Saturday or Sunday? When do you like to race?

[Mad Hatter]

G`day all.
I attended the Crazy 6 hr last Saturday and one of the post race discussion topics was about holding the race on a Saturday instead of the traditional Sunday when most of the enduro races are held. I thought it was great as it gave a full day of recovery before heading back to a week of work.
Others claim it hurts attendance because of people working on Saturday mornings and unable to get to races on time.
Another claimed that they needed the Saturday to scope out the track and plan their race strategy and felt they were hindered by the missed opportunity (really, at the You Yangs????).
What do you prefer?
Is there any advantage in having an enduro on either day?
Cheers.
MH

 

[Propagate]

That was my first enduro and I thought it was great having it on the Saturday. By the time I got home sat night, unpacked & showered it was late and I was knackered. I was stoked at not having to get up for work the next day!

 

[chuckrockswell]

Saturday! It means you can race and still have a weekend/well earned rest the next day. Driving long distances home on a Sunday night is borderline dangerous. I got well over racing DH as it consumes a whole weekend. I love being able to race and still maintain some form of social life.

 

[Pastavore]

Sunday!! I work Saturdays, so Sunday is Raceday. It seems to me that there is a mix of races on both Saturdays and Sundays, seems about right, something for everyone.

 

[rearviewmirror]

I prefer Saturday as well. I hate racing on Sunday because I feel rushed getting back to work the day after. Also, it's nice to race on Saturday and have a family day on Sunday.

Another question worth pondering is, do you prefer early AM starts, or late morning. I think I'm over 6AM-8AM starts, I would much rather have the race start at 9AM-11AM, especially if racing on a Saturday.

 

[Mad Hatter]

One question raises even more

Throw into the equation a long weekend.
If having a day to rest is good but work commitments on Saturday make it impossible to get to the start line in time, why are there not more races on long weekends?
Nearly every event I have been to have organisers bending over backwards to make them family friendly yet struggle with numbers when a public holiday is involved.
If riding is such a big part of who we are, why not attend an event with a family atmosphere?
Cheers.
MH

 

[akashra]

Saturday! It means you can race and still have a weekend/well earned rest the next day. Driving long distances home on a Sunday night is borderline dangerous. I got well over racing DH as it consumes a whole weekend. I love being able to race and still maintain some form of social life.

The whole Saturday thing was largely revisited a few years ago when I was talking to new clubs for the VES - in particular Bright and Albury, being 400km from Melbourne. The largest focus was preventing this need for people to do long drives on Sunday night just to make it back to work. We were frequently seeing instances where people would race solo 6 hours, then drive the entire leg on their own. I have enough trouble driving from Gippsland to home and staying awake.

Even when it's not a long drive though, I'm still personally in favour of racing early on a Saturday morning. The Gazebo series was great - done by 1pm. Trouble is, mountain bikers don't really do early starts like roadies do.


As for people working Saturdays, people work Sundays too. You can't please everyone, and there's always going to be someone who can't make a race on any day, or any weekend.
And if I can say the following with my XC rep hat on: I have absolutely no plans on rallying federal MPs for a national mountain bike holiday so that everyone can ensure they're free from work that day

Nearly every event I have been to have organisers bending over backwards to make them family friendly yet struggle with numbers when a public holiday is involved.

The market and answer to 'family event' hasn't really been cracked yet. Our market is largely 35-45 males, and it's usually attended on their own, not with partners or kids.
Competing against long weekends and public holidays where the wife insists on going away for a short holiday would only hinder attendance.

If memory serves me correctly, didn't Shepparton run a race on a long weekend last year and only have <50 entries?

 

[tumble_downs]

I like getting drunk on Saturday night, but at a stretch can stay sober on Friday evening, so I'm all in favour of Saturday mornings. There's also something very satisfying abou indulging yourself after a long race, which is a little harder if you need to work the next morning.

 

[John U]

Big fan of Saturday racing. Much better recovering on a Sunday than a Monday.

 

[Mad Hatter]

If memory serves me correctly, didn't Shepparton run a race on a long weekend last year and only have <50 entries?

Oh Tim, way of with the recollection there buddy. Your memory must be suffering after the heat of the Bendigo state round last month. There were way more than 50 entrants. I would say 54 to be exact.
I`m not sure of the exact reason why the Major Pain Enduro ended up on the cup weekend but I would be surprised if that happened again. (It`s technically not a long weekend but lets not start opening that can of worms please).
My point is still valid.
If clubs are doing so much to create more family friendly events then why not on a long weekend? Looking at the number of women entering enduros as compared to 3 years ago there would certainly seem to be a change underway. There would seem to be more and more family teams than in previous years as well.

