[akashra]

Well, details are out (woohoo), and the website is now up.

Highlights of the details posted:
To be hosted at Lysterfield Park, with a maximum track length of 20km, varying each round.

8th April, 8:30-16:30
20th May, 9:00-15:00
1st July, 9:30-14:30
19th August, 9:00-16:00

Teams of two, or three if you're employed by the same parent company or are all secondary school students. Separate divisions for Friends, Husband/Wife teams, Secondary School students, Corporate teams, Pro Teams.

Entry fee: $60 per rider per event.

So... who's entering?

 

[Some Guy]

We'll be there, cash prizes are always good . Not to mention that with FGP running it you know it's going to be well organised and great fun.

No lights, no long drives, no queuing up to enter on the day. What more can you ask for?

 

[ilostmypassword]

i'm in

 

[Some Guy]

Did anyone else see that they are giving a hydration pack to every rider? How crazy is that!

 

[akashra]

If it's the same as the Anaconda hydration pack I've been using at the crits, I'm looking to replace mine with something like an '06 (not '07) Camelbak Rogue or Salomon RR15... hopefully it's different, but the one I have just doesn't have the pockets you need to put tools etc in.

 

[Some Guy]

I believe it is the same one, 1.5lt water capacity and if it's full there isn't room for much else. But at the same time, you can't expect a top of the line pack when they are giving it away,

 

[PuddleDuck]

Great Event

Rode in the first event today - had a blast. Really well organised event. I even won a wind trainer in a random prize draw :thumbsup: Might post some pics when I find some energy.

 

[Some Guy]

I even won a wind trainer in a random prize draw

I think even if you don't inlcude the hydration pack for entering, pretty much everyone walked away with something . Another really well run FGP event, and how fun was the course!

 

[akashra]

It's hearing things like that make me wish I stayed around the start/finish - I spent 6:25 on the track, so not long to socialize, or win prizes.

 

[aussie_yeti]

if you were on track that long i probably got some pics of you - some are on the blog and the rest are linked to from there. looked like a good day, i should have raced.

 

[sicwombat]

Hey, sounds like things went well. Pretty keen to give the next round a go. ( need to find a riding buddy though ). What were the numbers like, did the tracks get crowded ? Photos dont seem to show much of a crowd. Havent done an 'organised event' before, just mainly solo rides on weekends at Lysterfield. Any feedback helpfull.

Cheers.

 

[akashra]

Numbers were pretty poor imo, with only I think about 130-140 (most in teams of two-three) or so riders to a 20+km track - so only ever around 60 people on track at a time. It got very lonely out there most of the time. Low numbers were to be expected this round though with it clashing with the state downhill event and easter.

They would have been better off running a shorter track this round and leaving a long track to one of the rounds which got more entries.

 

[woody45]

I just entered yesterday as a solo rider. This is my first non pint to piont style endurance event so im not really sure what to expect but im sure the course should be good. Do most people have tents or somewhere to store your stuff or can you just take an esky and a chair? (which is my plan so far)

 

[pagey]

Woody

They have an area set aside for the solo riders to setup. If you have no support crew an esky and chair will be fine. If it looks like rain (ha ha in Melb) then a little pup tent would be handy. Good luck and we'll see you there.

PS - no sitting allowed between laps.

cheers
Pagey

 

[akashra]

Really you just need somewhere to put food/spare parts/tools - you'll probably find the rest of the time you're just walking/standing around talking to others at the event.

Hopefully the course for CTS2 will be shorter than CTS1. I'm heading out there again in about 10 minutes to do another lap of the CTS1 course, which is fine in one lap stints, but a little long for me in multiple lap stints for me.

I suspect they'll exclude the CWG course next time around though. Or kinda hope

 

[woody45]

I was also wondering about tire choice. Although I live in Melbourne I find myself always riding the Yarra trails, and have only ridden at Lysterfield three times. I was thinking a Maxxis Larson or Crossmark on the rear with a Kenda Nevegal on the front?

 

[Some Guy]

Crossmarks work really nicely front and rear out at lysty, enough grip to hang on nicely in the loose stuff and gravel sections in the commgames track, and super quick on the (large amounts of) hardpack.

 

[Some Guy]

Numbers were pretty poor imo, with only I think about 130-140 (most in teams of two-three) or so riders to a 20+km track - so only ever around 60 people on track at a time. It got very lonely out there most of the time. Low numbers were to be expected this round though with it clashing with the state downhill event and easter.

They would have been better off running a shorter track this round and leaving a long track to one of the rounds which got more entries.

The uncrowded track was pretty nice for me, it made passing much easier. I can imagine it getting a bit lonely as a soloist though.

 

[PuddleDuck]

I was also wondering about tire choice. Although I live in Melbourne I find myself always riding the Yarra trails, and have only ridden at Lysterfield three times. I was thinking a Maxxis Larson or Crossmark on the rear with a Kenda Nevegal on the front?

Hey Woody,

I know both trails very well, and except for the Comm Games portion of the Lysty course (which was maybe 25% of this recent event), the trail conditions are very similar.

The Nevegal on the front will give you HEAPS of traction if you love singletrack dicin' :thumbsup: If you generally don't lose the front end, or want to same some weight, go with the Crossmark's (which I haven't personally run, but I've only heard good things about).

If it's muddy though, you'll definitely want to forget the Larsen, and maybe even the Crossmark. In looser conditions, I've had great success with the 2.1 Stick-eNevegal as a front, and the Maxxis Advantage Excetpion as a front and rear choice.

Cheers
PD

 

[akashra]

I actually grabbed a Crossmark for my new shiny wheelset on Wednesday thanks to yours and royale's opinions on them - was going to get them front and rear, but the place I got them from was out of stock, so ended up putting a Larsen TT on the front.

Thinking about it, the Crossmark might typically be better suited to the front than the rear, though on the rear it's definately going to better getting the power down, especially through gravel. Where the Larsen worries me is across gravel, such as the section down below the dam wall. The Larsen is certainly great on hardpack, but I was really feeling sketchy on it (moreso than normal) on the loose dirt at the start/finish and coming through the 180 on the gravel, coming up over the hill, at the crits on Thursday.

Unfortunately you can't really get a tyre that's going to go well both on hardpack and gravel. You can get "okay" on both, but for anything else you kinda have to pick one or the other (imo).