2005 NSW State Round 4, 12th June 2005
WMBC – Wandandian, NSW
The NSW State DH series moved east for this round, from the barren hillside of Mt. Stromlo last month, to the damp and isolated forest on the south coast. The track was located 40 minutes south of Nowra, up in the hills, far, far from civilisation. After driving along the dirt road for 20 minutes to get there it felt a long way from anywhere.
This was the first time the track had been used for a race and the general consensus among the riders at the end of the event was that the track was a lot of fun to ride, but that it was not the best organised event, and perhaps the venue wasn’t well suited to a race. But more of that later.
Registration brought the surprise bonus of getting a new permanent number plate for each rider, to be used for the remainder of the series. Co-sponsored by clothing company Severe, they bring a more professional look to everyone and were quite welcome.
To the track. This venue was slightly odd in that you parked in the middle of the uphill section for the transport, at a junction in the fireroad. You then had to ride down the fireroad for a few minutes to get to the bottom of the track, where you boarded the buses, to get to the top of the track. These buses then went back up the fireroad you’d just ridden down, back past your car, where your tools and food were, and on to the top of the hill. Once the bus dropped you at the top, you then had an up and down pedal for a minute or two to get to the start of the actual race track.
Once rolling down this track, however, the smile soon returned to your face. To start with there was a good section of single track, with a few berms, rocks and little jumps. There was a tricky off camber section into two rollers, then a small launch over a log, a very short uphill pedal, then into a steep rutted chute. This then opened up into a flat-out, pinning single track down the ridge, dodging a few trees and rocks. There was a small launch that spat you towards a bermed right-hander, into a left-hander, then down around the gap jump that was not used for safety issues.
Unfortunately at this stage the gradient flattened out quite a lot. This section had some very fun singletrack, over logs and rocks and through some cool corners, but quite level, which meant that you really had to work hard to keep your momentum, or else you lost a lot of time. Then the fun single track ended and you were on a very flat fireroad for several hundred metres. This then started to go downhill again before you had a very cool left hander that you could hit very fast, into a small jump over a log, then brake hard for a few tighter corners before a steep switchback led you towards the big log drop. It wasn’t a gap at all, just really a drop onto a not too steep lander. The next, final, section was very fun, all single track along the side of the hill, with some very flowy corners, a couple of bus stops, a little jump or two and then it was down the last off camber section, around the tricky right handed last corner, and then the final drop down to the finish line.
The Commencal boys from Canberra, Ben Cory, Adam Dossetter and Ben Morrison, were all looking very fast, amid rumours that they had been practicing for several weeks. Brad Kelly was enjoying his lightweight Demo 8 and the Astrix riders, Alan Crisp and John Odams, were also looking quite fast. There were plenty of entries in the other classes, with the local riders enjoying showing their track off to the rest of the State.
Besides the flat fireroad section, it was a great track. During practice on Saturday morning, everyone was coming down with smiles on their faces. And then they saw the line up for the lift back up, and the smiles faded. There seemed to be a plethora of 4WD’s with bike trailers and Minivans for the riders, but the queue at the bottom of the hill just kept getting bigger. The waiting was getting a few people down and then it rained. This meant that the people who had just turned up to race, ridden down the hill to get the bus, were left to wait in line for 50 minutes in the rain, having left any wet weather gear back at the car. Mmm…fun. Then the steep section of the fireroad at the top became too slippery for the vans to get up, so practice was temporarily suspended. Thanks must go to Alan Crisp from Astrix for letting me keep dry in the back of his van. Next time though Alan, I expect a cappuccino machine.
After many rumours floating around about impassable floods and mudslides, the organisers made an announcement that practice was to be suspended but some of the drivers took it on themselves to take people up, but let them walk the last kilometre up the steep part. Many people took the opportunity to head home instead, but I like riding my bike more than sitting around in damp clothes whinging, so I did a few runs in the mud. It was much more slippery at first than I thought it would be, but then it started to dry out and get a bit more tacky and fun. Three muddy runs later, it was time to head home and clean up ready for the next day.
