Scott 24hr 2009

[PURSUTE]

The night lap was definitely less technical than day. Being lucky enough to be a local I've ridden Pork Barrel (day) and Skyline (night) many times in daylight and darkness. Pork Barrel has plenty of stuff that'll bite at night if you don't see it coming and switching to Skyline was (IMO) a good idea.

Whilst the Scott is indeed marketed at a wide range of skill levels I would hate to see the night laps dumbed down too much. Most people know at least 3 months out they are doing the event so there is plenty of time to get some night laps under your belt. Night riding is a skill unto itself and should be practiced. I applaud any n00b who has a crack at a 24hr event and don't for a second criticize any rider who finds the course tough, but I've gotta say that those people who rocked up to the event having never done a night lap were pretty dumb.

PS: Pursute - this isn't aimed at you as you have obviously done some night stuff before, I just quoted you for context. Stick with the night stuff, once it clicks you will find there is nothing more fun than a hot run down Skyline at night. For me the absolute high point of the Scott was rounding the 1st corner of Skyline at around 10pm to see empty track in front of me.

I agree with all of that cam-o. I think we came in with a bit the old rose coloured glasses as our only other event was at Sparrow.

We all managed to get a few night laps under our belts before the race, however we were not exactly sure what parts to practice, and had assumed that some of the harder stuff would be left out.

I totally agree with you about blasting down skyline at night. That sort of reward makes every burning crank up the hill worth it. I am so hooked.

We will be back next year with more experience and better fitness. Maybe we can give some of you lot a run for your money!

 

[BrumbyJack]

Skyline was fun, the part of the night course that I did not like and would not attempt was the steep downhill followed by the rock garden, just off the downhill bridge. The rest of the night course was awesome...

If I had ridden that section in the daylight to test the lines, I probably would have been OK but I was not going to test it out in the dark with my crappy lights.

 

[Blingerific]

technical night laps

The night lap was definitely less technical than day. Being lucky enough to be a local I've ridden Pork Barrel (day) and Skyline (night) many times in daylight and darkness. Pork Barrel has plenty of stuff that'll bite at night if you don't see it coming and switching to Skyline was (IMO) a good idea.

Whilst the Scott is indeed marketed at a wide range of skill levels I would hate to see the night laps dumbed down too much. Most people know at least 3 months out they are doing the event so there is plenty of time to get some night laps under your belt. Night riding is a skill unto itself and should be practiced. I applaud any n00b who has a crack at a 24hr event and don't for a second criticize any rider who finds the course tough, but I've gotta say that those people who rocked up to the event having never done a night lap were pretty dumb.

PS: Pursute - this isn't aimed at you as you have obviously done some night stuff before, I just quoted you for context. Stick with the night stuff, once it clicks you will find there is nothing more fun than a hot run down Skyline at night. For me the absolute high point of the Scott was rounding the 1st corner of Skyline at around 10pm to see empty track in front of me.

That was our logic in choosing the tracks we did. As was said Pork Barrel by night would have been carnage! I'm not sure what we could do with Stromlo to calm the night lap any more. A lower rider density would help for sure but those tracks are some of the easiest at Stromlo.

More to think about though!

 

[Blingerific]

Negatives

4. More track tweaking required – some parts just need a little more tidying up prior to commencement of the event.

Hey Taz, thanks for all the feedback (same for the rest of you too!), can you give me any more info regarding point -4?

Cheers!

 

[Blingerific]

[*]Special thanks to the team who, when asked to return in “half an hour” so I could prepare their last minute entry, returned with a coffee - you were a god send.
[/LIST]

As a participant (woo hoo, I won the solo singlespeed female category), I’m amazed at the helpfulness, the encouragement from other riders and particularly to Bec who shouted at me to “stick it” on a switchback I struggled at on the last lap – I wouldn’t have made that one with out you.

So how are those bruises and scratches coming along? Good to see you won then! I was out on the hill for the presentation :-/

 

[MartinH]

This was my first Scott as a solo and first Scott I've done since 2005 (at Kowen). I also did 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 as part of team.

I'll get the bad stuff out the way first. In no particular order...

First thing I missed was the big screen at transition showing the riders names as they came through - that's kinda a backward step.

Second - lack of urinals in the village. Other than the one in the pavillion were there any others?

Third - timing. I was sharing a campsite with another solo rider, Chris Chant, who lost a transponder. He didn't realise until he had completed another 2 laps so went and notified the timing people and got a new transponder. He was reassured that his "missing" laps would be reinstated because they were manually recording riders who came through but I still see on the results page that he only did 9 laps when I know for a fact he did 11. So that and that fact that the online results were anything but live was a little disappointing.

