Daniel Hale
She fid, he fid, I fidn't
the predicted weather, while ureliable at this stage of 10-20C mostly sunny with some clouds during the day is very positive
[VIC] Wombat Classic Sat 5 Mar 2016
- Thread starter MJG
- Start date
Marx
Likes Dirt
Looking forward to this event.
I did a reccy a few weeks ago, got lost a little bit but riding extra singletrack by mistake is not a bad thing.
https://www.strava.com/activities/492910460/laps
I found the new singletrack recently put in heading south alongside Fingerpost rd (at the 30km mark approx, after 'Leaf Litter' before Rooters?) a bit choppy on my hardtail, but there have been quite few riders out over the last few weeks so maybe a good line has already bedded in.
There's a big - hard to see - wombat hole off to the right along the straight singletrack as the course comes off Taylors Rd. So if you're going for an overtake on that bit keep your eyes up the trail.
I think the techiest bit of the course would be the final 10kms of Wombat trail #1, a good spot for photos on the day maybe?
Still no love of that Fingerpost Rd climb. At least it hasn't got roots, ruts or logs on it like climbing singletrack would have.
I might ride up approx 10kms to the start on the day (my folks live local), planning on riding mostly tempo & smashing perhaps a little too many pancakes before the kickoff.
I did a reccy a few weeks ago, got lost a little bit but riding extra singletrack by mistake is not a bad thing.
https://www.strava.com/activities/492910460/laps
I found the new singletrack recently put in heading south alongside Fingerpost rd (at the 30km mark approx, after 'Leaf Litter' before Rooters?) a bit choppy on my hardtail, but there have been quite few riders out over the last few weeks so maybe a good line has already bedded in.
There's a big - hard to see - wombat hole off to the right along the straight singletrack as the course comes off Taylors Rd. So if you're going for an overtake on that bit keep your eyes up the trail.
I think the techiest bit of the course would be the final 10kms of Wombat trail #1, a good spot for photos on the day maybe?
Still no love of that Fingerpost Rd climb. At least it hasn't got roots, ruts or logs on it like climbing singletrack would have.
I might ride up approx 10kms to the start on the day (my folks live local), planning on riding mostly tempo & smashing perhaps a little too many pancakes before the kickoff.
Daniel Hale
She fid, he fid, I fidn't
well done Mark, you've missed a little bit after distillery & also missed some trk above red hill on your map but overall really good.
youre right the s=trk below leaf litter is a bit bumpy -we needed rain to bed it in but it has not arrived
youre right the s=trk below leaf litter is a bit bumpy -we needed rain to bed it in but it has not arrived
Daniel Hale
She fid, he fid, I fidn't
pm me if you want a strava link to course
well, this was a fantastic ride. Thank you very much to the club, it was really well organised. Loved the trails, dust was pretty good considering the lack of rain and some new tracks that had been cut in. I'll be back for sure if you run it again. I did find it a challenging course, my legs are wobbly pipe cleaners right now, but that's cool. Here's my brief ride report: http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/showthread.php?235524-What-did-you-do-TO-WITH-FOR-your-bike-today!&p=3044256&viewfull=1#post3044256
Daniel Hale
She fid, he fid, I fidn't
race results here http://mtbbendigo.com/index.php/race-results/http://mtbbendigo.com/index.php/race-results/
http://mtbbendigo.com/files/7614/5715/8599/WombatClassic2016.pdf
Massive thanks to Bendigo mTB for supporting the club with Timing, please support them at the Golden Triangle EPIC next month http://goldentriangleepic.com
http://mtbbendigo.com/files/7614/5715/8599/WombatClassic2016.pdf
Massive thanks to Bendigo mTB for supporting the club with Timing, please support them at the Golden Triangle EPIC next month http://goldentriangleepic.com
Knuckles
Lives under a bridge
How'd the squids event go? Much turn out? Committed elsewhere this year, but keen for next year and want to drag a couple of 9yos along for a pin too.
Had a great and exhausting day. Unfortunately it looks like there might have been an issue with my race number, as my number does not match my name on the results, and am therefore in the wrong category. Who should i contact to try and get it sorted?
Plankosaurus
Spongeplank Dalepantski
haha!! there was some tight gaps hey, I remember seeing 4 or 5 bar ends on the ground at one of them. also lots of bottles, someone's going to have a wicked bottle collection after all the bumps today
loved the ride, great atmosphere, looking forward to doing this again...