So, the morning of the race dawned clear and cool. The clouds had all blown away, but how much had the track dried out? After letting the first few buses take the guinea pigs up, I boarded the bus ready to ride. The track had mostly dried out and become nicely tacky. There were a couple of mud spots, but nothing too bad. There were even more riders though, and so the bus lines were a bit longer. But with the sun shining, it didn’t seem so bad. Although some people resorted to walking 30 minutes up another fireroad, just to ride the bottom half of the track. Money well spent, eh lads?
On to the racing. After some dramas with a trailer running over a few bikes (read about it in the forums) the Elites were on their way to the top. But sitting in the middle of the hill left us with no way of knowing how the times were and who had done well. Up we went in Expert class, the camaraderie on the bus hiding any nerves. After watching the last of the Elites from the start line, we were up. With the new number plates we had been given a seeding order, which is cool, but it didn’t seem to have anything to do with seeding riders by ability. Hence you had fast riders all mixed up with slow riders, and getting held up. I know we’re not Elite, but we come racing to be competitive, and we want to do our best, not get help up by others. Better luck next time Goffy. Anyway, the track was in top condition, the sun was shining, and it was a fun race.
The rest of the classes progressed, but it was a bit hard to see most of them, due to the marshal at the finish line not letting anyone walk up the track. Adam Smithson qualified fastest by a mile, but a crash in the final put him back. The Canberrans continue to be a force to contend with, although Rick Boyer kept them honest this weekend. Rob McNaughton made a return to racing, sporting a new jersey for each run on Sunday. Brad Kelly claimed to be asleep in his run. I don’t know who he was, but props to the guy racing with a cast on his wrist. Team Astrix had their best results to date (I think), including Alan Crisp riding the Huckster “Freeride” frame. Tim Eaton and Hugh Mansfield both had offs in the last corner, leaving the way open for Dean Robson. Emma McNaughton was gracious in her defeat by Claire Whiteman, who is preparing for overseas racing later this year. I’ll just mention that the timing this year at the State races has been great. Live timing makes for a much more exciting event. Two Wheel Promotions did the honours this weekend.
The presentation was given, and the prizes seemed reasonable and most people left with smiles on their faces. The organisers put in a lot of effort to hold the first DH race for the Wollongong Club. Many thanks also to all the volunteers who put in their time to drive smelly riders up the hill, register and feed us. Your work is appreciated.
Now, I have a few issues to raise. Not to take anything away from the efforts I have just mentioned, but just as pointers to be remembered for future races.
A good track does not equal a good race venue.
Not being able to easily get to your car between runs sucks. No food, no tools and no rain jacket when it starts to rain. I think the car park needs to be at the top or the bottom of the track.
No spectator access is no fun for spectators. My wife and some friends had come to watch and were firstly confused by the chaos at the rego area, and at not having an obvious indication as to where to go to see the racing. Then to be told they couldn’t walk up the track to watch and had to stay at the finish line was also disappointing. The alternative was a circuitous and long walk up another fireroad, that had us wondering if we’d gone the right way. Having a spectator access track makes things a lot easier. Especially for parents of who have just spent thousands of dollars on their kids bike and want to see him use it.
What happened to course marshals and St Johns? I don’t think I saw either all weekend. Not confidence inspiring when you’re going down tree lined single track at 60 km/h. As racer’s I think we should be able to expect these things to be there.
There are lots of people turning up to races these days. Please make sure that there are enough buses and trailers to cope with it. Over an hour between runs does not make for a fun day. This also means having transport that can cope if it starts raining. Don’t just rely on crossing your fingers and hoping the clouds stay away. Plan for it. No body likes walking up the hill. But people like sitting around not know what’s going on even less.
I think a podium would be nice for the presentations too. Just one that can be taken to the different State races. Bit more professional looking.
I know that the State DH Committee are addressing some of these things and are working hard to continually improve the quality of the series, and I know that the club officials always work hard to put on each race, but these were just some ideas that I, as a racer, had that might help to raise the profile of the sport.
The photos in this report were taken by Karen Collins. Some other photos of the event can be seen here.
For full results, go here.
For overall standings go here (pdf).
The next NSW State DH round is to be held on the 10th July and will be put on by the Hunter MTB Association. Keep an eye on the forums for which track will be used. I can’t make it either way, but have a good one and I’ll see you at Ourimbah. To discuss this upcoming event, go here.
