Tarawera 75 Race Report.

[Ktmboy]

T75 you may ask. Read on.:scratch:

Well the day dawned overcast and drizzly as the weatherman had predicted. Jeez, I hate it when they get it right. Today of all days. At least it wasn't cold so no need for the thermals.

After a record sign on and scutineering of only 2hours I managed to get the KTM onto the all important front row.The first corner was a RH hairpin so I figured that seeing as how there hadn't been a pileup for a few years that this may be the day that there was.This ended up being a wise move.

So I parked at the far LH side with only Team mate Mike Cotter on my left. We both figured that around the outside might be a good option and would enable us to mantain momentum.

Start No1 - Someone farted, sneezed or coughed and half the field took off. Luckily this was recalled as the KTM took two kicks to get going.

Start No2 - I was surrounded by 3 electric starts and seeing how the electric leg on mine still wasn't fixed I was interested to see who would win. Kick start verses Electric. Then, moments before the gun went off I noticed fuel pissing out of the crab. Panic, shit, bugger to name a few expletives. I put this behind me hooked second gear turned the engine off and waited.

The shotgun boomed and the big 300 fired straight away. We rocketed out of the blocks with nobody beside. Fuck what a feeling!! Yeah ha. Kick start dusted electric!!

Cotter got by on the outside and by the second corner I was in about 12th place.
Meanwhile there was a huge pile up on the inside corner. Instinct sometimes is right.

On the first downhill Shane McDonald went down in front of me and I narrowly avoided him. Staight up the big hill and into the tracks. The first log jam then start behind as one or two bailed and they herded everyone up around a deviation. Cock up number one from the organisers. Never have a gnarly piece so early on in a race as there are 350 odd adrenalin fueled bikers intent on getting through all at once.

My first impression after about 20 minutes. Where is the tight stuff. It was just one long moto x track. Hence quite a few got by me.

Arm pump struck and I binned it so good that I smashed my rolloffs and the front of my helmet. By the end of lap one and I was told that I was in 24th. STOP the race now please!!

New goggles and off again. Then the rain came and came and came. Coming over the brow of a hill there were about 50 riders still on the first lap stuck up a hill so I went bush with about 20 others to find a way around. Wrong move. We all got stuck and by the time we got back they had directed every one down the railway lines. Bloody dangerous not to mention a loss of about 30 places.

I binned about three more times but wasn't alone as there was carnage everywhere.

Lap three and I was told to get out of the pits pronto as they were closing the track. I got outa there and got into a good grove trying to maintain my place. However it turned to custard at another hill and again we were told to try to get through a large area of recent clearfell. Another 20 minutes later another 30 places lost. Meanwhile they took about 30 riders down the road all the way back to the pits. They missed about 15km of track. Fuckin bullshit.

So I ended up in 100th over all, 10th in class and the team 5th. And looking at the names I know that there were people in the mid 50-60's whom didn't do the whole course and I was infront of going into the final lap.

Not only that but they stopped the race after three laps with Damien King leading from brother Darryl and Chris Birch. The enduro boys were pissed as they had a plan of waiting till the last lap before they made their move. Birch was right up Kings butt along with the likes of Cam Smith, Jason Davis and a few others ready to pounce. Birch told the organisers to toughen up at the prize giving. Give that man a:beer:.

Damien King made a statement that the track was tight. He should put that comment on a Tui's ad as there was only about 7 minutes of tighter stuff but still with options to get by. Shit you could have driven a car through there.

Now Ktmboys biggest stuff up.
Unbeknown to me they gave a plastic Yamaha bag out at sign on. In it there was a ticket for dinner and for the prize draw of a PW50 or 80. Numb nuts left said bag in the motel and yep, you guessed it, it was the winning ticket. The people that won it second time around had little kids so at least somebody got the bike that will have heaps of fun on it. They had big smiles and I'm sleeping in the dog box tonight.

So, Not 100 miles only 75 and lots of pissed people. Don't know if I'll do the Tarawera 75 next year now.

