Eildon
ROUND 1 // 16-17th October
Round 1 of the 2010-2011 KONA Victorian Downhill Mountain Bike Series
The 2010 – 2011 KONA VDHS is offering $50,000.00 worth of cash, prizes, trophies and giveaways!
YOU MUST PICK UP YOUR NEW FREE SEEDED RACE PLATE AT EVERY VDHS EVENT
COURSE DESCRIPTION
By Scott Sharples, Edited by Nick King
In October 2010, Round 1 of the VDHS will be held at the lake side town of Eildon, a 2 hour drive north-east of Melbourne. The town is surrounded by hills and the closest of these has the town at its feet and a mobile phone tower at its peak. It is from this tower that the DH course starts. The Eildon DH course was first built in 1999 by RMIT students who hosted the Australian University MTB Championships on it. In 2002 the course was almost doubled in length and raced by 140+ riders in a Fat Tyre Flyers club race. In 2003 with devastating bushfires effecting the Mt Beauty DH course, Scott Sharples (Australian DH Coach), Sam Hill (2010 World Champion and 2009 World Cup Champion) and Ben Reynolds (pure champion and veteran of the Victorian DH scene) got to work and transformed the track into what it is today. During the Oceania's in 2003 nearly 300 DHer's competed with and average course time of just over 4 minutes. However there was one hot run by Sam Hill who was the only rider to break the 3 minute mark taking the Elite Mens win. The National Championships were held on the course in 2004 and again in 2005. The VDHS has been held on the Eildon course twice a few years back and downhillers have been sessioning it on weekends with their mates since...
Here is an relatively updated description of the DH course so you know what to expect from this years VDHS event. Keep in mind that this review was written in 2004 and the Eildon course has since been left to the onslaught of weathering, erosion, and neglect over the years. When the Fat Tyre Flyers sing out for help on a trail buidling day in the near future at Eildon - make sure you put your hand up to be counted as one of the new school of downhill trail care crew.
Eildon DH Course
Starting from the mobile phone tower, you drop down to the left and attack the first right hand berm on the course. Some riders have been known to ride right over the top of this berm and continue to tumble down the mountain - not so cool when everyone is watching you! This leads into a fast sprint down an old disused 4WD track into an off camber hillside that slopes down to the left as you traverse the mountain side. A word of caution - master off camber riding before turning up to Eildon. Keeping nice and high and staying off your brakes is the key here - if you touch the brakes your back wheel will drift out to the left and you'll struggle to stay on line. This sends you into 'Facing James'. Facing James is a series of blown out and super holey corners (that funnily enough used to be super smooth and flowy!). Facing James was built in 1999 and as the rumours have it, during the testing period one of the construction crew flipped his bike and slid down the hill on his face, which resulted in a trip to the local hospital!
The course then enters it's swiftest section with some wide open flowing corners with some negotiable off camber in there as well to get riders to try different lines and also allowing them to reach speeds of up to 70kph - if they are up to it! As this section flattens off the riders hit the first ramp which is great to pump some speed out of the hill. This ramp was constructed for the 2003 Oceania event (so she has been there for a while ; )
A wee bit more flowing single track soon ends as the course gets tight with 3 switch back corners and then the second of the hitable ramps that 'Sik' Mick Hannah could be found styling it up at the 2004 National Champs (not caring about losing time in the air). This ramp can be rolled or launched into a steep off camber landing that carrys good speed for the fast approaching tight trees.
From the tight trees and over the ridge line that saps your legs of peddle power, the riders get sent into the area that the Fat Tyre Flyers secretly constructed for the 2004 event. There is potential for any skilled level of rider to get it totally messed up in here. A sweet right hand hipped drop belts the rider towards a small double that is hard to get right with such a small area to brake and tip into a right hand rutted out corner after it. After you snake around or in front of the tree there is a dirty big angled log crossing the course that is an absolute nightmare for riders in the wet - but a photographers and spectators goldmine to shoot and watch some carnage. The first of the big 'magnetic' trees sits just below the exit of the dirty old log and it has claimed many riders and bikes over the years. If you listen closely you can hear the faint hearted saying "Don't hit the tree, don't hit the tree, don't hit the.... THUMP!". Directly after the magnetic tree the rider enters 'Bay 13', a viewing area with a sweeping cambered left hander through the ti tree. Sit in here for a while and get your heckle on!
