CORC 3Hr Twilight Race - Sparrow Hill - 20 Sep 08

[Le Matelot]

And you thought the 2007 Nationals was dusty !

With rego open from 1:30 to 3:30 for a 4:00 start, the first 90 minutes of rego was easy and then the world (well, 310 of its occupants) descended on us in the last 30 minutes. So, a 30 minute delay in starting meant that all the riders got a bit more value for money out of their lights.

This was the last night race in Canberra before CORC's Scott Australian 24Hr MTB Champs at Stromlo in 3 weeks time, so lotza riders were having a last hitout.

Anyhow, the race kicked off in a howling north westerly which kicked up dust from everywhere. 3 hours later, it was still blowing. It would also have been a tough afternoon for those pollen-sensitive riders as the wind also brought massive yellow clouds of pollen out of the pine trees.

All the results are available for downloading below, including the top 20 lap times (excluding the start loop) for Men and Women, by Day and by Night ...

Some Numbers:
. 310 riders : 269 Men, 41 Women
. 195 Solo Men, 24 Solo Women
. 1,831 laps = 13,183 Km
. Fastest Bloke = Ben Henderson, day and night
. Fastest Non-Bloke = Gracie Elvin by day and Claire Aubrey by night

[akashra]

I want to see more of these kinds of events in Vic! Seriously, someone run a 3 hour event that starts say 30 minutes before the official sunset time, on a reasonably short track (say ~25 minute lap for the fast guys).

SouthernExposure are doing it with the 6 hour at Anglesea, but that's a fair way to travel for most - something closer to home would be better.

[Pioneer]

I just wanted to say a quick 'well done' and thanks to the CORC crew for putting on a cracker race. Gotta love a 'flatish' course - helps heal the gap from those with skinny/elite power-to-weight ratios to the more comfortably padded riders.. :p

[jmcavoy]

I just wanted to say a quick 'well done' and thanks to the CORC crew

Too right, that was an awesome effort from Russ and the crew, a well run race and fantastic course, loads of fun. The late start was no problem either, more time for pre race chatting and sand bagging :D

[Mont24Team]

Paul, Russ and crew... thanks for a good event. Windy as hell and that got me itching and sneezing but Sparrow loops are such fun I soon forgot about it all and just had a blast.

[EzyLee]

Yup! Same goes here. Had a really good time on the trails... The vibe was tops!

I do have a gripe with a single speeder (unfortunately I didn't get his number). I was approaching the timing tent and slowed down to allow them to read my number, I was nearly there when I heard "SINGLE! SINGLE" behind me. He rushed through knocking me and making me lose balance... thanks for that mate, I really do hope those precious moments you gained being a total fuk knuckle got you up a spot. Congrats on being the tool of the twilight race.

[72Fury]

I really do hope those precious moments you gained being a total fuk knuckle got you up a spot. Congrats on being the tool of the twilight race.

Considering it was the only real climb on the course it was probably more a case of maintaining momentum than gaining a spot.

[EzyLee]

Yeah, good point... But a quick "sorry buddy" would have been good.