Tarawera 100 - not long now!

[scott411]

good luck to all the guys racing,
some last minute advice,
make sure you are drinking plenty of water today, you should have to stop a couple of times on the way down for a piss,
make sure you eat tomorrow morning, creamed rice is a great when you are sitting waiting around for the start, but have a breakfast before this as well,
make sure you have food and drink in the pits every lap, carbo shots or simalr are good if you have used them before,
get as best start you can, this will help alot, if you are on teh second row, start behind a two stroke, they start faster and you will get pulled though

htis is the best race in teh country, wish i was riding,

[camchain]

RE: Cheese quote (and Scott mentioned as well): "I've got some Carbo shot stuff and I need to get some other quick to eat food. Any sugestions?"

Preparation is everything. I'm a detail type and I find getting lots of detail stuff right can really add up to a major improvement overall.

- I found taping a pack of EAS Energy Gel (From supermarket) to the fuel container in pits is really good (is that the stuff you use Cheese and Scott?). Remove zip seal ring first to avoid a few seconds of pit fumbling. Very fast/easy to squeeze contents down the neck and you really notice the energy boost when it kicks in.

- Start fluid intake the day before and cram more in from the minute you get up in the morning. I like the 'mix your own' electrolyte powdered stuff from Supermarket. I drink over 4 litres morning of event. (Start early and taper off for obvious reasons! Put empty milk container in car for emergency comfort breaks).

- Have a good quality carbo loading meal the night before (Pasta/Rice etc. Fatty pizza for dinner = lower sleep quality. Leave grog alone 'til after race and breakfast like a king) and whack a bunch of raw vegetables and fruit into the juicer. Tastes like crap but high octane race fuel for the meat engine.

- Hard to beat bananas for easy to eat/easy to digest/fast energy availability. I eat 3 during 2 hours before the start, last one just before getting on bike. Chris Birch parked next to me at an event last year. Noticed a big bunch of them in back of his van. I don't like bananas much but I reckon he probably knows what he's doing.

- Try Red Seal 'Crampbuster' capsules (From supermarket). I tend to get cramp real bad. Potassium and Magnesium boost seems to help.

- Factoid: Apparently caffiene boosts sports performance (helps concentration?). Maybe try a No-Doze for caffiene hit?

- Leave a couple of small bits of paper towel sticking out of bar pad cover for a quick grab. Makes tear offs last a bit longer if roosted often.

- Wind a couple of metres of duct tape around a fork leg (Not the slidey shiny bit). Gives a fast fix possibility for flapping plastic or other stuff that may come adrift (Used that one recently to sort a bloke who's clutch lever bracket was loose). A length of wire around handlebar can be handy too. Tape over it.


Envious of you guys doing this iconic event. Have fun and go well. Keep in mind 'you can't win a race on the first lap - but you can definitely lose one.' 'To finish first - first you must finish,' etc. and so forth.

I reckon staying just inside your best pace ability (rather than right on it) and maybe losing a minute or two each lap is a lot easier to live with than a DNF or lost time from crashing. Riding on the ragged edge burns a ton more energy as well. Early on in a race, how often do you get passed by someone in banzai mode, only to catch them again shortly after when they bin it, and you never see them again? Looking forward to reading your reports.

[Reckless]

start behind a two stroke, they start faster and you will get pulled though

OH!! that's a classic!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck to all you guys!!!! Ride safe!!

[Danger]

if you are on teh second row, start behind a two stroke, they start faster and you will get pulled though

Very good advice that and one I would not have considered until Scott mentioned it.

[cheese]

I just downed a litre of water now and need a piss.

Hope I don't have to spend have teh race stopping for a piss. Maybe I'll just piss my pants. Going in Aarons car afterall....

Got a thing of that gell last night. I'll get some more tonight along wiht creamed rice and stuff.

[Danger]

I like to attach a small piece of damp chamoi to the front of the seat with a few rubber bands. I find tissues just smear water and mud around the goggles where as chamoi will wipe them clean quickly, often with one wipe. Or you can rubber band it to your wrist, where ever you think it will stay cleanest.

