Scott 24 hour crash?!?!?

iscarrr

Likes Dirt
Do 24 hour races attract some lesser skilled and schooled riders than an XC race or a three or six hour enduro? Do a lot of road riders sign up?
Exactly yes. Its stupid, I've lost count of how many ppl said "my first race", "my first real mtb ride" - seriously wow, what are these people doing. Its just flat out dangerous.

Anyway going off topic, glad the guy who came down hard on the triple is out of the comma. Hope is recovery goes well.
 

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
Thanks for that.
I can't believe people are saying it isn't signposted well enough, you can see the jump for fifty feet before you're on top of it...............

Exactly yes. Its stupid, I've lost count of how many ppl said "my first race", "my first real mtb ride" - seriously wow, what are these people doing. Its just flat out dangerous.
It should be mandatory that you complete at least two or three laps of the course before the race. That isn't be be a wanker, that is for the safety or yourself and those around you. Mountain biking has nothing to do with road riding.
 

dcrofty

Eats Squid
Couple of comments since our tent was in the firing line from the crashes and I spent hours watching the jump as well.

There is an A B and C line over that jump

A is LHS as you come down the hill. Small triple jump but also rollable.

C was RHS as you came down the hill, the three humps that formed the triple were much smaller on this side and you just rode over them and away you go.

Sneaky B line down the middle. Rollover the first hump starting on the C line then transfer left, launch off the rocks and turn the jump into a double and land on the tranny for the A line. Very sneaky and I only saw two or three riders do it.


The lip of the A line was quite steep (edit probably not that steep afterall) with a bit of kick to it. People launching it weren't really the problem (a couple of crashes on landing and some people coming up short but overall not too bad) nor were those who braked heavily as they came down the hill-they rolled it and rode off. The problem was where people came in fast but didn't launch the jump. Once the front wheel cleared the jump their back wheel hit the face of the jump, jammed their seat up their arse and launched them OTB. That's what was scary to watch, you could just see that at night came and as people got tired and didn't wash enough speed off that they would have continued to have people diving over the bars and I'm glad it was taken out.
 
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Shredden

Knows his goats
I couldnt help but laugh when after reading the whole thread I clicked on that link and saw the jump :p

That said, good luck to the guy that is in a coma.
 

Pegasus

Likes Dirt
That !!!! Seriously ?

Here I was thinking of some sort of rock infested step-down, or steep takeoff .:confused:

That is about as clear as possible to see.

Its the location. Near the crowd, who are prob gee'ing the riders up to hit it.
Riders need to ride within their limits....Simple.
It was a super dodgy jump. Hitting the lip is like hitting a speed bump. I only had one chance in doing it since they fenced it off, but I was behind a slow guy. :(
 

tasty.dirt74

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Granted, I cant see the takeoff, and as fatigue sets in,it would be harder to make a judgement call, but.....it really is not that technical.

In saying that, I hope the guy with injuries recovers ok....

Maybe the course commisaire should not be analysing the course, but the riders skill level !????

"Sorry mate, youre only allowed to ride the "B" lines". :rolleyes:
 

peanut

Likes Dirt
Hopefully those injured make a speedy recovery.

I was a little confused initially as i was thinking it was the smaller set of jumps on the last bit of the downhill track right before it runs along the 4x track, which takes some commitment. I only visited the village as my 12 month old has halted my riding somewhat so didn't venture up the hill a little.

After looking at the photo now i understand, thats the small jump on the Xc crit track which was used at the worlds in '09, usually you only have a 10m run up for that after riding up that incline on the RHS in the photo.

I can see how some punters came unstuck with the run up they had, probably thought this should be easy, it looks small enough. Unfortunately they found out there's a bit more involved than the tables on double dissolution.

I recall there was a spate of crashes off the rock drop on the Xc crit track last year also, so it's possible some riders bike skills don't match the perception of their skills.
 
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fairy1

Banned
Thanks for that.
It should be mandatory that you complete at least two or three laps of the course before the race. That isn't be be a wanker, that is for the safety or yourself and those around you. Mountain biking has nothing to do with road riding.
I'm with you 100% on that, if someone rocked up at a DH race and said I'm just going to do a blind run for my race run you'd think they were missing something between the ears.

