Next Monday for Juniors Dirt Crits
Kate Stonnill
Welcome back for term one and welcome to all our new families.
Sorry I didn't have this information last Monday but All terrain Cycles have generously offered their bus and bike trailer to take riders to Carters Road next Monday Feb 15… so all juniors can ride the bottom section of the Epic trail.
My aim is to have all riders at Rifle Butts straight from school on Monday for a 4pm departure (or as soon to that as possible). This will put us on track by 4.30-4.45pm. It will take riders between 12 and 40 minutes to race up to Mirimbah park. At this point we will re-group and ride back down to Carters Rd. We have permission from Bike Buller to ride the track in reverse.
Aiming to be back in town at Riflebutts by 6.30pm.
I will have refreshments for the trip out but feel free to pack some extra afternoon tea. Please remember drink bottles !! and the usual $2 ride fee.
David and I will both be going but I will definitely need RSVPs from everyone so I can plan numbers for the trailer and so we don't miss anyone.
So far I have two other parents coming as well. Its a beautiful ride for those that haven't been out there, as the track winds along the river to Mirimbah.
I look forward to your feedback.
If you still have not organised your MTBA membership please go to the MTBA website. Riders under 12yrs (Dirt Masters) can get 12months for $50. If you haven't registered before click here for a FREE 2 MONTH MEMBERSHIP... so you have no excuses. It gives you insurance and me piece of mind.
Cheers,
Kate.
Racing up the Old Tolmie Road
By Craig 'Wil' Wilson
14 riders took to the road last Sunday for the first ever MMBCC race up Old Tolmie Road and return on Whitfield Road. Old Tolmie is a beast of a climb and much of the riding could hardly be called racing, more like “slow progression up a steep hill” followed by a “very fast progression down a steep hill”.
Limit riders Wil Wilson and John Eisner set off with a half hour start on the scratch group; next to leave were the duo of David Jagger and Will MacDonald; third group of Alex Green, Danielle Garden Steven Flew and Will Calvert-Jones looked dangerous from the off but not as dangerous as Bruce Halket, Mauro Brega, Darren Bakker and Dave Moore who rode off the 5 minute mark. The last group to begin was Josh Hopwood and Tom McMunn who had their work cut out to chase down the riders with easier handicaps.
As expected, the hill took its toll; Eisner and Wilson stayed together to the top of Old Tolmie, although it is suspected that Eisner did a fair deal of waiting as Wilson produced speeds of 5km/h and lower. The Halket, Brega, Bakker and Moore group broke up in the climb and never really got back together. The Green, Garden, Flew and Calvert-Jones group broke up with Will Calvert-Jones and Echuca rider, Danielle Garden leaving the other pair and riding away. This, it seems, was the winning move!
Once over the hill it was a fast descent down Whitfield Road to the Broken River and then a drag race for home. Wilson dropped (like a brick) down the descent leaving his partner further up the hill; at one point Wilson recorded a top speed of 73.1 km/h. Garden and Calvert-Jones rounded up Wilson before Carlisle Hill and disappeared into the distance. And this was how the race concluded with Danielle Garden 1st over the line, closely followed by her working partner Will Calvert-Jones, in his second race back at the club. Wilson held on for third place with John Eisner 4th and Alex Green rounding out the placings in 5th. Fastest time was Josh Hopwood with a time of 1 hour 16 minutes and 11 seconds. Josh was happy to be racing on his favourite climb.
Thanks to our volunteers and helpers. See you at the race on Thursday night, again on the Whitfield Road.
Junior Dirt Crits report - Monday 8 February
Kate Stonnill
Junior Dirt Crits hit record numbers on Monday night with 23 riders ready to race.
The handicap was based on their 2 lap and one lap race times from the previous week.
The girls proved they can lead the pack with Elise Empey and newcomers Bella Green and Matisse Gardiner racing a strong four laps followed by Zac Empey also on finishing the four laps.The rest of the riders finished with 3,2 or one lap.
Next week the riders can hitch a ride to Carters road, courtesy of ATC to race the bottom section of the Epic trail.
We will leave Riflebutts Reserve MTB Park at 4pm.
Senior Dirt Crits results for Feb 1 are here and Feb 8 are here as well as a few photos from Feb 8 here.
Lake Mountain Super G
The Murrindindi Cycle club is promoting the Lake Mountain Super G for 2016 after deciding to drop our traditional race, the Lake Mountain Granite Grind. With declining participation numbers we launched an online questionnaire as to why the event was losing popularity. The unequivocal feedback was it was too hard for the majority of people out there. The club's charter is to promote riding in the Murrindindi Shire, and with a new section of trail just finished at Lake Mountain we decided to run a different type of event, thus this year’s Lake Mountain Super G.
Still a cross country event, Lake Mountain Super G is point to point, has a ton of great descending but also a couple of climbs, fitness is required to do well, but so too bike handling skills. This event will show off the new trail at Lake Mountain, still unnamed at this stage, it is the first 12kms of a trail that will ultimately finish in Marysville, a total of 25 ks of mostly rolling downhill from the summit of Lake Mountain, it will be more than “epic”.
For details on the event please visit the Murrindindi Cycle Club website or the Lake Mountain Super G Facebook page.