2006 KHS Golden Triangle Epic

Overall I think the event was fantastic, and you did well snagging the first Victorian marathon event claim.  Generally I think the event was very well organised - no complaints really.

One thought I just had was whether an alternative would be to run the course in reverse.  I'm a bit slower than most, and whilst I was careful with water, and kept drinking a lot, I found the singletrack section between checkpoints 3 and 4, down in the valley a bit full-on.    I passed a number of riders from this point on, with people cramping up and starting to feel the heat.  Partly it was because by that stage the day was heating up.  I think you start to get a bit heat distressed, regardless of hydration and fitness, when you've been riding for more than 4 hours and the temperature is rising.    I wonder if the lack of shade through this section exacerbated things.  The singletrack rising back up out of the valley was challenging for me, and stop start riding with your balance getting a bit dodgy starts to get demoralising after a while.  Different weather conditions could completely change this of course - cooler/overcast weather would probably negate the temperature.  I wonder too if at this time of the year people are still adjusting to warmer riding.

Running the course in reverse, people would start with fire road climbing, whip through the open singletrack, then do lots of dirt road riding, and finish with singletrack in shade.  Just a thought.

I'm always impressed with how efficient and smooth these events are with volunteers running everything and the number of riders.  Completing the 85km in a time i was happy with has convinced me to enter the Otways 100km in March.

Well done on a great event,

Stuart

Please see below comments the event was great well done to all the organizers will be back next year thanks for a great day

Regards P.Pink

Track  The track was great and challenging enough

Signage : Was very good in most cases the bunting tied in the trees was excellent could have been some more on long stretches

Venue : Great venue easy access

Amenities :Were no problems that I saw

Date of event : The date works in well with cup weekend

etc

Man, it must have been a tough epic.  The 1/2 was a pretty fair ride.

It seemed to be a very well run event to me. 

I think you guys did an excellent job. 

Peter

I thought the event was great.

The track had a nice variety and on a long ride, it cannot be too technical or it takes too long. Would be nice if the big stint of public road could be broken up, but may not be possible and the quantity of it was fine.

Signage, clear directions and enough to never think twice about going the wrong way.

 Venue was fine

Didn't camp but looked fine

Toilets, Coffee and food, all you need

Prizes, glad to see spot prizes given away at random as well as to the quick lot at the front.

Date - fine not too hot

Think I road with you for a while, thanks for that too.

I will be there next year if you run it.

Thanks again

Andy

I thought the event was excellent and really enjoyed the 45km, it was an excellent course. I don't think I would have enjoyed the 85km, too much fire trail.

One issue to look at is with the start time for the 45km event, it was 8:45 then 9:00 and finally I think we got away around 9:30. For those of us travelling up from Melbourne , such a late start would've made it possible to come up the morning of the event without having to get up very early, rather than having to come up on the saturday.

My other issue was with the delay for the results, the men sports 45km results still weren't available at the presentation because some-one was still out on the course. I think it makes sense to release some preliminary results a bit earlier than that.

Apart from that thanks for some new single track to explore.

I was planning to send in some feedback from the event anyway. I thought it was fantastic. A great track with heaps of variety and challenges, but not too hard. The signage was excellent. Well done to all for getting so many arrows out. There were never any questions as to where to go. The event centre was fine and the camping area was OK. I didn't stay for the presentations as I had a long way to travel home so can't comment on prizes. Certificates were a good idea. SES assistance with check points was great – thanks to them for a top job!!

Just one gripe. My name was spelt incorrectly on my number plate and certificate – no big deal – but it also means my email address was incorrect so I did not receive the final email and start list. I had to get a friend to forward the results on to me.

Anyway, well done to you and your club for a terrific event. I loved it and will definitely be back next year.

Tony Clark

The whole event was very good.

The signage was great, if you can ride a MTB you shouldn't get lost.

Can you also make it the Victorian Championships next year, this will help raise the event above the others.

Hi John,

Firstly, I really have to congratulate Bendigo for putting on such a great event. It was generally a really good course. My only gripe (and bear in mind I am not all that great in rocky single track and I was unwell for 2 weeks before the race so felt terrible) was the seemingly gratuitous and endless up and downs in that paddock between check points 3 and 4. I feel the course was pretty tough in that it undulated all the way, and by the paddock, that degree of technical riding was more than I could take. The 10k run home was fantastic by contast (and that still had a few killer hills!). My comment would be that it would be great if you could find a little bit of single track somewhere more in the middle (I don't suppose there is any in Lyell forest?) and take out a little bit in that paddock. I think the length was fine (a bit longer would be ok, but no extra single track).

Also, I REALLY appreciated you giving the Masters women a decent prize. Too often I hear, well there are hardly any of you. There are 2 schools of thought: Yes, I was the only one, but that is hardly MY fault and it is really good that your club encourages women (and senior women) by giving prizes the same as other mens class (although I have no idea what you did give them).

I will defintitely be there again next year if it doesn't clash with my main sport (Mountain bike orienteering).

Regards,

Carolyn Jackson (the Masters Woman NOT Caroline the Elite!!).

PS. It would be really great if you could find a way to put Adrian (my son) in the results. He was given (not his fault) the wrong number, and it was only noticed on the start line. He came 5th in Elite, which is a fantastic result, and it would be nice if others knew about it!!

Hello John

The first epic ride was a fantastic event, in my opinion, and I enjoyed it very much.

