The Chocolate Wrapper - Event Report, Round 1
Dear All
If the inaugural round of the SRAM Singletrack Mind Series – Protected by Brave Soldier was to be compared to the launch of a ship, the ship would be the Love Boat slipping gracefully into the water and merrily steaming around the singletrack oasis of Lidsdale, oozing warm fuzzy vibes and corny one-liners.
In short, we're totally stoked with how the event came together, the perfect weather, an awesome track put on by Central Tablelands MTB Club, the great collective vibe from all 243 competitors, our volunteers and brilliant service providers. On top of all that, the racing was tight, with some battles going right to the end – 8 hours pinned to the limit!
Congratulations to all the category winners and place getters for their incredible efforts, and who walked away with just a smidge under $10,000 in cash and prizes from our fantastic sponsors SRAM, Brave Soldier, Avid, RockShox, Truvativ, Leyzne, NZO clothing, Hammer Nutrition, K-Lite Racing, Kenda, Deuter, Mountain Biking Australia and Muc-Off!
Prime TV in the Central Tablelands and Central West showed a report on the event tonight, check it out here. Also, we’ll be posting a selection of photos snapped off by brilliant photographer Dave Bateman on the event website ASAP!
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who came to or assisted in the successful running of the event:
-
Central Tablelands MTB Club – Craig Flynn, Ian Beaver, Skinny, Clint, and the rest of the dedicated crew from CTMBC made our first event a real pleasure. Aside from putting together an amazing track, they assisted us in so many other ways and nothing was too much trouble for these guys.
-
Riders – With so many other events on that weekend, we're really humbled that you believed in us to deliver a quality event and we're super happy that you all enjoyed it!
-
Volunteers – We couldn't have done this without our wonderful volunteers, including the marshals, registration crew and even riders who raced all day, then helped with the pack up. You're all awesome!
-
St John Ambulance – Our 1st Aid crew had a pretty chilled day and only patched up two serious falls. We've checked up on Nick and Rob and after the hospital gave them the once over, it looks like they'll be back on the bike soon.
-
Volunteer Rescue Association – They cooked up a storm all day and delivered a menu to suit the needs of mountain bikers which was tops and tasty! They do this for fundraising so they can continue to save lives and we thank you for supporting them.
-
Mechanical Support – A huge thanks to SRAM tech support and Lifecycles for keeping everybody's bike humming all day.
- Castech Timing - For their state of the art and live to the web timing service and enabling us to start presentation EARLY!
Apart from the great racing, see SBS Cycling Central's report here and full results here and we had some fantastic stories come out on the day. Masters solo rider Jeff Rooney had a challenging start as he forgot his shoes... undeterred he did the opening lap in trainers but after slipping off the miniscule pedal platform countless times he came into transition to ask if anyone would lend him a pair of size 43 shoes. The ever-smiling Gary Theiss came to the rescue and for his kindness we later rewarded him with a set of Avid's very fine Elixir disc brakes. When Jeff went on to lose a crank arm 2 laps later, Lifecycles leapt to the rescue and Jeff went on to podium!
Talking of schwag ... a number of riders went home having won some great spot prizes from our generous sponsors during the day, and Glen Partridge was the lucky winner of our random prize giveaway of a Truvativ Noir 3.3 carbon crankset and bottom bracket worth over 700 bucks! Guess whose lap times should be improving next round, eh? Just a reminder that if you want to score some free stuff you'll need to transition in the dedicated transition zone and to score the big giveaway you'll need to be at the Presentation. We got the prezzo started pretty quickly and flew through it as we knew many of you had long journeys home!
Now for the not-so-exciting housekeeping stuff …
Lost property: Not much to report but we have a black hoodie with white print that was left in the transition zone.
Transponders: Did you find an orange timing chip attached to your fork leg when you got home? Oops! If you did, please pop it in a tuff bag or wrapped in bubble wrap and post to:
Castech Sports Technology
PO Box 219, Wahroonga NSW 2076
Trash talk: Thankfully there was minimal rubbish left on track and in the event centre as there should be. If anyone's in doubt that they should stuff that empty gel packet up their knicks, we have a State Government Ranger racing the whole series, he's quick AND he's a soloist so he's on track the whole time. Should he catch you littering, he's told us he's more than happy to hand you a fine. Ouch! Conversely, anyone who picks up some litter or lost items may be rewarded with a nice prize.
Putting our best foot forward ...
Singletrack Mind Series Round 2: Needless to say, entries are open for all rounds of the series. The second round on 16 May in Nowra incorporates the Defence Force Cycling Club's Endurance championships as well as the Singletrack Mind Solo Singlespeed championship, and is expected to be huge, so enter early to avoid disappointment! Entries close on Wednesday May 12 and we have bad news for you procrastinators out there – unlike last round there will be absolutely no on-the-day entries.
Women, Wine & Wheels: There nothing better than a great ride followed by a quality tipple and we're proud to announce that we're partnering with the Central West Mountain Bike club to put on the Women, Wine & Wheels Weekend on 30 & 31 October, in conjunction with Orange Wine Week. There will be a skills clinic, a riding tour of the region's acclaimed cellar doors, and singletrack galore. While the skills day is for women only, the boys will be very welcome on the winery tour and other social activities. Details to come soon, but register your interest by sending us an email.
That's it for the first edition of the Chocolate Wrapper, our event wrap, and again we'd like to thank everyone for contributing to the success of our first event. We really look forward to delivering more great days out on the bike!
Cheers
Joe & Fi
|
