A good fun weekend, with many highlights - I scored some bargains, met some top people, and caught up with even more top people that I'd met at previous events.
Was also given a chance to ride a few other bloke's bikes, which is always fun and always appreciated! In particular, GMC's low-mileage KDX175 shows how flogged out my 200 is, and Kurt's MX250 is damn fast.
My MX250 crapped its ignition, so is now in doubt for next weekend - but then again, I'm glad I had a chance to ride it before the Nationals, and I'm glad it happened
before the Nationals...
The riding aspect was a bit underwhelming, to be blunt.
The MX track was a bit of a disappointment after the promises made about its condition - I really hope that its given some love in the next week - so much potential, but...
Specifically, the watering system seemed to be designed only to increase the size of the mud holes, and the down-hill whoops are simply not fun on a short travel bike.
The surface is magic and there was some parts of the track that were a ton of fun, so its not a total-loss - but if the track is in that condition next week, then I can confidantly say the Coffs and Connondale Nats had much better tracks... The bright side is that a few hours with a blade and some care with the watering system is all that seperates the Broadford track from awesomeness.
Also frustrating was the short sessions - I lost count of the number of times I'd go out and do one or two laps, only for the session to end. And then all of the riders would simply loop around and wait for the next session to begin - but we'd inevitably have to wait five minutes before the next session to begin.
I ended up spending most of Sunday arvo on the Vinduro track because it was a simple matter of rolling up to the start line and going...
I liked the idea of the era-specific sessions, but allocating two 15-minute sessions per era per day is always going to leave people feeling short changed. I understand why the abandoned the era-specific sessions, but I don't understand why the 'all-in' sessions were still so short.
Oh, and having
all of the officials have their lunch breaks at exactly the same time seems a bit crazy. If the breaks were staggered (say, road race at 12pm, MX at 12:30, Vinduro at 1pm) then everyone (including the officials) would be encouraged to go and see other disciplines. As it is, the whole place grinds to a halt...
For me, the riding highlight was easily Sunday's vinduro loop, which was great fun even with the dust.
But hey, a weekend of talking, touching and riding old dirt bikes is always fun, right?