No-one fault this one but the little squall that hit the campsite just as I was packing up my tent wasn't needed.

Good stuff...

Friendly riders - I managed to avoid seeing any aggro and had many offers of help when repairing my 2 flat tyres. I also spent a lot of time moving over so people could pass and some riders seemed genuinely thankful that I was not being too much of an obstacle.

Course - I enjoyed greatly and especially the night lap - I even liked the fireroad middle section, it made a nice relaxing part during the middle of the lap. Not as much fun as Sparrow Hill of course but more challenging so satisfying in a different way. A month of pretty respectable rain meant the course didn't deteriorate into a dustbath. Popping over the doubles on Double Dissolution is always a giggle.

Sunrise - it was a particularly spectacular sunrise with some nice god-rays poking through the clouds and Canberra looking greener than it has for probably a decade.

Letting cars into the campsites to drop off gear was very much appreciated (I remember having to cart my gear 100's of metres from the car park at Kowen was a real chore).

Having a hot shower in the pavillion at midnight was heaven.

Finishers' prize of a set of handgrips was a pleasant surprize from the usual bottle opener/keyring

 

[Tazdevil]

Track

Hey Taz, thanks for all the feedback (same for the rest of you too!), can you give me any more info regarding point -4?

Cheers!

Shortly after riding through the two rocks atop Mt Stromlo there is a left hand turn that meets a fire road that is crossed, then onwards down the hill. This LH turn has a large parallel rut in it – get caught and you’re toast – I saw a female rider come to grief here – she was OK but shook up a bit. Wombat junction for both laps seems too rocky approach, lots of people were hooked up there in both directions. The rocky LH turn near the end of the lower section of the course to gain a short section of fire trail – lots of people got hooked up here – not too dangerous, again just a bit untidy. That mud section near the end – better bridging was required.

I think Stromlo demands a minimum amount of riding experience. How this experience can be vetted I am unsure. People turning up having not ever ridden a night lap? Come on…! I do a bit of running and the longer events demand proof of experience – you cannot rock up to an Ultra without first providing evidence of other events attended (showing how you have worked your way up the ‘ladder’). What is the worst that can happen running – trip over? Heat Stroke? Sprained ankle? What is the worst that can happen riding - Broken back and legs? Smashed pelvis? Brain damage? It can get serious out there…

Stromlo ain’t no Sparrow Hill. And that’s the way we like it! More variety!

 

[BrumbyJack]

Shortly after riding through the two rocks atop Mt Stromlo there is a left hand turn that meets a fire road that is crossed, then onwards down the hill. This LH turn has a large parallel rut in it – get caught and you’re toast – I saw a female rider come to grief here – she was OK but shook up a bit.

That bit scared the crap out of me when I rode it on Thursday night for a practise night ride... but I hadn't ridden for ages. Probably doing a night ride for my first ride in 2 years wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done, but it was fun.

I was already skidding before I hit the drop, so I just bailed and ran down it...

When I rode it again on my first lap, I'd got to the road and turned around and laughed!!! It wasn't nearly so scarey in the daylight and I didn't even realise it was the same part of the track until I'd already ridden past it.

 

[Mr. Pink]

I haven't read every post over the last couple of days but it seems like a few people had issues with track congestion. It was my first 24hr so I don't really have much to compare it to but I never found it to be that bad (I even managed to be completely alone for the night run down skyline a couple of times - woooooop!).
As for passing agro, I didn't really get any. Whenever the pro's went flying by they were nothing but friendly and thankful when you let them through. Funnily enough the wannabe pro's weren't as nice. But generally I found the vibe to be very friendly.

The highlight for me was my lap at 1am. I really got into the zone and was having an absolute blast the whole way. Then to top it off the red racer over took me with a couple of ks to go to transition. I thought I'd try and keep up with him for a while and managed to stay on his wheel all the way into transition until he stopped. Of course he caught up to me again on the climb and just breezed right by, there was no keeping up with him this time.

All in all I thought it was an awesome event and I'll definitely be giving 24hr racing another go.

 

[funky]

Observer Comments

Interesting reading, especially as I didn't compete this year (last year was 2007). But I did head out at about 9.00pm through to about 10.30pm to take some photos.

Not really knowing anyone competing in it this year, I had no idea if it was heavily subscribed event, or quieter than previous years, but my observation driving up to the top of stromlo (well as far as I could get) was that it was very busy, with lots of people out riding. At the time, I had no idea if it was better or worse than previous years in terms of congestion.

