BNA Mont 24 team

[m@]

Howdy all,

After a few years of "maybe next year", I'm hoping 2014 will be the year I finally ride the Mont.

I can probably just snag a spot in someone else's team, but since most of my Canberran mountain biking mates have either moved away or become triathletes and sold their duallies to fund silly helmets, I was thinking I might try to get a BNA team together - either open males or mixed, but I'd prefer a team of four to make the drive up from Melbourne worthwhile...

I'm not overly competitive, but would hope to put in a decent midfieldish showing rather than just be along for the ride (provided I can get some training in).

Let me know via a post here or PM; tentative interest is fine for now but it will likely sell out sooner rather than later. Race weekend is 5-6 April 2014.

Cheers,
Matt

Wondering WT? is the Mont? I'm glad you asked

[skull]

Tentative.

My club use to fund teams for this but with massive budget cut backs and the lose of our awesome secretary that actually made it all happen I am not sure if my club will be able to support team entries anymore.

[trailgumby]

I've done the Mont three times. It is one of the best organised races I've been to and the atmosphere is terrific.

Can't do it this year unfortunately - wifey has organised a cruise for both of us leaving Sydney the Monday after the event and I dare not risk missing it through misadventure! We've had a few false starts getting this trip off the ground, so I don't want to put it at risk.

Definitely back for 2015 though. The Mont rocks. 3,000 riders and 4,500 hangers-on, it's bigger than many country towns. I have no idea how they're going to top last year's course, but they'll probably find a way. The Front Nine and Big Wednesday (new last year) were a total blast. Kowalski's Sideshow (see below) is a hoot too.

[Mapomatic]

Most of my riding mates have gone roadie or stopped riding. I've ridden a mont before and it was a blast. Did the kowalski last month and it was by far the most fun marathon I've done. Put me down for a team of four!

[AUbicycles]

Interested. tentative - have to chat to the boss but it would be really good.

[m@]

Cool, we're getting close... I might bite the bullet when we get to three confirmed so we don't miss out.

Which distance/wave were you in at the Classic @Mapomatic? I was in the last 90km group, but didn't bother the scorers after bonking on the first climb... not aiming to repeat that!

@trailgumby this year's Kowalski Classic included the beer garden in reverse direction - was actually pretty fun! If you haven't been out to Kowen recently, it's worth the drive to check out the Aunty Flo bridge/flyover and the new tracks in the far east - "love you long time" is as much fun as it sounds

It did just occur to me that they might include the new tracks out west - Al wouldn't do that though, would he?

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[Mapomatic]

I was in one of the last waves of the 90km. It was my first mtb ride in months after fracturing my thumb. The lack of training showed, as did the hesitancy due to not wanting to reinjure the hand. Finished pretty close to last, but wasn't suffering in the legs, and still had an hour or two in the tank.

[zero]

Count me in if you still need a person.

Just did the full highland fling, so would like the training goal for the next few months before I lose the fitness again

[m@]

Awesome, that's three (including me) confirmed - enough to pull the trigger! I'll book it in shortly.

Since assumption is the mother of all... mistakes, just confirming that I'm booking a 4x open males team.

I'll get in touch re: payment after, but cost per rider will be $180:

• $590 / 4 = $147.50 Entry fee (presumably the $2.50 is for a bag of jelly snakes)
• $12.5 Camping (per person)
• $20 Race Cover (per person)

Oh, any ideas for a team name? Up to 32 characters; letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens or quotes (but no other punctuation, including full-stops - so bicycles.net.au is out )

There's also a waiver - i.e. the small print that no-one reads

[zero]

Yep, your assumption is sound - seriously can't be many females that manage my grouchy post quotient

Just for planning purposes, do they have electricity onsite for recharging lights ? I'd presume in Canberra april, we'd be looking at 3-4 hours each at night.

[m@]

Pretty certain there's no power (at least in previous years)... though if someone has a generator, I'll bring the coffee machine along

[Mapomatic]

They had a charging tent year before last. How about bicycles dot net dot au? Send me a PM with your bank details I'll forward some cash through.

[skull]

There is a charging tent and race village with food, coffee, toys, physio, mechanics.

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[Mapomatic]

Plenty of local produce if you get hungry.

[trailgumby]

Leave the generator at home unless you want it kicked over by the guy in the next tent! Some people try to get some sleep and I'd recommend being considerate. There are more power points than you can poke a stick at in the charging tent.

I'd also recommend not being too close to the road or the toilet facilities. The fist is dusty and noisy and the second is smelly bright and noisy.

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[trailgumby]

@m@: pleased to hear they left the flyover in place. That whole section in the east frim there on was wicked fun.

A BNA team... you guys are seriously testing my resolve!

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[Mapomatic]

The site next to us ran a genny all night - it was pretty annoying after a while. Trailgumby don't risk it. A friend of a friend busted his shoulder riding back to the campsite after a recon lap night before the race 2 years ago . He had to sit on the sidelines for a few weeks. How his team managed a second place in the single speeders is beyond me.

[m@]

Sounds like a much bigger race village than the classic - good to know

I guess I should probably leave the subwoofer at home as well lol

@Mapomatic there should actually be some pine mushrooms/slippery jacks around at that time of year - very nice if cooked correctly

The team's booked; I'll be in touch today with payment details for the confirmed riders, and to get details for the booking system. I went with "Cycling is in our BNA" for now (can easily change later).

One spot left... though with a bit of effort I'm sure we could get to a second team of four...

[trailgumby]

I'm sure Chris would give his blessing if you wanted to call the team Bicycles Network Australia 1, (and 2 etc if you get enough interest for more than one team)... why not send him a PM?

[m@]

Yep, Chris is onboard (and a possible starter, if we can summon enough peer pressure

I guess either Bicycles Network Australia or the URL would be the logical choices...

[leximack]

mmm interesting, Mont is awesome fun, those dudes know how to make a fun course.
Sill looking for a team member? I "may" possibly maybe kindof be interested

Don

[AUbicycles]

Happy with the name - thinking so far ahead is not easy but it is one of those tings you just have to do.

The plan would be to ride the event and let the family enjoy Canberra for the weekend. I would let them stay at a hotel though and not in the mud.

[trailgumby]

Tip: DO NOT mention anything to do with the "W" word begore the event! lol

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[m@]

OK, so we have our first team of four (first four to confirm): Zero, mapomatic, aubicycles and m@.

@leximack, I reckon we could shoot for a second team; I can tell that Trailgumby and @Mulgar Bill are just searching for an excuse to say yes... I can probably rope in at least one person from elsewhere if we end up needing the numbers.

Got an email today to say that 70% of spots have gone though, so we'll wamt to step on it - so time to step up the peer pressure!

[trailgumby]

Yeah, won't be me this year I'm afraid.

I've found a way to scratch the racing itch ... I've hatched a plan to contest the 2014 Shimano GP series with a fellow SuperMaster in a pairs team.

But if someone wants to do the race and the lights are a roadblock, I could be persuaded to help out with loan equipment if AUBicycles is prepared to be custodian.