[Danger]

Sounds like a great effort KTMboy but a real disapointment at the way the race was run! I have to say after reading a report like this that I have no desire to pay (I heard it was $100.00) for an event run like this. Good report!

Told ya's that kick start was quicker!

[scott411]

Sounds like a great effort KTMboy but a real disapointment at the way the race was run! I have to say after reading a report like this that I have no desire to pay (I heard it was $100.00) for an event run like this. Good report!

Told ya's that kick start was quicker!

everyone is always quick to jump on organisers when they have to make tough decisions, sometimes things don't go there way, sometimes you need to shorten events or cancel events, if everyone was going along the railway then i guess the forest would have issues on that, the TTBRC have a history of running very good events, thats why they get the numbers that they do,

having said that, i heard the frist section was not that suitable either,

and Birch was a over a minute down according to Mylaps, very few people can catch and pass two king brothers in 25 miles, it would have been a tough call, expecailly if you say it was not very tight where Chris excels

and KTMboy, great report, the tarawera is so much better with a good start,

[B0000M]

i think all the 'cheaters' or shortcut takers affected the placings throughout the whole field, i raced a hell of a lot better and faster this year than last year and find it difficult to believe im down 50 odd placings, i took no shortcuts and struggled my way through all the bottlenecks. evidently this is not a successful way to get placings... so a bit dissappointed but still had fun, my other gripe is how the scruteneering was run, as i had to stand in the rain and cold for approx 1 & 3/4 hours while 1 guy scruteneered all the bikes. so much for pre race food intake and drinking plenty etc!

then there was the bottlenecks at the start, another ballsup, hopefully those responsible for the obvious cockups will learn from their mistakes and make the event all the better next year

[Cary]

After a record sign on and scutineering of only 2hours.

Cock up number one from the organisers. Never have a gnarly piece so early on in a race as there are 350 odd adrenalin fueled bikers intent on getting through all at once.

Then the rain came and came and came.

However it turned to custard at another hill and again we were told to try to get through a large area of recent clearfell. Another 20 minutes later another 30 places lost. Meanwhile they took about 30 riders down the road all the way back to the pits. They missed about 15km of track. Fuckin bullshit.

So I ended up in 100th over all, 10th in class.

Not only that but they stopped the race after three laps with Damien King leading from brother Darryl and Chris Birch.

Damien King made a statement that the track was tight. He should put that comment on a Tui's ad as there was only about 7 minutes of tighter stuff but still with options to get by. Shit you could have driven a car through there.

So, Not 100 miles only 75 and lots of pissed people. Don't know if I'll do the Tarawera 75 next year now.

Well as a mid field rider I can agree with you on the set up for the start of the race but only takes 1 guy to stop on(ANY) hill and the pileup begins. I spent 10mins getting up that first hill!!

Same goes for the sign on, but they are having to deal with 300+ riders..........

Like the saying goes, you can't please all the people all the time.......

I think the ride was great and as only my 2nd time i'll be back next year:woohoo:


everyone is always quick to jump on organisers when they have to make tough decisions, sometimes things don't go there way, sometimes you need to shorten events or cancel events, if everyone was going along the railway then i guess the forest would have issues on that, the TTBRC have a history of running very good events, thats why they get the numbers that they do,

having said that, i heard the frist section was not that suitable either.

and KTMboy, great report, the tarawera is so much better with a good start,

I can certianly understand some were dissapointed with having the race cut short but organisers have to keep safety of ALL riders & there own crew in mind.

I got held up on start line as two bikes in front of me that didn't start and then knocked off on start straight as well as held up on several hills but thats the T100 and winter riding :rockon:

Me, i'm just aiming to finish top 100 next year.........

[camchain]

I think my mouth went a bit dry just reading that KTMboy. Bad luck on the prize draw (what a bugger!), but despite dropping back from early on you'd have to be happy with your place esp. your Vet class. Bloody impressive work there. A bunch of good names above, below you and some in the DNF section as well.