Cheers
MH

 

[riderideride]

Saturday!!! means a day of rest before heading back to work. Plus gives you time to wash all the dirty bike clothes

 

[abevern]

Sunday! I fail to see the difference between driving for X hours Friday after work (in Traffic) and driving X hours Sunday after a race (possibly with traffic).
This year I'm going to try booking post-race Mondays to annual leave.

 

[red gum]

Saturday is a lot better for country riders.You say bright and albury are on saturday cos of travel Dangers of driving home on a sunday.No one give a cracker when we have to drive home to the country after a sunday race,It goes both ways.:very_drunk:

 

[Benizmo]

My vote goes for Saturday, but I do find Friday nights are usually a bit of a stress getting sorted in time to be honest, especially when I can drive Saturday morning, bike checks seem to be always left to 11pm Friday night! But it's great finishing a 6hr knowing you can head to the pub for dinner and sleep in the next day

As for the public holiday weekends, I agree with the above. These weekends are usually set aside for non race activities, any race scheduled on these weekends tend to get low numbers for that reason. I can't really see that changing except for maybe key events like what happened with Bike Buller this year

 

[paggnr]

Saturday for me

 

[pistonbroke]

+1 for Saturdays.
I find Sunday races take up 2 days. When I race on Sunday, I spend all day Saturday getting ready, taking away from family time.
When I race on Saturday, I just throw everything in the car Saturday morning, tune the bike on the start line and throw it all in the shed after the race, freeing up Sunday for family time or work.
I would not be a big fan of races on long weekends. But I think maybe 12 or 24 hour races could be the exception here.
The Gravity 12 hour was an awesome family event. My family came along and could come and go as they pleased. They were not stuck out in the boonies all weekend. This event would make a great 24 hour race and could be run on a long weekend.

 

[Knut]

The last thing I would ever want is someone falling asleep at the wheel after racing for six hours. A fair bit of thought goes into which day suits the clubs. They research previous data from their own and similar events. As well as asking the people what they want.

When we ran the Yowie, we did it on Saturday. People liked it because they had a recovery day. One was needed after round two in my book. Some enduros are on Sunday, which is a good thing.

Allowing riders to balance their lives is important. Holding a race on Mothers Day, for one exsmple, is organizational suicide. Long weekends are tough to compete against.

What I have seen successful, is when people can be social after the event. Like sit down at the bakery the next morning. Go out for dinner that night. Call in on a cidery or winery. Ride a rail trail with the kids. Take the family somewhere different. Let the traveling become an adventure rather than a chore. I think most Enduro crew like the same things, you could offer local wine or food as a prize. Thatight spark interest for your competitors to visit on the way home. Let them do it at their pace.

 

[sobmal]

Sunday and Saturday.

Sunday for Enduro.
Saturday for XC races and shorter events.

I think there’s a difference for the type of race, for 100K races I like Sunday because most events involve driving reasonable distances and camping, I like to travel Saturday afternoon, arrive in daylight and set up camp then check my stuff and drink my beer..

People are using the “its dangerous to drive home after a race on Sunday” as their argument, no doubt true but I’d argue that it’s also dangerous to drive Friday night after a long day at work in a rush to get to an event so you can set up camp and have some rest, same as its probably equally as dangerous to rush to make the start of an event if you’re driving to the start on the Saturday morning, same again for the people who are using the “Sunday is family day” argument who will rush home on the Saturday evening after an Enduro so they can have their Sunday family day…

I think for the shorter race (XC rounds and something that takes a few hours ) a later start on a Saturday is a good idea, but for the Enduro events it’s 7am Sunday no negotiation!!.. Nah it’s probably a good idea to run a ballot with the people that actually race them, perhaps someone can make a vote part of the next 100K events registration process?

 

[October26]

Saturday, always Saturday. SO much easier to get your life back in order prior to going back to work. ALso gives you a chance to be social on SUnday.

 

[HIFI2009]

Saturday if I do 100km, Sunday if I do 50km. I drove home after my first Odyssey and would never do it again. It is difficult getting down there at a reasonable time on Friday night but, once a year, no probs. I prefer Sundays for 50km events (eg: Avoca Challenge). Leave after lunch on Saturday, home mid-afternoon Sunday.