Rocky Mountain Dirt Riders

calltrex wrote:The first post says 50 for first loop and 44 for second

If you rode it, you would know it was longer than that. Tom, I think Jerry said his odo read 102 and somebody else said 107.

Spinalguy wrote: Someone must have od'ed it.

I think Steve-o od'ed on beer instead of racing. Or is that even possible?

Great race everyone! I really really enjoyed riding it and heard many praises from riders. One of them said "challenging and freagin hard, but soooo much fun!"

On another note, whats with GasGas EC300's running out of gas on the first loop? I swept two separate guys on that bike that ran out and one of them was even carrying an extra 1L bottle! Is the tank that small?

Dobi wrote:

calltrex wrote:The first post says 50 for first loop and 44 for second

last minute field adjustments had to be made and I was FORCED to shorten the second loop by a significant amount

Makes me chuckle that some people thought it was a long race when only the short course was flagged in. If you hadn't gone with the "Short Course" even guys on 350's would probably have needed gas. Dobi's planned course had and extra 10km (probably more) of single track with a section to make Razorbacks Ridge look like a highway. Now that would be a hard XC.

markvfr wrote:On another note, whats with GasGas EC300's running out of gas on the first loop? I swept two separate guys on that bike that ran out and one of them was even carrying an extra 1L bottle! Is the tank that small?

They have a 9.5L tank, which should be plenty for a 50km loop. I timed out at the live check and had just under a half tank left. I know from personal experience that the 2011 two stroke EC's are hard to jet. My 250 is acceptable at best at the moment.

I talked to one of the guys after the race and it seemed like he had the jetting on for the most part. Could be difference in riding styles as well (I am slow ). I did five laps of the course at Christie Mine (including parade lap) and just hit reserve on the last lap about half way through.

MtnBlue wrote:

calltrex wrote:The first post says 50 for first loop and 44 for second

If you rode it, you would know it was longer than that. Tom, I think Jerry said his odo read 102 and somebody else said 107.

Thanks Chuck.

I heard alot of "too long" which means that next yr the cut offs will have to be tighter . I rode sweep on the first loop and have to say it was a fantastic representation of the riding area as a whole and probably world class interms of unrelenting technical singletrack.

What I will carry away from the race is shear respect for a couple young ladies who wouldnt quit. we would help then be told "gimme back my bike". We finally nearing the 4 hr mark forced one and then the other to quit and lead them out... mad respect frm me.

The other memory will be of twich's small grin.... inspite of being stuck with a busted up new bike in the middle of the bush.... great attitude in the situation... absolutly awesome! (how long did you have to wait by the creek?)

I can't really comment on the course, I only rode some of it. I can say that from an organizational standpoint, this was the best race the RMDRA has put on. The number of volunteers we had and the effort they put in was awesome. Both days went very smooth for me, we didn't lose anyone, we had no serious injuries, our sweepers knew where everyone one was all the time. So to anyone that cut logs, hung ribbon, scanned, swept or did anything else to help - I got a lot of compliments because of you - Thanks!

Brenan225 wrote:I can't really comment on the course, I only rode some of it. I can say that from an organizational standpoint, this was the best race the RMDRA has put on. The number of volunteers we had and the effort they put in was awesome. Both days went very smooth for me, we didn't lose anyone, we had no serious injuries, our sweepers knew where everyone one was all the time. So to anyone that cut logs, hung ribbon, scanned, swept or did anything else to help - I got a lot of compliments because of you - Thanks!

I'm not what I would call a seasoned racer but the organization really did stand out for me. I particularly liked the dinner plates at the starting line. Nice job to everyone who helped!

The first part of the course was 'friggin' awesome'! I really enjoy that this event is a challenge to complete. It elevates, for me, the achievement of completing the goal. It will never be precisely the same again but when I read stories from the 'old guard' about the nastiness of years gone by, I wonder how much harder a club could actually make it and still have as many satisfied participants. Nice job folks!

I can hardly wait to see Twotired's footage of this epic journey!

Thanks to all who contributed to making that deadly course. It was awesome and clearly A boat load of work. So much fun, doable with some unpleasant transfer sections through those cut blocks which I am sure were the best option.....great training for crowsnest and practice following flags.
Only the nest will likely be harder...can't wait, hope it don't snow, hand warmers will beon just in case.

Wanted to stay and crush some beers while recanting how awesome it was but had to take the girls home..

Thanks again add great job.

Hey Howard;

It was about 15 minutes from the point I saw you on the road, to the time I had a guy with a quad back there and we were towing him out (my second quad tow of the day from that side).

After towing out the first guy, I went back onto the course at the Anadarko crossing, and followed the guy on the XR600 to the live check. That bike is a tractor! I watched it literally crawl up hills that I swore needed a bit of a run. That poor guy stopped at the 20k marker and asked me how far he was from the finish. I didn't have the heart to tell him. He was beat but still had a smile! I got him to Allison's check, and she kindly gave him some water and a juice box. I think he'll be back next year with a smaller bike for sure.

I've never burned an entire tank of gas sweeping before. That was cool. In spite of not riding the whole course, I definitely had a workout. Most of it came from helping guys on that first long rocky hill climb off of bobcat trail.

Good times for sure. I'm glad I could help with the success of your race and I'll be happy to help sweep again next year!

Cheers
Brad

thx Brad

I do appreciate the fact that Dobi took 10km out of the course but let's not forget that it was a challenging technical course on a hot day,so if someone who participated in both loops wants to call it a long race then all the power to them.

It was a great weekend. Thank you so very much to all of our volunteers, they make this happen!!! From course builders to sign in, its a ton of work to make everything run smoothly, and these people did a great thing. Special thanks to our sponsors as well!!!

gdg530 wrote:I do appreciate the fact that Dobi took 10km out of the course but let's not forget that it was a challenging technical course on a hot day,so if someone who participated in both loops wants to call it a long race then all the power to them.

I have absolutly NO issue with that, and given the condition that FT was in just 5 yrs ago its absolutly increadibly satisfying that those who travelled a long way and payed up can have that as a valid critisism, rather than the other way around. Kudos to some hardy unsung individuals and to clubs like SGC... there is now legal st and many km of sustainable st just waiting to be placed into the legal catagory. In short the fact that both the CMA and the CMRC can hold races at all in the FT area is a testament to a growing maturity within the dirtbiking community in the Calgary area.

I cannot begin to describe the feelings when mtblue was helping me on the east loop and he started exclaiming "I remember this!" "I havnt riden this since Moose Mountain XC in oh when was that?" It was the same thoughts I had when we first scouted the loop.... We are slowly reclaiming a riding area that many of us thought was lost forever. IF it takes races that give everyone their moneys worth to do so... cest la vie.

thirtyseven wrote: The other memory will be of twich's small grin.... inspite of being stuck with a busted up new bike in the middle of the bush.... great attitude in the situation... absolutly awesome! (how long did you have to wait by the creek?)

Hi thirtyseven I didn't have to wait that long before help arrived. Short enough time not to dwell on my broken bike but long enough for me to plan out how I am going to ride the race better next year!!

Thanks to thirtyseven for getting me back to the creek and thanks to Brad and Glen for towing me out.

I really had a great time at the race as everything was super organized which really helped me out as a newer racer. I was really impressed with the amount of flagging that was done on the course as that must have been a huge job on it's own.

Thanks to all the voluteers, I look forward to the next race!