My only other comments are aimed at the organisers. Take note of the comments, but don't get too focussed on them (you need to be able to see the forest through the trees thing).

Being the Secretary of my rugby club (quite big at 300+ members), I'm often on the receiving end of various complaints. This year was particularly bad, and had me thinking no one enjoyed the season. So we ran a survey. And while there was a lot of negative feedback, when you looked at the question, "Did you enjoy your season or not", the overwhelming majority (87%) said yes.

Putting on something this big, and completely run by volunteers is a massive task. Not everything will be perfect, but overall your efforts are greatly appreciated.

 

[BigSplashBear]

In my view from Solo Town, looking up the hill and seeing a constant stream of lights. Up hill, down hill. Sometimes very hypnotic. (Although that could have been me getting tired at Oh Dark Hundred supporting a solo rider. )
Transition was also interesting - all night long there was a rider coming through every couple of seconds.

Glad I had a heater with me in Solo Town. And my solo rider seemed to appreciate it when he stopped for a short nap.

Biggest disappointment: I lugged my riding gear down, had an offer to ride a Trance Advanced and couldn't get out for a lap. <SIGH>

Bear - out.

 

[funky]

Night Pics

Forgot to add, here is my best night shot....

 

[BigSplashBear]

That course is deceptively difficult I dare say. ...... I would suggest come sunday morning there wasn't a solo rider in the park that wouldn't have called the course tough.

*shrug*

Cheers
Gonz

Hey Gonz,
Funnily enough the solo I supported made various comments through the race about the course. I seem to remember words like 'tough', 'punishing'. Phrases like "Man I am so glad I'm not on a hardtail".

The interesting part was that on the drive back to Sydney on Sunday arvo he had no recollection of those words/discussions.

Obviously as his support (providing food, replacing the jersey dirtied up by a spill, taking copious notes, blah, blah) I was delusional.

Bear - out here.

 

[Incontinent]

Forgot to add, here is my best night shot....

Looks great......
Really shows the amount of traffic on the hill.

Can you please....
make it larger ala 1000x800p or so and paste it in.
would look so much nicer at full screen.

 

[funky]

Bigger Photo

Looks great......
Really shows the amount of traffic on the hill.

Can you please....
make it larger ala 1000x800p or so and paste it in.
would look so much nicer at full screen.

Not sure how to get it to paste into the forum, but hopefully this linky works.

 

[Raf]

Good photo.

Thats the "Your not finished yet" loop in the distance at the bottom there isnt it...., tent city top left with the mud pit closest to camera?

Raf

 

[saddlesore]

First Timer

It was my first mtb race, have been doing adventure races for the last year (bought a bike 13 months ago). Competed in a team of 4 with all the boys being in exactly the same situation.

Really enjoyed it, though was a little hard to get out of bed for my night laps, apparently there was some comments around bugger off i'm not going when nudged awake, but once you pull the gear on and get out there you a fine.

I thought the atmosphere on track was great, had two laps where passed more people than passed me and two where more passed me than i passed, at all times everyone seemed pretty courteous and aware. THough did come of once when a rider was overtaking balked and cut back in, but no harm done and he was genuinley sorry. It happens i guess so wasn't complaining.

Will say that having flats, not clip in's, and riding a hardtail where not wise moves. Think will have to purchase some clip in's soon, and consider the whether i really want to drop some money on the dually, hopefully the scratchie i'm owed by a mate for posting a faster lap time than him comes up trumps and can feel less guilty about dropping cash on a dually when should be saving...

 

[funky]

Photo

Tent City top right (assume that is what you meant)

Not sure what the loop is exactly, but yeah, looking at the course map, "not there yet" sounds about right.

Photo is taken about 10m before the sportgraf guys at the top of the last climb.

Some other pics here showing taffic...

Above pic you can see the final climb (where first photo I posted was taken).

This pic is taken way way way back on the drive up to Stromlo. Unfortunatley I needed about more vertical metres to get everthing in, as you miss a lot of action.

All photos where on 30sec of exposure.

 

[Kris_on_1]

So how are those bruises and scratches coming along? Good to see you won then! I was out on the hill for the presentation :-/

Technically I didn't "win" as I was the only one in the category - not that I'm going to let a technicality get in my way of claiming glory.

As for the bruises and scratches, I'll just have to learn to push back a little harder next time.

 

[cam-o]

Technically I didn't "win" as I was the only one in the category ......

You rode solo on a single speed. Not being dead after that constitutes a win in my books.

which reminds me - loved the 'solo' sticker on the seat tube. It was great to know who the loonies were to give respect.