The Mont24 Hr - 2011, Mt Kowan

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Dazzo

Likes Dirt
I just noticed the website for the 2011 Mont has been updated with next years race details (albeit minimal at this early stage). The race weekend is the 9 - 10 April, held at Mt Kowan, which is the other side of the Kings highway near Sparrow Hill.

Does anyone have any further info on Mt Kowan, track style, flow?? etc I haven't ridden there myself, not being from Canberra I wasn't aware of tracks there. Any who, let me know what you guys think. Certainly, a big event like this can only result in more well built/designed Kms of trail for us to enjoy!
 
alchemist

alchemist

Manly Warringah MTB Club
Kowen was used from 2003 - 2006 (?). It had a lot more variety than any of the other tracks in Canberra.
 
HerdingCats

HerdingCats

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Of the four networks around Canberra, I rate Kowen behind Sparrow, Majura and Stromlo. It seems to be much more draining to ride - perhaps it is not as smooth or flowy as Sparrow? Still, there were great tracks such as "Koslowski's Trouser Snake", "Huwey, Dewey and Louie" and the switchbacks near the event centre.
 
M

ming

Likes Bikes
From the Mont website:

East Kowen

The new home for the MONT is East Kowen, a large tract of pines that parallels Sparrow Hill on the other side of the Kings Highway. We've spent a great deal of time getting familiar with each compartment and there's a really exciting course route locked in for the Mont. Course Director and resident trail fairy Paul Cole is on board again to steer course development, and we'll be adding the services of a select band of experienced track builders in the lead up to the Mont 2011. To say we are excited about the trail opportunities is an understatement. East Kowen could become the new land of flow and another Mecca for MTB for Canberra.

Capital Punishment started in East Kowen. This is not the area in Kowen forest where earlier MONTs were held - they were further west.
Looking forward to seeing what Paul and the team put together. :)
 
iscarrr

iscarrr

Likes Dirt
Main question i have, does anyone had any inside info on when (roughly) rego's will open? From memory the site just says "soon"?

Looking forward to it, different is good.
 
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Mont24Team

Likes Bikes
Mont Entries

We haven't locked in an exact date, but it will be on the front side of november... so not far away now.

A newsletter will go out to those who have registered on the event site. You will get about a weeks advance notice before you need to sit in front of the computer with fingers poised.

might be a good idea to get your posse together soon

ride the kow
 
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Australia

Australia

Likes Bikes and Dirt
My only memory of Kowen forrest us utter misery, lack of sleep, lack of warm food, rain, mud, cold, muddy firetrails, sketchy 4 inch deep mud singletrails which were bearly rideable, horrible pain as people attacked in the first two hundred metres and I realised that a six week taper was not the appropriate preperation for a brutal 100km race (AND that was just at the start of the race, at the end I remember:) accidently power sliding/skidding in the outback in the car park, getting hopelessly lost finding the place, and helping my mate unbog his ute, did I mention the pissing rain and mud? Surely we wont see a repeat of the weather from Capital Punishment... right?

On the plus side, it'll be nice to see what Kowen is really like :)
An additional plus is we get two weeks to recover before Solo Nats this year :)
 
iscarrr

iscarrr

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Mont24Team said:
We haven't locked in an exact date, but it will be on the front side of november... so not far away now.
..
might be a good idea to get your posse together soon
Click to expand...
Excellent thanks, and yep thats exactly what my thoughts were too. Looking forward to it.
 
iscarrr

iscarrr

Likes Dirt
Regos open.

Fking $145 each in most teams :( (+$15 day license if applicable)

Usual shit, bitch about it but pay anyway :(
 
R

RichJS

Likes Dirt
"What's the course like?" questions are impossible to answer because virtually none of the singletrack exists today. Paul Cole, Kowalski brothers etc have just started making them.

As pointed out, Kowen East is not where the 02-06 (?) Sconts were held. Instead, it is straight over the road from Sparrow Hill. There are a couple of singletrack style trails through compartments there but it's not a popular riding spot, and some of the motos who have reclaimed/taken over/destroyed/whatever the "old" Scont course can be seen out in Kowen East using trails there too. At a guess, the trails will most look like those in the rest of Kowen.

When the new Kings Highway is finished, the existing road out from queanbeyan will stop at the Sparrow Hill gate. Hopefully, that means that the existing Sparrow Hill trails will connect with underpasses under the new highway and through to Kowen East. So, we lost Bobsled etc but might gain direct access to all of Kowen East trails from Sparrow Hill.
 
FR Drew

FR Drew

Not a custom title.
iscarrr said:
Regos open.

Fking $145 each in most teams :( (+$15 day license if applicable)

Usual shit, bitch about it but pay anyway :(
Click to expand...
For most of us, 145 wouldn't buy us 2 tyres. From past experience the Mont crew set up an awesome event with a great vibe, a well run event centre, good pre-race entertainment, good marshalling, smoothly functioning infrastructure, great course etc etc etc.

I'd be happier if I didn't have to listen to Stu Plant, but that's pretty much where the complaints with the event begin and end.
 
cam-o

cam-o

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I am hearing rumours (2nd hand) of a good fast flowy track, so I'm excited!

Also - was it just me who was pretty damn impressed with the entry web page?
3 of my 4 team embers were MTBA members so the function where it just copied in your MTBA details was great. My team entry took 5 minutes tops and I entered at about 12:05 with no performance issues on the site.

Good to see it can be done right after so many race entry system disasters of late.
 
leftieant

leftieant

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Also - was it just me who was pretty damn impressed with the entry web page?
Click to expand...
+1 to that.

Will be interested to see how the MTBA site performs when I start asking some questions of it setting up next years club race calendar...
 
D

Dazzo

Likes Dirt
cam-o said:
I am hearing rumours (2nd hand) of a good fast flowy track, so I'm excited!

Also - was it just me who was pretty damn impressed with the entry web page?
3 of my 4 team embers were MTBA members so the function where it just copied in your MTBA details was great. My team entry took 5 minutes tops and I entered at about 12:05 with no performance issues on the site.

Good to see it can be done right after so many race entry system disasters of late.
Click to expand...
Agreed - Extra points for the entry system this year. Entering a team of 6 was very quick.
 
R

rangie

Likes Dirt
Paul has a cool ethos and i doubt anyone would be dissapointed with track that get layed for the mont.

We just need more of it so that the track is not too crowded with the amount of entries...gotta be selfish eh :)

Looking forward to another mont! Lots more sleeps though :-(
 
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