COURSE-was very enjoyable. A bit longer prelude might be advantageous next year as the riders were still pretty well bunched heading into the first single track. This made it hard to get any flow or rhythm right throughout the first singletrack. This stopped many riders climbing short climbs due to riders in front. The last section of singletrack was very difficult towards the end of the race (but probably because I was buggered). Overall it was a challenging but enjoyable course. The volunteers were absolutely wonderful, and the checkpoints were very well set out and operated.

SIGNAGE- was very good and I had no problems finding the trails and keeping up speed without looking for signs. Very well done.

VENUE- Easy to get to. Came in from Shepparton. Went via Axedale and found this very straight forward with a country melways. You could maybe put a map on the site next year or directions using that route for the NE riders.

AMENITIES- were adequate and well covered.

PRIZES-Didn't get any but I think Mick Shanahan won the bike (10th in masters), I finished 9th. Doh! Lots of prizes and the rider pack was very good quality and well appreciated.

DATE- Good time of year, not too hot. Only a week away from the Gravity ride at Myrtleford though. I don't know if this affected the entries, but I found I had to choose between the two (couldn't afford both). Maybe a week or two earlier you might get more NE riders from Albury region?

The camraderie at the event was top notch. Spoke to many riders during the event that I didn't even know and had a great time. the Bendigo boys especially were very friendly.

Special mention to the masseur. That $10 was the bewst money I spent all day and aided my recovery immensely. Could you pass on my thanks.

Will make it back next year to the event (but I might just do the 45km).

appreciatively,

Neville Laffy (masters)

Just a short note to say well done on a fantastic event on Sunday. Great course with a good mix of single track and fire roads and plenty of climbing.  I was very impressed with the course markings.  I have done many XC races in the past when I've been unsure whether I was still on the right track and a few where I've actually taken the wrong track and had to double back.  I found the whole of the 80 km to be well marked out and the arrows were easy to see and visible from a good distance, particuarly on the faster dirt road sections.  I know it takes a lot of work to set out any XC course but to do it for 80 km's is a huge effort. I didn't use the camping faciltiies so I can't comment on that.  I also didn't hang around for the presentations as I'd finished the race around midday and didn't want to hang around until 4 p.m. for them. Everything else was good, online entry was easy, registration at the event was fast and easy, heaps of room at the event for parking, great location and good tough course.  Also would like to pass on thanks to all the volunteers, particuarly the SES members at the checkpoints.  I'm sure there were also plenty of committee members and others who also put in a lot of work behind the scenes as well who also deserve a pat on the back. I hope the event continues successfully and plan to be back next year. Congratulations on putting on a great event.

Track Being new to MTB, I found the start pretty technical & heavy going. Had the heart rate up into the 190's on the early short uphill sections. The rest of it was fine. Spoke to several others & we all got a final distance of 36kms on our computers (not 42 or 45). Mind you 36kms was far enough!

Signage Very good. Only once did I question whether I took the correct turn or not. 

Venue  Good. Prefer not to have to stay overnight & be away from home as I have a young family but I understand an early start is unavoidable with an 85km event.

Camping  Stayed in town. 

Amenities
Great to have a shower at the end 

Prizes  Couldn't stay around...was falling asleep due to a sleepless night. A prize for best first time MTB competitor would have been great (me!)

Date of event  Fine. 

 Well done on the event. Overall impression was that it was quite well organised.

Track:   Excellent, obviously a large amount of work done, loved it all.

Signage:   Again excellent, no problems, clear and sufficient so that you never wonder for long if you are lost.

Venue:   You need more facilities, I am a fan of starting and running races through towns.  There are many bonuses for this, the first being all the facilities are there ready to go.  If there is a town within striking distance I suggest use it, as the race could be longer ie the winners time is too quick, needs to be 3.5 hrs – 4 hrs for the winner by UCI standards. 

Camping:   it's a good idea, but not an integral part of a Marathon event, like a 24/12hr.

Amenities:  I didn't use them, but I believe they were good.

Prizes:  I didn't stay for the presentations.  The presentations need to be on as soon as practically possible, not as soon as the podium has finished, but before the crowd have been standing around in the sun, getting toe-y.  Definitely well before the last finisher is in.  In my circle no-one races for the prizes, and cash always makes them smile, but no age-group rider expects (or should expect) cash.

Date of event:  Fine, no problems, but you'll always clash with something, so just hold your date and make it the big event on that weekend.

ETC:  If you stick with the current location I would suggest creating a more welcoming semi-square or U-shaped village, incorporating the management tent, support tents, trade tents, showers/toilets w/shielded entrances…….podium at the apex and seating w/umbrellas central.  Remove the cow poo if poss.

One other thing……First Aid:   How do you do medical back up on all the single-track?  If someone has a spinal trauma in the forest do you have a workable plan for getting to them and getting them out rapidly?  In the most remote part of the track how long would this take?   

The above are all my own personal ideas from visiting and competing in many races in many different parts of the world, managing events and talking to many other managers and dealing with insurance companies, I hope it is of some help and is not regarded as a criticism.

We taped enough for a segment on our show (it'll be about 2 mins) and shall make a small DVD for you……we can produce a segment, up to a minute, to be used as a ‘quicktime' on your website, similar to what we have on our website, in the right column see www.topbike.com.au if you wish?

Regards,

David Olle 

Want to put some feedback up email jharvey@britafe.vic.edu.au