Always interested to note how quick the motocross guys are in these type events (eg Shane King in 07 ISDE) compared to the enduro guys. Must have something to do with not needing electric starts eh Danger? (chuckle, chortle, cough)

Shame about the stuff that put a bit of a dampener on things for you guys. How the hell did these shortcutters get away with what they were doing? Anyway, I reckon good on all of you who signed up and did it.

[Katoomer]

Mother nature was the winner.Scrutineering was stuffed up because we were to take our numbers and put them on the bike ourselves .That didn't work in wind and rain so they did it for us hence the first bottleneck although it cleared for the briefing ok.
I'm sure at the briefing they said the truck with the countdown clock would drive out of the way and then we would be in the starters hands .It was still there when that rider messed with his e start after we got the dead engine signal and got it to backfire. It was ok for me as I moved up from the 3rd row to the 2nd.
Start was ok for me as the outside had heaps of room to avoid the pileup. I took the straight up option on the first hill only to get cut off at the top so I went back down and had another crack at it with better luck and had a fun 1st lap.
2nd lap was a little sticky but those hills were still ok and I was surprised to see the first bottleneck and lost a good 10 mins even going alongside the railway line .
3rd lap the rain was making things worse, however getting told at the pits that the race was over when the leaders finshed lap 3 was good motivation as I was thinking I might improve on last years finish. By the time I got up the last hill I was stuffed and went into survival mode to the finish . I know I lost a lot of places to the riders that got to bypass the last hill but I don't care as I'm pleased with my effort as an old rider in those conditions.
Talking to people at the prizegiving I think it was the right call finishing 1 lap early . There maybe repercussations to the club for riding along the railway and another area that was used as a bypas and I would hate to see this event stop being held because of no venue.

[cheese]

Well I loved the race last year and this year I have to admit I walked away shaking my head a bit. I was saving myself a bit for a third lap and I was going a bit slow after I binned it on the first big downhill (apparently there was a hole that was catching heaps of people).

I stood in that que to get checked from 6am till 8:30. They decided at about 730 to change the direction of the que and all the people on the left side lucked in. Put me in a bad mood to start a bit.

I had a good race though adn a good start in this race is so important. I guess a bottle neck is just inevitable with 325 riders and a narrow track.

I still have no idea how everyone was getting stuck on that bit of hill where tehy diverted teh track. I just shot up it on the first lap after it had cleared.

I'm really quite gutted to hear about the cheaters though. I think that the club struggled this year to run the race as they apparently just about burnt out last year putting so much effort in. I put a big effort in this year to get fit for the race which helped alot, but to hear that some people were cheating really pisses me off. I guess that is why my placing came up a bit.

[Katoomer]

I think that the club struggled this year to run the race as they apparently just about burnt out last year putting so much effort in.

Last year's venue was alot easier to organise but the Maori trust that owns that land had decided no more riding there so I think that made it hard find a new start area to get to the forestry. Maybe the T 100 is going to get too hard to hold.:scratch:

[dammad1]

Last year's venue was alot easier to organise but the Maori trust that owns that land had decided no more riding there so I think that made it hard find a new start area to get to the forestry. Maybe the T 100 is going to get too hard to hold.:scratch:

Fucking typical

[B0000M]

here's what leaving the T100 looked like this year

the commodore is aarons, the guy trying to break off the spoiler is cheese, im the hiace pilot, damo was the camera man and my fiancee amanda was the assistant pusher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yxdd3UmY5o

[Brainflex]

Well it could of been worse for you guys. I managed 7.5 kms before washing out the front end and breaking my scapula [shoulder]. Now thats gotta be a record. I know there were other injuries, one guy knocked out and I saw a guy at ED who had lost his finger. Anyone know the story behind that?