The course starts to sweep it's way towards the bottom now with some rutted corners and another big magnetic tree at the base of a G-out gully. Pump this gully to get speed up the other side and power around a flat left hander to face the 'Double Log Drop'. These are two small naturally based drops that provide a really good photo opportunity - so stick mum and dad, mates or your better half here to watch you fly past and style it up as you disappear around the next flat right hander... They can thank you later for all of the dust or mud that you flicked up at them.
Before exiting the ti tree though riders must make it though two trees that are barely handle bar width apart "ohh so you just bought some 800mm bars hey.... sucker! A few corners later and the course enters the main event arena where the riders will bust over some small jumps and then sprint towards the finish line.
Back in the day, Scott Sharples worked with the Fat Tyre Flyers crew to add to the existing course, to bring it up to a standard that would challenge potential UCI DH World Champions. Sam Hill and Scott tried to use the natural contours of the hill to create a fun flowy course that was tough to ride fast. There are some natural jumps, some log jumps, some tight technical corners and a few fast corners that have big trees on their exit. Australians are among the worlds best when it comes to downhill mountain biking, and if you can be competitive on this DH course, you can count yourself as one of the best. The series of log jumps always draws a huge crowd waiting for the skilled to style it up and the not so skilled to smash it up. A lot of two wheel drifts can be accomplished on this course. Some end with a loud SMACK as the rider hits the tree, the others end with loud yelling, bell ringing and cheering. It is a great course for spectating.
CATEGORIES
KONA Elite Men, KONA Elite Women, All4Bikes19's , SRAM 17's, Downhill Downunder 15's, KONA 13's, Yarra Valley Cycles Online Expert, Yarra Valley Cycles Veteran, KONA Masters, KONA Super Masters, Hardtail, My Mountain Sport and KONA Fun Boys and Girls (mixed).
*Note*
For example: If you turn 19 before the 31st of December 2011, you are no longer under 19 - same goes for all other age group categories.
PRIZE MONEY AND PRIZES
Elite Men: 1st = $600.00, 2nd = $400.00, 3rd = $200.00, 4th = $100.00, 5th = $100.00.
Elite Women: 1st = $400.00, 2nd = $250.00, 3rd = $100.00.
Junior U19 Men: 1st = $400.00, 2nd = $250.00, 3rd = $100.00.
The prize money for Elite Men, Elite Women and Under 19's for the 2010-2011 season is to encourage more rider participation and competitiveness, and hopefully entice some interstate riders to compete in the VDHS. The aim is to improve the competition in Elite Men, Elite Women and Under 19's in order to lift the level of Victorian riders at a National and International level. Prizes to the value of approximately $2500 will be distributed to all other categories
HOST CLUB
Fat Tyre Flyers
COST
Saturday & Sunday Senior = $95,
Saturday & Sunday Junior = $80 (Under 13 and Under 15 ONLY)
Sunday Only Senior/Junior = $80
Weekend Racing licence = $30
Yearly Racing licence: Junior $80, Senior $110 (may vary depending on which club you join)
All riders MUST produce their MTBA Competition Licence. If you do not have proof of MTBA Competition Membership you will need to fill out and purchase a Weekend Racing Licence from registration.
EVENT SCHEDULE
Friday
Course available for on foot inspection only (NO RIDING)
Saturday
0800 - 1600 Registration Open
0800 - 1000 Course available for on foot inspection
1000 - 1430 Official course practise (ALL GROUPS)
1430 - 1530 Official course practise (NO PRO GROUP)
1530 - 1630 Official course practise (PRO GROUP ONLY)
Note:
PRO GROUP = Elite Men, Under 19 Men & Expert Men
NO PRO GROUP = All other categories.
*Note: A diligent effort will be made by event organisers to police these groups on course. For example, Elite Men Plates (1-99), Under 19 Men (600-699), Expert Men (100-200) are only allowed on course during Official course practice and Pro Group practice, and are not allowed on course during No Pro Group practice times. The Race Director has the ability to disqualify any rider that disobeys this rule. All Pro Group riders will have a colour coded race plate.
Sunday
0800 - 0900 Registration Open. (Entries after 0900 will not be accepted)
0800 - 1100 Official Course Practice (ALL GROUPS)
1115 Sharp. Rider Briefing at event central (All riders MUST attend)
1130 Racing Begins
Presentations will be held at the conclusion of the Elite Mens final - So make sure you hang around - you never know you just might walk away with something!
