Shale Shaker

Race Information, Race Questions and Discussion. Offroad news and discussion.
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dirtyboy
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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by dirtyboy »

It was a great race!

Loved the video. I like your style of taking the alternate line everywhere. You can pass if you are following they say.

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RJHenry
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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by RJHenry »

It was not the same hill. Last year's hill is fondly called "Bulldog or Die" though I also heard Bobby and Jason rode it. :crazy: I was helped down the first section by two intermediates as they lapped me... I describe it as getting your bike down off the hood of your truck (if your truck were parked on a slope about the pitch of the roof of your house...) No mistaking it.

This year's hill was gnarly, but just long and a lot of loose shale. I must be improving because at this hill I was lapped by Bobby and Jason instead of the intermediates! :smirk:

If Jillian can confirm her performance, I believe all the ladies rode that hill :thumbsup: ... only the FattyB guys like me bulldogged it! :blush:

Other than the hill, it was quite similar to last year in length, content, and difficulty though I think there were a few less riders to make two laps this year.

I had a very symmetrical performance - I cut 3-1/2 hours off of last year's time, thus finishing in... 3-1/2 hours. If I can cut half that next next year I'll win the overall I think :D

A great race!
RJH
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Jonny5
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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by Jonny5 »

Agreed, what a great race!!! The main hill was pretty dodgy, and I too bull-dogged it down. To my surprise, a lot of folks rode it. :eek:

Can’t wait to go back and re-ride it. Maybe then I can stop and take in those awesome views!

I also loved the start. It was great for the spectators. :thumbsup:
Jon G.
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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by Braap791 »

I definately enjoyed that race :thumbsup: A big RMDRA round of applause is in order for Grant (AKA Grimlock) who finished 2nd in the Vet JR CXCC Overall Standings! :applause:

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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by hilux94 »

RJHenry wrote:It was not the same hill. Last year's hill is fondly called "Bulldog or Die" though I also heard Bobby and Jason rode it. :crazy: I was helped down the first section by two intermediates as they lapped me... I describe it as getting your bike down off the hood of your truck (if your truck were parked on a slope about the pitch of the roof of your house...) No mistaking it.

This year's hill was gnarly, but just long and a lot of loose shale. I must be improving because at this hill I was lapped by Bobby and Jason instead of the intermediates! :smirk:

If Jillian can confirm her performance, I believe all the ladies rode that hill :thumbsup: ... only the FattyB guys like me bulldogged it! :blush:

Other than the hill, it was quite similar to last year in length, content, and difficulty though I think there were a few less riders to make two laps this year.

I had a very symmetrical performance - I cut 3-1/2 hours off of last year's time, thus finishing in... 3-1/2 hours. If I can cut half that next next year I'll win the overall I think :D

A great race!
RJH
I rode it!! And at the bottom when I looked up, I felt like a total boss! :thumbsup: lol

Good job on your race!!!
2012 250XC

"If you can't be good, be good at it"

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RJHenry
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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by RJHenry »

hilux94 wrote:
I rode it!!
:applause:
hilux94 wrote:
And at the bottom when I looked up, I felt like a total boss! :thumbsup: lol
As well you should :cheers:
Robert J Henry
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cerealkiller
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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by cerealkiller »

Congratulations Grimlock! :cheers:

3 1/2 hrs seems like a pretty good time for a 100km race. Nice work Robert :thumbsup:
dirtyboy wrote:Loved the video. I like your style of taking the alternate line everywhere. You can pass if you are following they say.
Thanks, obviously it didn't ALWAYS work out though...

In case the first video wasn't enough to sate your desire for action, I present part 2:

Robert, check out the video at ~1:50. That was the corner that was marked wrong. It's probably hard to see unless you pause the video, but there are blue and pink ribbons on the left. There was also a skinny log across the trail on the right side with some orange arrows pointing backwards. I maintain that with those markings, turning left was not my fault.
-Jared
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RJHenry
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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by RJHenry »

cerealkiller wrote: 3 1/2 hrs seems like a pretty good time for a 100km race. Nice work Robert :thumbsup:
Yes, except I only did 48 km :blush:
Robert J Henry
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cerealkiller
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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by cerealkiller »

:lol:
-Jared
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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by TrailBreaker »

Hi there fellas that are posting vids and discussing flagging issues. I would like to jog your memories back to the riders meeting prior to the afternoon hare scramble. All that attended this meeting were notified that the races for the ladies b class and the kids expert class that were run earlier that day used the same course but in the opposite direction. The ladies b and kids expert courses were flagged in the proper direction for the less experienced racers to follow easier. The afternoon classes were told this in the riders meeting to let them know that going the opposite direction on the course would mean that the course is also flagged backwards. In other words arrows point the wrong way and corner flags after the corners. This was done the alleviate the need for organizers to re-flag the course completely. On another note I heard that the race organizers had a terrible time throughout the week with daisy sniffers pulling flags and pitching the logs and stumps with arrows on them off into the bushes. Everyday the organizers were riding sections of the course to fix and replace flagging. It's a shame this is happening but I suspect it's going to be an ongoing battle with future off-road events everywhere.

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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by LID »

anyone have a GPS track of the course? Hare Scramble and X-Country?

I couldn't go this year but I'd like to go ride some of the terrain.

LID
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Braap791
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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by Braap791 »

LID wrote:anyone have a GPS track of the course? Hare Scramble and X-Country?

I couldn't go this year but I'd like to go ride some of the terrain.

LID
We went back and camped last weekend down there. The ladies B and kids expert loop still has some flags dangling at the major intersections so you can follow it around its about 18kms. Would definately try and track down some GPS tracks of the XC loop.

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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by hilux94 »

I know a group is headed down there Sunday.. and I would be interested in a ride down there next Saturday.
2012 250XC

"If you can't be good, be good at it"

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cerealkiller
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Re: Shale Shaker

Post by cerealkiller »

TrailBreaker wrote:Hi there fellas that are posting vids and discussing flagging issues. I would like to jog your memories back to the riders meeting prior to the afternoon hare scramble. All that attended this meeting were notified that the races for the ladies b class and the kids expert class that were run earlier that day used the same course but in the opposite direction. The ladies b and kids expert courses were flagged in the proper direction for the less experienced racers to follow easier. The afternoon classes were told this in the riders meeting to let them know that going the opposite direction on the course would mean that the course is also flagged backwards. In other words arrows point the wrong way and corner flags after the corners. This was done the alleviate the need for organizers to re-flag the course completely.

I think that's probably a fair comment. If I had recalled those instructions, I probably would have at least considered going right instead of left...

On the other hand, there was a pink and blue ribbon on the left -which would have been wrong even running the course in reverse. I'm not saying that's the flagger's fault (it might have been moved), but it's hard to see how, from a racer's perspective, we could know to ignore it.

At the end of the day it was still a great race. I might even consider trying the XC again next year! :D
-Jared
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