Vdhs Rd6 Mt Beauty.

[BigDogg]

Hey all.

Thanks for what was an awesome season racing.

Just wanted to say a few things about this last race at beauty yesterday.

Firstly, a get well to the injured riders, always anxious to hear about them.

My other concern was, what seems like the ignoring of feedback from the riders.

I understand its all volunteers, and we wouldn't have the series without them.

But, in saying that, the past few races at beauty have had horrendous shuttles.
I quite honestly do not understand the logic behind using 50 seat buses for a shuttle vehicle.

Compared to baw baw, it honestly was shit. Baw Baw managed to have a quick turn around, and a low waiting time, even with a big line.

Just shows the use of more minibuses or troopies is so much more effecient than big buses, and creates a steadier stream of riders on the trail.

I fail to see why after a few years, the club/organizers continue to use the big buses.
They have to pull over and wait. they are slow. and move a big number of riders onto the trail all at once.

Troopies or minibuses could pass each other the entire shuttle road, troopies could even go to the top turn around.

Just voicing an opinion on what seems like common sense, and what sounded like the general consensus from riders on the weekend.

Some feedback that would hopefully be taken into account for next season.

Otherwise, a great way to finish the season, and many thanks again to all involved

 

[Shredden]

I don't know man, I felt that the shuttles were actually pretty good. I would have said they were on par or faster in terms of wait time at the bottom than Baw Baw, I did 4 runs Saturday morning then a run during pro practice, and two runs on Sunday morning and I didn't have to wait much more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time.

EDIT: Did anyone happen to get my crash in the chute on film? It was around midday saturday, bright pink bike and a black/white jersey. There were a shitload of people with cameras, would be funny if someone got it.

 

[thematerialquestion]

BigDogg, I'll explain so you that CAN understand the logic behind using the coaches.

A: It works. Everyone gets to where they need to be.

B: It's efficient. Mini buses do not go faster than coaches. Neither should troopies if they are full of unbelted riders.

C: It's cost effective. Hiring a fleet of mini buses is expensive, fueling a fleet of mini buses is hugely expensive, paying per kilometre of use and for damages is massively expensive. You might have noticed that Mt Beauty does not have a Hertz Rental within cooee? This means this fleet of buses has to be driven from Albury/Wodonga. It would be great if they had enough, but they don't. So maybe Wangaratta, but they don't either. So maybe Melbourne? And pay per km plus fuel? Forget it.

D: There were 130 usable bus seats on the weekend. This would equate to 13 troopies. Who's got 13 troopies sitting about? Again, 13 fuel tanks to fill.

E: Mini buses have been tried at Mt Beauty events and have not been used since because they failed to increase efficiency and blew any chance of a profit because of the fuel bills. Not to mention the massive pain in the arse in sourcing them, getting them to the event, getting them cleaned, then getting them back to where they came from. They do not work any better!

F: The local bus company, Falls Creek Coaches, very generously contributes to Team Mount Beauty with the use of their coaches for events. A better deal will not be found any where.

G: Mini buses cannot pass each other safely on the shuttle road. It has been tried before, it does not work. There are limited places to safely pass on the dirt section of the shuttle, which means sitting around in a fleet of mini buses or a couple of coaches, either way.

H: Many numerous incidents and accidents, course closures etc. meant that there was no point in moving more riders from the bottom to the top just to wait at the top for the track to re-open. Obviously there are no toilets, cold drinks, hot snags, tunes, mechanics at the top. So why not wait at the bottom instead?

Obviously no one is out to ruin your day. The best method has been adopted and will continue to be used at the events because it is the best method. Other options have been tried and have failed. Any genuine suggestions on improvements would be welcomed.

Its always great to get feedback after events, positive and/or negative. Its even better when the people that make complaints get involved and focus their energies on helping to run events instead of moaning about how others could have done it better.

With that said, hopefully you had a great weekend! Team Mount Beauty loves hosting events and looks forward to having you back in the years to come!