TRACK FOOTAGE
Footage from the 2008 Spring Racing Carnival HERE
Footage from an Eildon Ride Day HERE
Helmet Cam footage - this guy dislocates his shoulder HERE
2005 National Championships Footage HERE
LOCATION
GETTING THERE
FOOD
ACCOMMODATION
Questions? Contact VDHS headquarters vicdhseries@gmail.com
YOU MUST PICK UP YOUR NEW FREE SEEDED RACE PLATE AT EVERY VDHS EVENT
COURSE DESCRIPTION
By Scott Sharples, Edited by Nick King
In October 2010, Round 1 of the VDHS will be held at the lake side town of Eildon, a 2 hour drive north-east of Melbourne. The town is surrounded by hills and the closest of these has the town at its feet and a mobile phone tower at its peak. It is from this tower that the DH course starts. The Eildon DH course was first built in 1999 by RMIT students who hosted the Australian University MTB Championships on it. In 2002 the course was almost doubled in length and raced by 140+ riders in a Fat Tyre Flyers club race. In 2003 with devastating bushfires effecting the Mt Beauty DH course, Scott Sharples (Australian DH Coach), Sam Hill (2010 World Champion and 2009 World Cup Champion) and Ben Reynolds (pure champion and veteran of the Victorian DH scene) got to work and transformed the track into what it is today. During the Oceania's in 2003 nearly 300 DHer's competed with and average course time of just over 4 minutes. However there was one hot run by Sam Hill who was the only rider to break the 3 minute mark taking the Elite Mens win. The National Championships were held on the course in 2004 and again in 2005. The VDHS has been held on the Eildon course twice a few years back and downhillers have been sessioning it on weekends with their mates since...
Here is an relatively updated description of the DH course so you know what to expect from this years VDHS event. Keep in mind that this review was written in 2004 and the Eildon course has since been left to the onslaught of weathering, erosion, and neglect over the years. When the Fat Tyre Flyers sing out for help on a trail buidling day in the near future at Eildon - make sure you put your hand up to be counted as one of the new school of downhill trail care crew.
Eildon DH Course
Starting from the mobile phone tower, you drop down to the left and attack the first right hand berm on the course. Some riders have been known to ride right over the top of this berm and continue to tumble down the mountain - not so cool when everyone is watching you! This leads into a fast sprint down an old disused 4WD track into an off camber hillside that slopes down to the left as you traverse the mountain side. A word of caution - master off camber riding before turning up to Eildon. Keeping nice and high and staying off your brakes is the key here - if you touch the brakes your back wheel will drift out to the left and you'll struggle to stay on line. This sends you into 'Facing James'. Facing James is a series of blown out and super holey corners (that funnily enough used to be super smooth and flowy!). Facing James was built in 1999 and as the rumours have it, during the testing period one of the construction crew flipped his bike and slid down the hill on his face, which resulted in a trip to the local hospital!
The course then enters it's swiftest section with some wide open flowing corners with some negotiable off camber in there as well to get riders to try different lines and also allowing them to reach speeds of up to 70kph - if they are up to it! As this section flattens off the riders hit the first ramp which is great to pump some speed out of the hill. This ramp was constructed for the 2003 Oceania event (so she has been there for a while ; )
A wee bit more flowing single track soon ends as the course gets tight with 3 switch back corners and then the second of the hitable ramps that 'Sik' Mick Hannah could be found styling it up at the 2004 National Champs (not caring about losing time in the air). This ramp can be rolled or launched into a steep off camber landing that carrys good speed for the fast approaching tight trees.
From the tight trees and over the ridge line that saps your legs of peddle power, the riders get sent into the area that the Fat Tyre Flyers secretly constructed for the 2004 event. There is potential for any skilled level of rider to get it totally messed up in here. A sweet right hand hipped drop belts the rider towards a small double that is hard to get right with such a small area to brake and tip into a right hand rutted out corner after it. After you snake around or in front of the tree there is a dirty big angled log crossing the course that is an absolute nightmare for riders in the wet - but a photographers and spectators goldmine to shoot and watch some carnage. The first of the big 'magnetic' trees sits just below the exit of the dirty old log and it has claimed many riders and bikes over the years. If you listen closely you can hear the faint hearted saying "Don't hit the tree, don't hit the tree, don't hit the.... THUMP!". Directly after the magnetic tree the rider enters 'Bay 13', a viewing area with a sweeping cambered left hander through the ti tree. Sit in here for a while and get your heckle on!
The course starts to sweep it's way towards the bottom now with some rutted corners and another big magnetic tree at the base of a G-out gully. Pump this gully to get speed up the other side and power around a flat left hander to face the 'Double Log Drop'. These are two small naturally based drops that provide a really good photo opportunity - so stick mum and dad, mates or your better half here to watch you fly past and style it up as you disappear around the next flat right hander... They can thank you later for all of the dust or mud that you flicked up at them.
