Thredbo National Round Feb 2010 4X Photos

[Le Matelot]

Here are a few.

 

[Rent_a_crowd]

Looks like a pretty dismal turnout for a National Round yet again.

Where were all the spectators?

 

[trouble]

Can't view the photos?

 

[Le Matelot]

Where were all the spectators?

Trying to keep dry.

Can't view the photos?

Did you click on the link? Works fine for me but if you are using a very old browser version, them picasaweb will not play. Others have been viewing the photos.

 

[Grug]

Looks like a pretty dismal turnout for a National Round yet again.

Where were all the spectators?

Thats what happens when MTBA decides to change the schedule mid season and race on a friday when most people are working or at school.

 

[barnesy]

Dismal 4X turn out

Mmmmmmm....if you didn't know better you would swear that MTBA were doing there best to kill 4X.

Shame when it is the only MTB discipline that requires only 2 x cameras to film and put in a format for T.V.
XC is like watching the grass grow on tele, downhill just takes too many cameras ($$$$$). This is what 4X was born for but the powers to be are too inept to take advantage of it.

MTBA get your shit together and realise that many 'normal' people and families can't have weekdays off, in conjunction with paying a fortune to attend a series which contributes to nothing. It is not recognised or used for Australian 4X selections and barely begins to provide anything back to the families who lay out so much to attend these events.

The extra burden of Friday racedays was the straw that broke the camel backs for me... and I know for many others that were considering donating their hard earned money to MTBA.

 

[silver rocket]

Mmmmmmm....if you didn't know better you would swear that MTBA were doing there best to kill 4X.

Shame when it is the only MTB discipline that requires only 2 x cameras to film and put in a format for T.V.
XC is like watching the grass grow on tele, downhill just takes too many cameras ($$$$$). This is what 4X was born for but the powers to be are too inept to take advantage of it.

MTBA get your shit together and realise that many 'normal' people and families can't have weekdays off, in conjunction with paying a fortune to attend a series which contributes to nothing. It is not recognised or used for Australian 4X selections and barely begins to provide anything back to the families who lay out so much to attend these events.

The extra burden of Friday racedays was the straw that broke the camel backs for me... and I know for many others that were considering donating their hard earned money to MTBA.

CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP! Standing ovation Barnesy, don't even start me on this subject.... I made a WA 4X pilot show & showed it to Fuel TV who loved it & offered me a contract for more but mate the show died in the arse & I couldnt get it up casue i dont "roll" wit the right mtba ppl & also becasue the ppl who run the events here are tarred with the same MTBA brush & have no idea, hahahah they are still arguing if shuttles and ambos should be compulsary for dh racing... Not even sure if TV is in their vocab...

4X here in WA only has a weak pulse becasue of one dude & his mate how owns a farm, the Perth round drew very poor numbers as well and despite me telling the organisers well over a year ago that they should be thinking about the 2010 rounds right then, it is now halfway thro Feb 2010 & there is no sign of a racing calender or even a commitee... Other state sports had thier calenders out last oct-nov..... Last year they took weeks to post race results and for one round never even posted them at all! And yet they can't be told & defend thier poor efforts with excuses.... I gave up......

Anyway I couldnt have said it better myself, its such a shame casue 4X is a tv producers wet dream, low cost & lots of action....

RIP 4X

 

[feltq650]

Thanks for the photos dude, much appreciated.
And on the topic of 4x numbers, i tottally agree with you. Racing was fun but mtba really need to think about how theyre running it.
what ever happened to a super series type thing over the one weekend barnsey? id love to see that happen.

 

[ccc 34]

Mmmmmmm....if you didn't know better you would swear that MTBA were doing there best to kill 4X.

Shame when it is the only MTB discipline that requires only 2 x cameras to film and put in a format for T.V.
XC is like watching the grass grow on tele, downhill just takes too many cameras ($$$$$). This is what 4X was born for but the powers to be are too inept to take advantage of it.

MTBA get your shit together and realise that many 'normal' people and families can't have weekdays off, in conjunction with paying a fortune to attend a series which contributes to nothing. It is not recognised or used for Australian 4X selections and barely begins to provide anything back to the families who lay out so much to attend these events.

The extra burden of Friday racedays was the straw that broke the camel backs for me... and I know for many others that were considering donating their hard earned money to MTBA.

Barnsey, you are so right and the turn out was piss poor, we travelled 1000's of Km to get to these races for nothing more than the satisfaction of racing (my son races, I take the snaps and pay for it). The only other disapointment was the lack of other competitors coming along to cheer on the boys, espescially at Thredbo where it was walking distance, the racing was tight, and fast, as it should be. These boys are some of the best in the world, or on the way to being. Lets support this discipline of the sport we love, and help it grow because MTBA won't do it...

 

[Slave]

Geez you blokes, its as if you haven't been racing 4x for years - I know some of youse posters in this thread have been active 4x racers years, and you are surprised? Face it, 4x hasn't seen any amazing growth in competitors ever. I've raced so many Thredbo 4x races it's not funny, I'd say some of the best were about 10 years ago - must be about that long ago as I was on my Mongoose NX back then and that's a long time. It's why I kept racing, I was sure such a format could take off big time. It hasn't and at this rate it won't. Back then the crowds loved it and I'll drag out old pics - yep there were spectators going nuts and the vibe was amazing.

I'm calling this Thredbo 4x race just gone essentially my last 4x race because these days I haven't got the time to bang my head against a wall. Add to that I get paid by the hour at work so taking Friday off cost me more than fuel and entry price.

I had a good chat to Tony (MTBA) before the race regarding participation numbers. I won't post up our conversation but my take on our chat was that 4x is stuffed.

From my perspective 4x is trying to entice downhillers to race 4x on the side, where as I reckon they should be recruiting BMXers due to the similarity. Now for some reason the members on this forum want to stab all BMXers in the eye with a blunt fork. Their loss. Because so many punters start threads like "best 4x bike" and most must be spectators because race numbers are not there.

Check the participation numbers for the last few rounds.... how many vets? It was round 3 and they gave out the series leader plate as there hadn't been a vet at a previous round. How many senior women? And why? Well I live in ACT where we know that the track cost big bucks and it may be used 3 times a year - how can that grow a sport from the grass roots? The amount of parents that tell me that they went to Stromlo with their kids and had to come straight back home cause the track is unridable - insane.

Nope, got no more time for this 4x stuff. I've been waiting for legal dirt jumps in ACT since Moses was in sandles and now I've built some nice DJs and that's what my hardtail is now for. As far as competeting against others go it's now DH and BMX for me.

Anyway, all this is no problem - just needed to wake up and smell the roses. There will be no big 4x fields in my riding lifetime.