. Nearly all the way up there it was raining but when we pulled into the parking lot it had stopped. Greeted by the always smiling Rocky Trail crew, with their music pumping and slick organisational skills I knew right away that getting out of bed had been the right decision. The track was mint by the second lap and when 4pm ticked over I didn't want to stop! Maybe I just wasn't going hard enough but I could have kept going all night...

Looking forward to Dargle and seeing where we are in the overall standings.

My only point for improvement would be, Rocky you gotta work out a way to get more women racing. My wife is in a team with us, and she loves it. But she says it would be more fun if we were racing against other mixed teams rather than teams of guys. I'd love to see some all womens teams... perhaps you need to offer discounted or free entry just to get it started.

We don't mind racing in the 'mixed' which is actually open catagory as we are not there for sheep stations, but I think that if you could provide an incentive for women to get racing in these events then you will be rewarded. The vibe is perfect on and off the track. It's super family friendly and out there on the track everyone seems to be doing it for the right reasons.

Thanks again to Martin and Juliane for your hard work.
 
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pinkbike

Likes Dirt
toby said:
My only point for improvement would be, Rocky you gotta work out a way to get more women racing. My wife is in a team with us, and she loves it. But she says it would be more fun if we were racing against other mixed teams rather than teams of guys. I'd love to see some all womens teams... perhaps you need to offer discounted or free entry just to get it started.
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Actually, while there was a lack of women in the teams of 3 in the 8hr I think RTE do a great job of running events which are female friendly. A quick scan of results shows a lot of female riders spread over the two events including:

10 female elite solos (10)
7 female masters solos (17)
2 female pair teams (21)
9 mixed pairs (39)
7 or maybe 8 girls spread amongst the mixed 3s (46)

46 women in a field of 400 is over 10% which isn't such a bad figure really, I think the amazing thing is 27 solo women! Just goes to show that a lot of girls out there find the Rocky Trail Events a great place to tackle solo - I think that's a testament to how friendly and fun the RTE events are.

I do know what you're saying tho, there was also a female team of 3 and they were a little disappointed to find themselves racing the male 3s rather than being in a female category. But in a smaller event it's hard to get minimum numbers in all those categories.
 
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toby

Likes Dirt
pinkbike said:
Actually, while there was a lack of women in the teams of 3 in the 8hr I think RTE do a great job of running events which are female friendly. A quick scan of results shows a lot of female riders spread over the two events including:

10 female elite solos (10)
7 female masters solos (17)
2 female pair teams (21)
9 mixed pairs (39)
7 or maybe 8 girls spread amongst the mixed 3s (46)

46 women in a field of 400 is over 10% which isn't such a bad figure really, I think the amazing thing is 27 solo women! Just goes to show that a lot of girls out there find the Rocky Trail Events a great place to tackle solo - I think that's a testament to how friendly and fun the RTE events are.

I do know what you're saying tho, there was also a female team of 3 and they were a little disappointed to find themselves racing the male 3s rather than being in a female category. But in a smaller event it's hard to get minimum numbers in all those categories.
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That's some impressive number crunching!

Maybe I am just not noticing all the ladies out on the track as I spend so much time chewing my stem... :)
 
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pinkbike

Likes Dirt
toby said:
That's some impressive number crunching!

Maybe I am just not noticing all the ladies out on the track as I spend so much time chewing my stem... :)
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:) We're definitely the minority, and a lot more girls were in the 4hr rather than the 8hr. I'm all for more girls on track and I know previously Rocky Trail became a sponsor for the AMBC chix development squad (which I assume meant free or discounted entries to those girls) but unfortunately that Sydney based squad has now dissolved due to internal business changes in AMBC. Interestingly the Melbourne squad got picked up by a local bike shop who decided sponsoring a girls team to do events in their shop kit was a good marketing idea. Perhaps we need a few more shops getting on this band wagon? Maybe the Clarence St women's store could pick up the Sydney squad and get them racing in Clarence St kit....
 
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specialized1#

Likes Bikes
I think we need to target the 10 - 16 year old girls and develop the involvement at the local level. Ten years of investment at this age demographic would reap huge dividends I believe ! Easy to say I know. It hard to achieve in soccer, let alone MTB. I'm a dad with an 11 yr old girl (and 3 boys !) so I guess that may explain my viewpoint. I need something bigger than the Awaba pump track and smaller than the 11.5kms she did on Sunday to keep her riding.

The NSW All Schools race (once again by RTE) fits the bill perfectly. Club races that include that format would get lots more girls in - maybe.

Anyway - just my two bobs worth.

Cheers,

Nick
(Adamstown)
 
ukalipt

ukalipt

Likes Dirt
thanks to and Rocky Trail Entertainment & HMBA for another amazing event.

you can't get any better than turning up, camping, signing in, riding and having absolutely nothing to complain about
other than your own lack of training.

all riders were super polite as well which makes for smiles all day.

here's a video i put together

[video=vimeo;26552935]http://vimeo.com/26552935[/video]
 
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disco balls

Squid
"This weekend’s SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix events on Saturday attracted 400 mountain bike riders competing in the 4 hr and 8 hr endurance races. On Sunday an extra 100 riders in the BANZAI Fitness Challenge headed out on a time trail course at the Awaba Mountain Bike Park, just south of Newcastle."

https://www.facebook.com/notes/rock...p-and-banzai-lifecycle-rd-2/10150237799822142

so 400 on saturday and a further 100 on sunday?

maybe it's just me but I count 324 riders in the results for Saturday. and 66 for sunday.

and my high school maths tells me that adds up to 390 total for both days combined.

not the 400 + 100 claimed.

not that 390 is small numbers. it's great stuff.

but it's also 110 riders short of the claim.

or did they include the kids racers?

DB
 
trailburner

trailburner

Rocky Trail Entertainment
we gave our pr agency the registered rider numbers (plus estimate of late regos) - quite a few no shows as the weather forecast scared some riders off unfortunately.
 
taibo

taibo

Eats Squid
Lol...does it really matter if they were short 2 riders or 200 riders? I still had fun with the amount of riders on track and there was always someone ahead or behind me to keep me company.
 
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spudatm

Likes Bikes and Dirt
"The NSW All Schools race (once again by RTE) fits the bill perfectly"

Just to clarify

The schools event is a NSWMTB event run in association with WSMTB. Whilst RTE support the schools event {gratefully} it is not one that they run.
 
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trailbunny

Rocky Trail Entertainment
WANTED: racing chick for a Mixed Pair team!

Read: Anyone up for racing with a brand-new bike?

A good friend of ours and supporter of the SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix, Sebastien from Deubel Bicycles, is looking for a racing chick for the SHIMANO MTB GP 4hour race at Dargle Farm.

Sebastien has been racing in the Mixed Pairs category with a friend, who can't make it to this round and he wants to race the entire series and keep collecting points. So he's looking for a team mate for this round - you'll get a free entry with him and would be "required" to ride one of their 2UP Deubel Bicycles, as well as wearing the Deubel Team Outfit.

Contact Rocky Trail or Sebastien directly: http://www.deubelbicycles.com.au/ or email@deubelbicycles.com.au
 
trailburner

trailburner

Rocky Trail Entertainment
Registration just opened for the remaining 2 rounds - first rider or team to sign up will get a free Pearl Izumi event jersey!
 
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