Before exiting the ti tree though riders must make it though two trees that are barely handle bar width apart "ohh so you just bought some 800mm bars hey.... sucker! A few corners later and the course enters the main event arena where the riders will bust over some small jumps and then sprint towards the finish line.
Back in the day, Scott Sharples worked with the Fat Tyre Flyers crew to add to the existing course, to bring it up to a standard that would challenge potential UCI DH World Champions. Sam Hill and Scott tried to use the natural contours of the hill to create a fun flowy course that was tough to ride fast. There are some natural jumps, some log jumps, some tight technical corners and a few fast corners that have big trees on their exit. Australians are among the worlds best when it comes to downhill mountain biking, and if you can be competitive on this DH course, you can count yourself as one of the best. The series of log jumps always draws a huge crowd waiting for the skilled to style it up and the not so skilled to smash it up. A lot of two wheel drifts can be accomplished on this course. Some end with a loud SMACK as the rider hits the tree, the others end with loud yelling, bell ringing and cheering. It is a great course for spectating.
CATEGORIES
KONA Elite Men, KONA Elite Women, All4Bikes19's , SRAM 17's, Downhill Downunder 15's, KONA 13's, Yarra Valley Cycles Online Expert, Yarra Valley Cycles Veteran, KONA Masters, KONA Super Masters, Hardtail, My Mountain Sport and KONA Fun Boys and Girls (mixed).
*Note*
For example: If you turn 19 before the 31st of December 2011, you are no longer under 19 - same goes for all other age group categories.
PRIZE MONEY AND PRIZES
Elite Men: 1st = $600.00, 2nd = $400.00, 3rd = $200.00, 4th = $100.00, 5th = $100.00.
Elite Women: 1st = $400.00, 2nd = $250.00, 3rd = $100.00.
Junior U19 Men: 1st = $400.00, 2nd = $250.00, 3rd = $100.00.
The prize money for Elite Men, Elite Women and Under 19's for the 2010-2011 season is to encourage more rider participation and competitiveness, and hopefully entice some interstate riders to compete in the VDHS. The aim is to improve the competition in Elite Men, Elite Women and Under 19's in order to lift the level of Victorian riders at a National and International level. Prizes to the value of approximately $2500 will be distributed to all other categories
HOST CLUB
Fat Tyre Flyers
COST
Saturday & Sunday Senior = $95,
Saturday & Sunday Junior = $80 (Under 13 and Under 15 ONLY)
Sunday Only Senior/Junior = $80
Weekend Racing licence = $30
Yearly Racing licence: Junior $80, Senior $110 (may vary depending on which club you join)
All riders MUST produce their MTBA Competition Licence. If you do not have proof of MTBA Competition Membership you will need to fill out and purchase a Weekend Racing Licence from registration.
EVENT SCHEDULE
Friday
Course available for on foot inspection only (NO RIDING)
Saturday
0800 - 1600 Registration Open
0800 - 1000 Course available for on foot inspection
1000 - 1430 Official course practise (ALL GROUPS)
1430 - 1530 Official course practise (NO PRO GROUP)
1530 - 1630 Official course practise (PRO GROUP ONLY)
Note:
PRO GROUP = Elite Men, Under 19 Men & Expert Men
NO PRO GROUP = All other categories.
*Note: A diligent effort will be made by event organisers to police these groups on course. For example, Elite Men Plates (1-99), Under 19 Men (600-699), Expert Men (100-200) are only allowed on course during Official course practice and Pro Group practice, and are not allowed on course during No Pro Group practice times. The Race Director has the ability to disqualify any rider that disobeys this rule. All Pro Group riders will have a colour coded race plate.
Sunday
0800 - 0900 Registration Open. (Entries after 0900 will not be accepted)
0800 - 1100 Official Course Practice (ALL GROUPS)
1115 Sharp. Rider Briefing at event central (All riders MUST attend)
1130 Racing Begins
Presentations will be held at the conclusion of the Elite Mens final - So make sure you hang around - you never know you just might walk away with something!
TRACK FOOTAGE
Footage from the 2008 Spring Racing Carnival HERE
Footage from an Eildon Ride Day HERE
Helmet Cam footage - this guy dislocates his shoulder HERE
2005 National Championships Footage HERE
LOCATION
GETTING THERE
FOOD
ACCOMMODATION
Questions? Contact VDHS headquarters vicdhseries@gmail.com
SERIES INFO
TEES & STUFF