[Ktmboy]

here's what leaving the T100 looked like this year

the commodore is aarons, the guy trying to break off the spoiler is cheese, im the hiace pilot, damo was the camera man and my fiancee amanda was the assistant pusher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yxdd3UmY5o

Its not only Holdens that don't have a tow hook but Fords as well.
I parked at the far end over the railway line with all the 4x4's. About the only car to make it in. Getting out. Well what a mission. Had to lie in the mud and connect a strop to the steering arm.

Did a few donuts to get the moneys worth. Priceless.

[Ktmboy]

Well it could of been worse for you guys. I managed 7.5 kms before washing out the front end and breaking my scapula [shoulder]. Now thats gotta be a record. I know there were other injuries, one guy knocked out and I saw a guy at ED who had lost his finger. Anyone know the story behind that?

Yeah I came round the corner on the first lap and he was holding up his hand minus a digit. Had a blood fountain going so told him to wait and informed the next check. Looked freaking sore.

[camchain]

Nasty that losing a finger. Wonder if he got it caught between chain and sprocket? (A mate lost one like this)

Club website has poll on aspects of event and a link to a photo gallery (no pics yet): http://www.ttbrc.co.nz/index.php?page/t100

Short report and a photo of one of the hills: http://www.bikesportnz.com/articles/?p=3095#more-3095
(Hopefully Andy M might put some photos up here later?)

[barty5]

Yeah I came round the corner on the first lap and he was holding up his hand minus a digit. Had a blood fountain going so told him to wait and informed the next check. Looked freaking sore.

Which part of the track was that on ?? which lap??

[Ktmboy]

Actually I think it was the second lap and in the tighter stuff. Sure it was a KTM rider

[barty5]

just wondering as i went past a guy who had stopped bout 5 ks in 1st lap dude in front of me hauled up to stop with out warning nearly took him out.

[tnarg]

Found a couple of vids up on youtube already.

http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=VMNt7XubFrI


http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=cqBlu2vNg5k

[LittleJohn]

Sounded like fun, so where did everyone get???

[dammad1]

Found a couple of vids up on youtube already.

http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=VMNt7XubFrI


http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=cqBlu2vNg5k

Cool vids, but man that start is mad, especially trying to filter all those riders into a hairpin.

Two many riders for that kind of start, if they staggered the start like at the GNCC's it would be much better and would stop all those major pileups and bottle necks.

Maybe have a short qualifying lap to see what row you started on? As just turning up early to get on the front row seems a bit stink.

[scott411]

i know i prefer the mass start, the gncc style takes something away for me, its why i have never raced one,

the prologue idea sounds good tho, but a heap if organising, you would need to do it the day before

[dammad1]

i know i prefer the mass start, the gncc style takes something away for me, its why i have never raced one,

the prologue idea sounds good tho, but a heap if organising, you would need to do it the day before

Yeah it would probably be to hard to do in just one day but i'm sure an event like this would still be hugely popular across two days, especially if you just took your time and made sure everything was run properly.

I think the Mass start would certainly be exciting, but this is not suppose to be a sprint race, to train and prepare yourself to last the 4 hours and to get taken out in a pile up on the first corner is really a bit crazy.
If they spread the field out they would have alot less bottlenecks and people could just concentrate on riding as fast as they can and hopefully at the end the results would be truly representative of the real pace and ability a rider has rather than wether you were lucky enough to not get stuck behind a cue of bikes or wether you could find a shortcut around it.

[scott411]

it is hard tho, as how do you split up the start? i know alot of guys like to go for the overall so if you do it by class it is a bit hard on those guys,

the Tarawera is a special race, it has run for 30 years with not many changes, if anything the tracks have got easier and turned it into a 4 hour sprint race, they used to put swamps in and bus people to watch them, but i had a talk to one of the organisers about this a few years ago, they never got the numbers when they ran the course that hard,
MX riders now dominate this race because of it, some of the old footage shows the track going up a stream for a km or so,

