SCOTT 24 hour 2010

[C Dunlop]

Could have been worse - could have been in intensive care....

There were atleast 15 admissions to Canberra hospital emergency. Calvary is closer so I imagine there were even more there.

2 broken collar bones, one poor sod with both arms broken, 2 people with cracked vertabrae (although one was a solo rider who did it on practice laps leading up to the event), and 3 cases of severe dehydration/muscle wastage/exhaustion were just the ones I saw(including myself).

It was almost comical - every few hours or so i'd get a new bed neighbour, nearly always it was another bike rider with another story to tell.

The triple seemed to be the cause of a fair few of the scott injuries. High speed jumps combined with racing and inexperienced/social riders is not a good mix. As far as solos, there seemed to be a mix of drowsy riders eating it on the relatively techy descents in the wee hours and breaking bones, or sheer exhaustion and dehydration (it was pretty hot, and there was a metric fuckload of climbing).

Ultimately I think that having to have two seperate courses of ~20km on the mountain pidgeonholed the race organisers into certain routes that they may not have otherwise elected to run, which probably contributed to the high attrition rate for the solo race and the number of injury causing crashes in the teams. Still, that's racing.

 

[pharmaboy]

The triple seemed to be the cause of a fair few of the scott injuries. High speed jumps combined with racing and inexperienced/social riders is not a good mix. .

Watched that triple for almost an hour - the prangs I saw were because the landing spot looked wide but was in reality only 12 or 18 inches wide - if you landed outside it, you continued over the camber at which point it was near impossible to take the turn at speed - so looks easy, in reality30% of people failed to make it (i dont count people who wash out their rear, and just barely recover as successes - merely lucky)

Fortunately, i fell in practice in an area with hardly any rocks and still managed to hit one - it gave me a much needed injection of fear for race day - mind you i was already riding with a couple of injuries - 3 didnt really appeal.

kudos to those that had major race ending crashes in the middle, and somehow managed to ride it home just for the team

 

[pinkbike]

does that answer the question pinkbike?

drew, hope everything goes well, especially for the ac - makes me twinge just thinking about jamming a foot in between the frame and the wheel - the roatational force would have been well, um, yep.....

Could have been worse - could have been in intensive care....

cheers

Yup it does missed that bit somewhere I was one of the people looking after him til the ambos came.

 

[nskz]

ergo, who the hell has an angle grinder at a bike race?

People who've been in that situation before and hence this time came prepared.

 

[Blingerific]

Nah I don't think they were crossing the course... this was the gate that joins the main car park to the adjacent camping area... it was a fair distance from either track (not saying it was right to the cut the chain, just saying they weren't putting riders in danger)

Trust me, they were crossing the course in two places. And with not a single care to checking for approaching riders. When they got through at the lower car park people started coming from behind the four-cross to get out. And we won't mentioned what happened with the top car park gate.

 

[Blingerific]

'Blasting' there way out??? Slightly exaggerated perhaps? I saw none of that. Only slow and controlled driving mostly trying to get into the camping area, not out. Riders on track until 4:00pm?? Surely not? Last rider out was at 12:15pm - that would make for a very long lap time. Sorry Blingerific, but the person who cut the chain made a huge difference to the amount of traffic trying to leave. A hero who displayed common sense in my opinion.

You obviously weren't paying much attention then.

 

[PrOd]

Who the hell has boltcutters at a cycling race? and why?

Heavy duty gear inner cables?

 

[frensham]

You obviously weren't paying much attention then.

errr yes. Being camped directly on the main dirt road in from the gate I saw quite a lot as I sat and enjoyed my beer(s). The traffic was smooth, slow and no-one was 'blasting' along. That punters were forced to move boulders and use angle grinders simply to get out of the place speaks volumes. Surely you weren't expecting people to wait until 4:00pm? A better system would have been to open the gate at 2:00pm and direct traffic. Placing a marshall (on the track that crossed the road) to direct traffic in case of the odd rider every 15 minutes or so coming in after 2:00pm would have been a good idea. As I remember there were no riders on the track after 1:35pm. Having some loudspeakers actually in the areas where 80% of the people were, so that they could hear what was going on, would be a good idea too.

 

[.stu.]