Lots of people rode, a few got injured, seems like a fair balance.
 

ja_har

Likes Dirt
Here's an action shot of one mate on the offending jump, not exactly big or hard.

[video=youtube;wTpnyCJvbIQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTpnyCJvbIQ[/video]
 

pharmaboy

Eats Squid
Sat at the bottom of this jump for 30 minutes

3 bad crashes from about 10 attempts in that time - thats not a good number. None of the attempters looked to me like brand newies. Anyway, the crashes I saw were caused by the landing area, if you miss the on camber corner by more than a foot, you drift onto the off camber, and you are gone - no chance of enough grip to make it round.

The terrible crash is a different cause, but the point is it looks very placid, but it isnt, and it wasnt obvious to me untill I watched a lot of riders do it, what the problems were. Coming off a bike at 30kmh+ is never a pretty thing, and always holds risk of big injuries.

While there, a few of us were talking about that it perhaps should be closed - that was only 4pm or so. Riding it didnt give any hint of what was happening, apart from 30 people watching giving the hint that this is a race ender.
 

Neon

Likes Dirt
Wish I could say the same for the gap jump on Cardiac Climb. :p
that jump is ridiculous. the only way you get enough speed to clear it is if you take the A line down those rocks and then suddenly slam onto the pedals.
its just a bit out of place in a slow section of xc track
 

U.D.O

Likes Bikes and Dirt
...
It should be mandatory that you complete at least two or three laps of the course before the race. That isn't be be a wanker, that is for the safety or yourself and those around you. Mountain biking has nothing to do with road riding.
Completely agree.
Not sure about elsewhere, but in the VIC DH series one must do 2 compulsory runs of the track before racing. Something like this sounds like it should be implemented. Just reading through this thread I'm amazed by the amount of beginner riders being mentioned doing the 24 hour. I've been riding for several years now and I still wouldn't attempt a 24 hour.
And to be honest the jump doesn't look as bad as it's being made out to be. B line seems fairly visible. As said, this sport isn't like road racing, you can't just tune out and pedal, half the skill is being entirely aware of your surroundings and using that knowledge to ride better/faster/in control.

My $0.02
 

peanut

Likes Dirt
that jump is ridiculous. the only way you get enough speed to clear it is if you take the A line down those rocks and then suddenly slam onto the pedals.
its just a bit out of place in a slow section of xc track
is that the one before the climb up to the DH bridge?, if so i've seen a few riders land front wheel first on purpose and let the back wheel follow it over. At last years worlds the pros made it look easy, then again they made everything look easy.
 

outtacontrol

Likes Bikes and Dirt
is that the one before the climb up to the DH bridge?, if so i've seen a few riders land front wheel first on purpose and let the back wheel follow it over. At last years worlds the pros made it look easy, then again they made everything look easy.
I think so. It's not far past hammerhead, straight after a smaller rock step section. I did take the A line down the steps, turned 90 degrees left and was on the pedals for about 10m?.
Ended up clearing it easy, but unfortunately ate it on landing. Very do able, just a gumby pilot. ;)
 

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Neon

Likes Dirt
I think so. It's not far past hammerhead, straight after a smaller rock step section. I did take the A line down the steps, turned 90 degrees left and was on the pedals for about 10m?.
Ended up clearing it easy, but unfortunately ate it on landing. Very do able, just a gumby pilot. ;)
yeah it is do-able and probably fun, I just think that it kills any sort of rhythm you have going in the slow rocky sections
 

floody

Wheel size expert
I wonder...do you build courses to suit people with no skills (the enduro/multisport masses), or build courses that will allow those people to build some skills?

Someone got hurt, well, the price of man in motion is the occasional collision. Unless an obstacle is utterly extreme, I can't see mountainbike course needing extensive signposting. I also imagine signposts still won't work if people who are unable to measure their own ability and calculate risk barrel into things pell mell.
 
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