[B0000M]

it is hard tho, as how do you split up the start? i know alot of guys like to go for the overall so if you do it by class it is a bit hard on those guys,

the Tarawera is a special race, it has run for 30 years with not many changes, if anything the tracks have got easier and turned it into a 4 hour sprint race, they used to put swamps in and bus people to watch them, but i had a talk to one of the organisers about this a few years ago, they never got the numbers when they ran the course that hard,
MX riders now dominate this race because of it, some of the old footage shows the track going up a stream for a km or so,

would be awesome to have more of that sort of thing in there, it is very much an easy track, the only difficult parts are where it gets too chopped out or when one person falls off and blocks the track, rather than actual difficult terrain

[Ktmboy]

I'd have to agree with Scott about the start. This is adrenalin pumping stuff and quite tactical. If you seriously want to win you have to make the commitment to get there early to secure the front row, or else think wisely and stick to the outside to avoid confusion. I saw one guy at the end of the You Tude vid going up the side of the hill. Shit, I wouldn't have waited around either but would have gone even further around on the Moto x side.

Only thing I didn't like was the speed through the breaks. It wasn't technical at all but just how big your balls were. Shit put some trees across the track with options to go around if you have to. Put a bog in but a way around that takes 3 minutes longer.

This can still be NZ's premium off road race but make it different from any other old cross country. Keep the start!!

[soundbeltfarm]

what would it rate compared to some of the trail rides we have in taranaki?
does anyone know.
i know its a race so there will be that factor but lookin at that you tube vid does it get any harder than what was in that?
i'm keen to do it next year but would like to know what im up against and when i'll need to start training .
my fitness is like zero now but with calving about to start that'll sort me out a bit .
my riding skills are not the best so will need my fitness in check
cheers

[scott411]

it may be worth going to one of the trail rides that the TTBRC run, it has a lot of similar trails, they run 1st sunday of the month,

[dammad1]

I guess they need to decide what their target market is going to be, make it real hard and you won't get the numbers or make it all rideable and try to get all the average + trailriders out their racing.

for me the challenge would just be to ride the 4 hours at speed unlike when your at trailrides and you stop every 20 minutes for a yarn. And for the masses thats harder than it sounds.

As for the split starts the time difference is allowed for so it goes by time, so no matter where you start if your fast enough you can still win.

[scott411]

As for the split starts the time difference is allowed for so it goes by time, so no matter where you start if your fast enough you can still win.

its not really that simple, if you start in the second wave you will catch the slower riders in the first wave, and then be held up by them,

[dammad1]

its not really that simple, if you start in the second wave you will catch the slower riders in the first wave, and then be held up by them,

Exactly thats why you need to get the faster riders starting at the front, in a series like the GNCC they go off your last round results, but obviously you can't do that with this (or could you?) so thats why a prologue would be really good.

[scott411]

thinking about it more, you could hold a small prologue on the friday afternoon, and if you were not interested in it you jsut take a number, waves of 30 to 50 1 minute apart,

would take a fair bit of extra work tho, pretty hard on the volunteers in the club,

[Katoomer]

Sean Clarke suggested seeding based on the previous years result eg 1st 50 get start pick for following year.
Its a tough one. With that many riders it doesn't take much to cause a jam .

But the race was first started for the trailriders that do the monthly rides to have an annual blast without worrying about other forest users.

The tracks are much easier now partly due to the bigger numbers but also the RMA which has stopped streams and swamps being used ( no muddy water allowed into river catchments or steep dropoffs that cause erosion).

The event has grown so big that its hard to cater for the numbers wanting to ride in it. If there was only half the number of entries the track would have been good even in that weather.

[cheese]

IMO the start is what the race is about. they tried to make it better with a few options in the start, but it doesn't matter. it only takes one rider to fall.

[camchain]

The mass start's possibly a big part of what the T100 is about (a bit of madness is a healthy thing every now and then), but the race itself has to be a lot more important. Seems like avoiding some bottle necks if poss would make for a much better event. Makes a mockery out of racing to be just sitting there jammed up especially after an adrenaline filled start.