[barty5]

I just downed a litre of water now and need a piss.

Hope I don't have to spend have teh race stopping for a piss. Maybe I'll just piss my pants. Going in Aarons car afterall....

Got a thing of that gell last night. I'll get some more tonight along wiht creamed rice and stuff.

shit now your pickin on my driving as well (PS. not allowed to piss pants in car)

[cheese]

LOL that actually was not what I meant!! I wrote that wrong. I was more just pulling the piss that its your car that will smell afterwards! LOL

P.s. Penny farthings have those shot things. THe supermarket ones are cheaper though.

[camchain]

Another alternative top type tip to the two t tow trick to try (pardon my grammar) if on second row is keep eyes peeled for electric start bike to get in behind. Works nice for shotgun starts. No need to hope guy in front will single kick.

I like that chamois suggestion a lot Danger. You're dead right about paper failing the smear test. Had it mind for a while to maybe try velcro-ing something onto goggle wiping finger. I might shimmy into chamois.

[barty5]

LOL that actually was not what I meant!! I wrote that wrong. I was more just pulling the piss that its your car that will smell afterwards! LOL

P.s. Penny farthings have those shot things. THe supermarket ones are cheaper though.

sweet so now i can drive with right foot but safely

[Danger]

Another alternative top type tip to the two t tow trick to try (pardon my grammar) if on second row is keep eyes peeled for electric start bike to get in behind. Works nice for shotgun starts. No need to hope guy in front will single kick.

A single kick will beat electric start every time. But will he single kick? Only if he is on a KTM200 or a 125 perhaps.

[Danger]

I heard this was cut a lap short so too bad if you were in a team cause one member would have only got one lap in.

[B0000M]

you heard right. there was major weather issues in lap 3 which was just a joke, a lot of people got only 2 laps in due to the closing of the track! there were major bottlenecks all day long, and lap 3 was just pure slush, probably the worst conditions ive ever ridden in. more later, im knackered

[cheese]

LOL I just got home

What a fucking disaster!!

Firstly, I loved the race and the track was great. but the organisational skills were piss poor in comparrison to last year.

1 person to inspect 325 bikes. I turned up at 6am and it took till 8:30 till I had my bike looked at. Fucking joke.

That aside teh guys did a great job. The rain is what made it fucked. The track got so boggy in parts adn teh uphill were so chewed out that they had to close part of teh track off adn divert people around them.

Anyway Barty5, Booom and I had to start on the second row. There was a mass pile up and I had to go wide on teh first corner.. As you would expect with 325 bikes and stuff all room we had a pile up on the first hill. I got stuck at the back of the pack so I was on teh back foot from the get go. I managed to get past teh pile up and I spent most of my time overtaking more than getting passed. All was going well appart from more spills on uphills and rut city!! I had a good first lap and felt I was holding a really good pace. ONly managed to fall off teh once!!

Anyway came in after teh first lap feeling good. Downed some fluids and got back into it.

Took it easy on the second lap, cause on the second big downhill I managed to go over the bars and my bars were all bent out to shape. Lucky Honda rubber mounts their bars or I'd be shopping for a new set. I also managed to sprain my wrist (which is fucking sore now) and and so I took ages to get back into it and start going for it. Got overtaken by some of the really fast guys so thought I'd stop to have a drink and a piss stop.

So I get back to the pits and I missed the third lap by 10 mins. I was about 10-15 mins behind Booom and about 15 mins ahead of Barty5. They shut the track down and made it a 3 lap race cause the track was so bad that there after teh race was all over and the pits were being packed up, there were apparently 100 bikes out on the track either stuck or broken (sounds slightly exaggerated to me though probably 20...)

Anyway all in all I had fun. Had a bit of a mission getting the trailer and Bartys car out. Apparently holden doesn't make a good 4WD vehicle. Booom has some funny video footage which should make its way onto youtube.

[cheese]

Oh yeah and I managed to some 259th this year. a improvement on my 290th last year. Booom got 170th and Barty got 290th or so. While I didn't manage to get a third lap in (one of my goals) I did manage to not come last in my class!! YAY!! I got 22nd in my class out of 24.