Marx
Likes Dirt
Great day, can't fault the event except for something I am really uncomfortable in saying: The prologue on the open gravel road before the first bit of singletrack needs to be at least twice as long to spread the field. Either that or leave a longer gaps between smaller groups of the field as they're let off from the start.
Good on you for saying such, but to be honest I have no idea how to solve this.... the Odyssey has a long dirt road ascent that goes for 5 kays before a few pieces of gentle single track that do have overtaking opportunities before you're on genuine singletrack (the red carpet descent), and it still suffers from congo line-itis. It seems to me that I don't find myself in the right pace group until about the 10-12 kay mark as by that time there's been enough riding to sort people into speed tiers. The only thing I can think of then is to have either a mix of single and double track for the first 10 kays or a mix of single and fire road, which allows for plenty of overtaking opportunities.
Certainly the multi-wave start didn't seem to happen so it was a continuous stream of riders with no gaps. I just accept that there will be a bit of a queue in the first hour and enjoy it, it was really good fun riding with like minded individuals on great tracks and the tight riding early on meant lots of chatting with other people and chances to watch some skilled riding as we had to negotiate tricky sections with not enough momentum.
slowmick
38-39"
The conga line was a frustrating as fuck while i was doing it but the fire road before the next section of single track spread out the riders so the next section of single track was more pleasant. I think there were a wide range of riders with various levels of mtb experience and fitness. there were some riders who were just not ready to stop to the side and let other riders past. in the end the riders spread out over the 50 km and i had fun. I had to give up passing people as every time i did the trail turned up hill and the rider i had just passed needed to pass me again...
Surveyorcam
Squid
Wave Starts
Hi Folks.
The wave starts went all wrong on the day, something we need to work on for next year. That and Rego.
Getting the waves right might have helped a little bit, but even the old 100 course had an 8km fire road start and it still caused congo lines at the first single track.
We'll try and improve it for next year.
Hi Folks.
The wave starts went all wrong on the day, something we need to work on for next year. That and Rego.
Getting the waves right might have helped a little bit, but even the old 100 course had an 8km fire road start and it still caused congo lines at the first single track.
We'll try and improve it for next year.
This was an awesome race, the amount of single track was unbelievably good, loved it, but the congo line was ridiculous. And yes it is unavoidable in any race once you head into that first single track, but this one, where I was placed in the start field, was brought on by the field and a bit of poor self appraisal by some. Organisers clearly tried a wave thing, mentioned in the pre-race email, and in the race briefing, even attached an expected race time to the groups to give riders a good idea where they should seed themselves. I know my limitations, wanted to go fast, but also know I am back from the fast riders, so opted for the middle back of the second wave. So even though the space between the waves didn't eventuate, I still pretty much left off where I realistically understood my ability was. But, hitting the single track I was on the end of lines that contained many riders that clearly were not going to get around the 2.30-3.00 hour mark as was requested of our wave. How can you accommodate for that?
So thumbs up to the organisers for trying what might have actually worked better if the field better self-seeded. It ain't easy, but if you can't really determine where you fit, then We should be ok with starting back a bit and feel great about working through the field.
Daniel Hale
She fid, he fid, I fidn't
our wave start got messed up when the guys behind elites rolled too close to the timong mats & had fired the timing (it went off like pop corn)
The timing guy then called them through when we weren't ready & too many got through at once..well get riders much further back next race
Thanks for feedback, ill take it to post race de-brief
The timing guy then called them through when we weren't ready & too many got through at once..well get riders much further back next race
Thanks for feedback, ill take it to post race de-brief
Race report
Link below is to a race report for the Wombat Classic. A great event and a big ups to the Wombat MTB crew for running it.
https://ridethedirttrail.wordpress....e-new-super-species-aka-club-racing-goes-big/
Link below is to a race report for the Wombat Classic. A great event and a big ups to the Wombat MTB crew for running it.
https://ridethedirttrail.wordpress....e-new-super-species-aka-club-racing-goes-big/
Daniel Hale
She fid, he fid, I fidn't
Grant thanks for the write up, to be honest running the event i was more exhausted than if i had of ridden. my chidren who handed out the drinks also crashed when we got home
We're considering using riders' 2016 finishing times for departure wave seeding next year. This should remove most of the inaccuracy of ability self-estimation.
softek
Likes Dirt
the volunteers were awesome, so good to get handed a cold drink after a race like that, I paid $100 more for the OO 2 weeks prior and got nothing. I definitely be back.