GNCC starts are still fun, you get to bang bars a little, get away clean and quick plus you can ride as fast as you're able until the finish. You know the next bunch is just up ahead so that makes you work to try and catch them.

But I love the buzz of a mass start as well. Bel Ray has a lot smaller fields of around 100 or so but is still big enough to be real exciting. I don't see why you couldn't set the T100 start up like Bel Ray. Pro/expert on front row, clubmen etc behind. A different coloured sticker for the 2 main classes to ID on start line. Could still take off all at once or maybe a 50 metre gap or 30 sec/1 minute split wouldn't take much away from start thrill and let the quicker guys get away first. Won't solve everything but would help to ease some early congestion. Major 1st turn chaos seems a bit crazy for a 4(?!)hr race.

I'm sure they'll have things worked out a lot better next year if on the same land. The worry is the club could very easily end up without enough bods willing to put their hands up after after this one.

--------------------------

PS. We're lucky the government is there to protect us and correct our behaviour. Pity the RMA wasn't in force a bit earlier in NZ's history. They might have been able to put a stop to all that massive volcanic activity spilling a gazillion tonnes of nasty mud and ash into streams and pumping 'toxic' carbon and greenhouse gases into the air. RMA Head office would have had to be in Australia before earths crust rippled up and volcanoes erupted out of sea to create the all the rocks, mud and dirt we're riding around on now.

[Katoomer]

Found this rider's report .If you're good you can still do ok after a bad start:

Nick Saunders put this report together:



BANG! The gun goes off and my KX450 starts first kick! Yes! I have a really good start going into the first turn until someone comes in wide open up the inside and takes down everyone around him, me included. Bikes still running so im stoked and get going fairly quickly again.
The first part of the race is pretty fast so im passing riders everywhere I can left, right, middle anywhere! When we reach the first transponder check ive made my way into 50th. So were out on our first lap and im riding like a maniac trying to pass riders where I can. Its quite difficult trying to make passes in the bush but I make up good ground on the first lap and make my way into 8th place by the end of lap one, then begin a battle with fellow Kawasaki team rider Brad Groombridge that would last for the next hour and a half.
Lap two begins and I make a few more paces early on in the lap and make my way into 5th and stayed here till the end of lap two. Lap three begins and me and Groombridge set off chasing each other, by this stage the track had cut up a lot and the hill climbs were getting really tough. Going up one of them I made a big mistake and lost a lot of momentum which let Brad past. I chased him for the rest of the lap then to my amazement they put the chequered flag out one lap early which gave Brad 5th and me 6th.
The track had deteriorated so badly that people were getting stuck all over the show and the organisers had to pull the pin on the event.

Even though this was a bit of an anti climax to the event I loved every second of it! The track was so fun with sandy berms everywhere and really challenging hill climbs. Even though 6th isn't really where I wanted to get im still happy with the way I rode after such a bad start and will be back next year for sure!

Overall: 6th Overall in 250cc + 4stroke class: 3rd

[camchain]

Full results are up now (Poll results have changed a fair bit):
http://www.ttbrc.co.nz/index.php?page/t100

Some photos are up as well. See if you're in there. Images are a bit underexposed but would tidy up pretty well in Photoshop. I can give pics a scrub-up if anyone wants.

Good spotting for above report katoomer.

[camchain]

Liked this series of shots. Apparantly he got up and rode off OK. Anyone else have any drain drama?
(Rang and asked permission to use images before posting here)

[NordieBoy]

Ouch !

[Cary]

Liked this series of shots. Apparantly he got up and rode off OK. Anyone else have any drain drama?
(Rang and asked permission to use images before posting here)

Exactly the reason I didn't jump the drain!! That and in a 4 hour race why risk it for maybe a 5 sec gain.

p.s. your all way to late, already been called a pussy for not doing it :laugh:

[Katoomer]

I know it was last month but it did upset a few people . This report is on the club's website and is worth a read:

President's report on the 2008 Tarawera 100
The 2008 Tarawera 100

I was asked to write a ‘committee’ point of view of the latest edition of the Tarawera 100.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Some stood up at prize giving and told the masses what was wrong with the event. One rider thought that the race was easy and said that most of the other riders were basically useless. He couldn't understand why the race was shortened as he intended to pass the riders in front of him to win on the final lap. Maybe we should have refunded their entry fee and not handed over their prize money if they were that unhappy?