I wonder what the public liability insurance providers would think about allowing vehicle traffic onto a still active MTB race course... "what precautions have you included in your JSA for vehicles travelling alongside racing cyclists?" Although I know that these days insurance companies are much more understanding about cutting off padlocks and driving vehicles into areas they shouldn't be... they'd never possibly consider withholding coverage for riders injured by vehicles driving onto a MTB race course, insurance companies never look for loopholes like that to avoid paying up, hell they'd probably even pay for a new lock.

 

[Australia]

Hello Scott 24 Hour Teams Riders!

Firstly, a big congrats for the people who did their first 24 and their first bike race!

I just thought I'd take this opportunity to make you aware of a project I have been working on for a little under 10 months now: Rotorburn's "Fools guide to your first 24 hour solo" wiki, which is located here http://solo24hour.wikia.com/wiki/Fools_guide_to_your_first_24_hour_solo_Wiki

The aim of the project is to make a comprehensive resource available to all individuals considering attempting their first 24 hour solo race. Given all the publicity that solo 24s have attracted recently we are expecting there is about to be a big influx of new Solo 24 riders, who all need to be informed of the ins and outs of riding a bike all day and all night, this site will be there for these people

So please, encourage all the 24 solo riders you know to get involved, and have a quick browse yourself, with a bit of luck you'll soon catch the 24 solo bug and will be poring over ever skerrick of information you can find - you may as well start early!

Cheers,

Andrew

P.S. No, Brocolli and Custard is not a good whole food substitute for 24 hour racing, it will not make your blood custardy and thus transfer oxygen to your legs better, as a general rule be skeptical of anything Dreggsy says

 

[EzyLee]

with a bit of luck you'll soon catch the 24 solo bug

Errrr... no. That was my 14th 24 Hour as part of a team, and never have I thought to myself. Hey, doing this by myself for the whole time would be awesome! haha. I respect every single one of the Solo riders, but you people are a different breed.

 

[Gamma]

Photos

Hi all,

I have some photos from the first couple of laps of the Scott24. No night shots unfortunately as I was either out on track or attempting to sleep.

Let me know if you see yourself and I can send a full res file.

 

[Australia]

Does anybody have a photo of the offending triple jump, I can't figure out what everyone is talking about... though on the issue of nasty bits of track, I left a significant portion of my right leg on Porkbarrel at about 2am kept pedalling though

 

[DHdreamer]

Snake man

The fellow handing out Snakes at the top of Party line at 3am or so, with the fairy lights was well up for a chat ... I was there for at least 5 minutes , which obviously contributed to my very tardy 1:59 lap ....

The snakes were awsome though

Hehe I passed that dude too and thanked him profusely for his generosity, but carried on riding without taking up his offer in my keeness for Party Line....a few minutes later, I thought, "What the heck was I thinking!? I love snakes!"

 

[EzyLee]

Oh nice Gamma... Thanks heaps for the pics! this one is of me.

 

[Gamma]

EzyLee check your messages.

 

[scbullit]

Does anybody have a photo of the offending triple jump, I can't figure out what everyone is talking about... though on the issue of nasty bits of track, I left a significant portion of my right leg on Porkbarrel at about 2am kept pedalling though

Here is one a friend took of me on my first lap...

 

[Le Matelot]

Returning Transponder Chips

Got back to Sydney on Monday & what are these bits of orange plastic on my forks???

Anybody know where I need to send the castech chips to CORC??? Castec???

Thanks for asking - if you look up the Castech website there are instructions on where and how to to send them. We'd love you to send them back - 'cause CORC have to pay if you don't

 

[drew.d]

Are you the crit track crash, with the chain that slipped and you went OTB?

yup, that was me. stupidest stack ever - who crashes on straight, flat road, 50m from transition?

thanks for the attention, pinkbike, you and to the others. kept me chatting until the ambo's arrived.

 

[muvro]

Thanks for asking - if you look up the Castech website there are instructions on where and how to to send them. We'd love you to send them back - 'cause CORC have to pay if you don't

LOL, I was pulling my bike down this week and was like. OHhhhhh I forgot to return the transponder!!! Luckily it had "return to Castec - www.castech.com.au" Sent mine yesterday.

Awesome timing system. Accurate, live updates. Such a good setup.