 

[Nautonier]

I thought the shuttles were fine at Beauty, much better than Baw Baw. The thing that really held things up at Baw Baw was the "load your own" policy where you got a bunch of riders with no idea how the bikes fitted onto the (different) trailers attempting to figure it out while everyone else waited around. In comparison, Beauty was a well oiled machine. Thanks to all involved for an awesomely well organised event at a super fun track. My only feedback would be to perhaps B-line the chute next time to cut down the carnage.

 

[Shredden]

My only feedback would be to perhaps B-line the chute next time to cut down the carnage.

I think that it should be done regardless, but I don't think it would prevent all that much carnage - from what I saw (probably ~8 crashes) all of them were fairly fast/confident riders that would have been hitting the a line anyway. I didnt see the U15/U17/sport/masters categories at all though so that could be a different story.

 

[Nautonier]

I know the kid who broke his femur and he definitely would have taken a B-line if there was one. I heard that a few of the youngest kids were walking their bikes down it, which is no fun, especially in front of a crowd...

 

[jjperko]

I didn't manage to get up there and race this time but what was the chute like? A couple of weeks ago when I rode it it was pretty stepped out and rutted due to rain, the worst I've ever seen it. I could understand a b line being necessary.

A few years ago quick guys were gapping the rock at the bottom, but there didn't look like much chance of that.

 

[rider124]

I can say that a b-line to the chute would be a good idea. But most of the horrible crashes are the more experienced riders that would be taking that line anyway.
the shuttles were not that bad, the push to the top was a little bit of a killer, but that push wont hurt anyone.
Loved the event guys. The one complaint was that there was no red bull ice cream like last year!!!

 

[patto_15]

That chute you could ride slow and easy if you wanted to, you only came unstuck and crashed if you started to push it and go fast. Like said before, the majority of crashes in it were from u19 / elite riders that definitely know how to ride a bike. The people that were genuinely scared of it went slow and took it easy not taking any risks. Ride with in your limits, if you start to push yourself you start to get loose and then the chances are you'll crash Keep the chute how it is, no B-Line! I didn't hear any of the girls complaining about it?

 

[andy73]

That chute you could ride slow and easy if you wanted to, you only came unstuck and crashed if you started to push it and go fast. Like said before, the majority of crashes in it were from u19 / elite riders that definitely know how to ride a bike. The people that were genuinely scared of it went slow and took it easy not taking any risks. Ride with in your limits, if you start to push yourself you start to get loose and then the chances are you'll crash Keep the chute how it is, no B-Line! I didn't hear any of the girls complaining about it?

I dunno man. Seems someone always shoots down the idea of a B Line. As long as taking it is slower, I'd say why not? Surely we should be doing everything we can to encourage more riders to try this amazing sport. Nothing wrong with giving those less confident a slightly lower consequence line down the hill.

 

[patto_15]

I dunno man. Seems someone always shoots down the idea of a B Line. As long as taking it is slower, I'd say why not? Surely we should be doing everything we can to encourage more riders to try this amazing sport. Nothing wrong with giving those less confident a slightly lower consequence line down the hill.

Yeah, this is true. I agree to some part that there should be a b-line there, but realistically, where are you going to put it? If you make a new line anywhere thats easier it most likely will prove faster than than the chute. Also, if riders are able to get down the whole track to that section, I would pretty much guarantee you they have the skill level to get down the chute..

*Really, the chute wasn't hard at all, the only tricky part to it was the entry, the actual chute was easy. Its not like there was wet roots all the way down the chute so when you braked you slid faster into a blown out 10cm high berm / rut at the bottom that you had to square off otherwise you went off a cliff or anything like that, the run out was pretty open and safe.

 

[andy73]

Yeah, this is true. I agree to some part that there should be a b-line there, but realistically, where are you going to put it? If you make a new line anywhere thats easier it most likely will prove faster than than the chute.

Yeah fair point.