There were even whispers that Yamaha forced the early finish so that a Yamaha would win the race. Ridiculous! The person who made the call to shorten the race was about half way around the track, soaking wet, looking at where riders had ridden on the seriously out of bounds gas pipeline. He had no idea of where the lead riders were on the track let alone what position they were in.
Even though Tony Rees stood up at the start of prize giving to give the reasons for shortening the race, a few obviously weren’t paying much attention.

There were two reason why the race was shortened. Number one was competitors started riding along the rail way line instead of riding up the fire breaks.

Number two was a two part issue. A few competitors started using the gas pipe line to bypass an uphill, this in itself is a no-no, let alone the fact that they were overshooting the track that was at the top of the hill and rode down the other side. This could have been disastrous as when they turned around and rode back up the hill from the other side they could have had a head on collision with other competitors that were using the same line.

These are two serious issues that forestry owners, gas pipe line owners and of course the railways really frown upon. We informed the forestry manager on Monday morning and he said nothing should come of it. We all hope this is the case as we don’t want to jeopardise our trail riding future in this area. He said he had one of his security guys patrolling the area keeping an eye on us and said calling the race off early for those issues was the right thing to do. The security guy was listening in on our radio chatter and actually picked up a rider with the broken collar bone and transported him to the ambulance stationed at the mid way point on the track. Thank you.

The area of forest we use is long and very narrow. To one side is the fire breaks (and railway lines) and the other side has a boundary with a privately owned forest that we did not have access to this year. There were four places where the tracks were no more than three hundred metres apart. This makes it very hard to change our track layout.

The area where we hold our monthly trail rides is further south and is a larger area but we have nowhere for a start area or pits so it is out of the question. Even though the soil is slightly different and isn’t so effected by wet weather.

Thank you to the people that talked to us on the night one on one or phoned/sent emails in the week after that had some good points. New Zealanders generally are not a race of people that rant and rave about issues publicly, it actually gets our backs up.

We could have gotten back up on the microphone and addressed the points raised but it was not the place. We had more tact.

Here are some of the issues that have been pointed out (that we had already identified) over the past week and what we are planning to do about them:
Sign on

Currently it starts at 6.30 in the morning. We are looking at having sign on Friday night as well as Saturday morning. We figure the majority of racers will make their way to the Whakatane area Friday night anyway so this should stop the morning rush.

So many riders are turning up at 5am getting organised. With a race start time of 10am this means that some people have been awake for a very long time.

Scrutineering

We are looking at doing away with this next year. We are also looking to do away with race numbers as the transponders haven’t failed us yet and this is another time consuming process.

We will do random bike checks on the start line if well feel it is necessary.

We would like to think that most competitors would have their bikes up to scratch!

The start

This will probably remain the same. We have studied videos and many still photos. There was a lot of paddock unused on that first corner. Most riders tried to use only a third of what was available of the first corner. I could see that a WR250 was nice and wide and went around the outside in the top 10. I also saw a young lady on her YZ125 zip around all the drama. She had enough foresight to follow her little brother on his CRF150R.

We can’t make the track wide enough so 300 riders can be side by side without banging bars.

Bottle necks

As I mentioned above, we can’t make to track wide enough for 300 bikes.

Steve Cotter our vice president took about a month off work to help prepare the track. He spent countless hours on the bulldozer repairing old tracks and making some new ones. We worked on making the first part of the track as wide as we could as we knew this is when there is the greatest concentration of bike close together. I don’t think we could every get away for having bottle necks. I saw a top level rider fall off at our trail ride the week before the race on two fire breaks, one after the other. The second break was really quite easy and in a race situation it would have cost him lots of time and if there were 100 riders right behind him he would have caused a bottle neck. This guy was wearing a black riding shirt with little white Kiwi’s on it. Anyone can cause a bottle neck.

The first hill

We saw only one real error in our track and that was the two option hill just after the start. Over the past 31 years there have been sections of track that should have never been part of a race track. Some committee members have been around long enough to remember the drop off of the mid 80’s that claimed many XR’s and IT’s as well as the odd spectator (talked to a lady on the Saturday just gone that was hit by a falling IT490 and had to get stitches in her head). One lane bridges at the bottom of scoria hills just after the start in the mid 90’s. Wooden jumps covered in ice in the middle of the bush is another. Now and then we get it wrong. We learn from our mistakes and make changes.

I would like to thank all the land owners for allowing us to hold the race over their land even when the weather turned sour. Remember, they could have stopped the race before it even started.

All our sponsors need thanking. They range from small local businesses, motorcycle shops and parts distributors to our main sponsor Yamaha Motor New Zealand.

The many volunteers also need thanking. They range from the people that sweated in the bush to those who worked on the admin side of the race, and the public that showed up to see another Tarawera 100 unfold.

Lastly I would like to thank the bulk of the competitors that entered knowing full well that they were never going to win the event outright or even win their class. They were there to race their mates, maybe try and beat their personal best from previous years and probably the main reason is they want to be able to say they rode in the Tarawera 100.These riders mostly would be paying full retail for their motorbikes and riding gear so that a select few sponsored riders can have a free bike and gear. If the trail riders don’t buy motorbikes and enter events then prize money is smaller and motorbike manufacturers couldn’t afford to sponsor as many guns. Trail riders are the back bone of the industry in our opinion. Remember this when you make your next soap box appearance.

It was a pleasure to have the ultra professional motocross riders at the event. They were professional in all aspects of their race from walking the track Friday to their conduct at prize giving.

Is this something that they pass on at their riding schools? If this is the case then I think some of the enduro and cross country fraternity could do with visiting either MXDK, Broxy, or Michael Cotter.

We have had calls, emails and even txt’s of support from those mid pack guys and girls. They loved the challenge of the event and want to come back next year. They are more than welcome and we look forward to having them back.

The last time the race was wet was 2001. I remember it well. Six hours and one minute was my total race time. I was the last person to complete the required 4 laps. I was 23rd overall. Most people have forgotten the bad times.

This said, if we had a dry race then potentially it could have been an absolutely brilliant event and no one would have worried about how long it took to get your bike checked and getting caught behind a slow rider that got a better start than them.

Let’s hope that we have another six dry years for the event.

Brendon Ingle

President

Tarawera Trail Bike Riders Club

[cheese]

Well said. I was just anoyed at the lack of communication at the time. I'm one of the "just there to race my mates and better my last years spot" people. I still think I'll give it a miss next year and might do the following years event.

I think that thye had the right idea with splittig the track, but maybe it will open it all up a bit with a few of those options in the start?

[scott411]

great read, Brendon along with the committee are 100% riders, they put on the show for our enjoyment, and what Brendon wrote their is good, no one is perfect and some of the shit that got thrown around was a bit over the top imo, you can not help rain, and i bet the TTBRC have no end of people they need to please to keep this event running,

i am sure it will be back better and bigger next year, and i hope i am in condition to ride it,

[takitimu]

It's an interesting post, without these guys organising the events our riding options are severely reduced, there have been a few interesting stories out of the Enduro's this year ( http://silver-bullet.co.nz/news.php?id=4365 is one ) & as someone who's finally doing @ 40+ what he'd dreamed of doing as a teenager ( riding enduros ) I want lots of events so I hope people take a bit of a chill pill & enjoy what events we do have in NZ & appreciate the work the organisers put in, because once they stop they won't come back.

P.S. I like Scott's idea, have to make sure I am not coming off a 5 week riding break before next years race.