Fat Tyre Flyers Downhill MTB

The organizing committee (FTF plus every other hosting club) have set dates and venues for the upcoming season. These are pretty much set but may change slightly depending on "circumstances beyond our control"...you know what I mean!

• Round 1: Eildon 16 - 17 Oct
• Round 2: Barjarg 13 - 14 Nov
• Round 3: You Yangs 4 - 5 Dec
• Round 4: Mt Buller 29 -30 Jan
• Round 5: Mt Baw Baw 5 - 6 Ma
• Vic DH Champs: Mount Beauty SC 2 -3 Apri
• Round 6: Yackandandah 30 April - 1 Ma
• VDHS Presentation: Long Gully 15 May

For all those folks from other clubs that are silly enough to get involved in event planning and running the season - please visit the VIC DH SERIES 2010-11 page and download all the stuff you need to read before you show up at the planning meeting.

See you all there...

Check out the blog...

MOAN MOAN MOAN

We hear rumblings...apparently the FTF DH committee have been ripping off the riding community for years. We are making so much money there is  a secret yacht berthed down at St Kilda. We have wild orgies down there on the proceeds of the races.

Now, it may come as a surprise to many folks out there in DH land - but the last time I checked, Roman Abramovich  wasn't on our committee. No, we have to work for our money - cash which we use to purchase new equipment we need to run the races (timing, laptops, tents etc) and which we also spend on maintenance of the items we already have, as well as building tracks and paying land access fees and the many other items which pop up every month.

We have just prepared a list of items for clubs to check when they are hosting rounds of the VIC DH Series later this year. Check it out here. See what goes on behind the scenes to bring you a race.(Those of you out there that have done this already know what I am talking about).

SEASON 2009-10

Without going into the gory details - FTF DH made no money last season - although we did cover our recurring and maintenance expenses. (If you do want the gory details, join the club and come to the AGM)

Long Gully got burned and had to be re-built. We lost money at Big Hill. We shared rounds with other clubs to help them on their feet. We missed out on Eildon through no fault of our own. It was a bad year, no doubt about it.

Oh yes, and for those of you that have been around a while, you will know that we have managed to hold the entry fee at $85 for 3 years straight. It hasn't been easy, but the more people who come, the easier it gets. Can we (and other clubs) hold it at that level again? Stay tuned...we paid more for fuel, transport hire & first aid than we ever did before. We ran VERY close to the wind at every event.

SEASON 2010-11

Next season WILL be better - FTF DH intend to run 2 rounds, and to hold a few dual slalom races, ride days and other stuff too. If you are a Fatties member, the future is bright. Good venues (with more to come), plenty of club events, great crew to build & maintain the tracks, a great set of fully paid for assets dedicated to downhill racing. We worked hard for it, and we don't need to apologize to anyone for putting this club in such a great position.

OTHER CLUBS 

The growth in popularity of DH lately has had a major positive side effect - more clubs and more volunteers, so FTF won't have to do the lion's share of the work. We want more clubs, more members, more volunteers - it makes our lives so much easier!

So to all those people out there who resent what FTF have done - do the same thing at your club.Work and get all the benefits. Please.

Please - if you want to volunteer - DON'T BE SHY! We don't bite, and we need extra people.

Thanks to all the 88 riders who took the time to complete the preferred track survey, here it is:

See how you went last season...don't let this stop you from coming to the Presentation Day at Long Gully though!

 Standings are here

Congratulations to everyone at the You Yangs DH club - you have built a track that you should be proud of. You have set the bar high!

Congrats too to everyone who attended the last race of the season - 229 riders is an exceptional turnout. Only 4 years ago that would have set a record for the first round!

Thanks to everyone for the whole season - we will be publishing some season stats soon for everyone to see. They will make for interesting reading, and are for your comments.

 Results are HERE

STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 5 ARE UP NOW...CLICK HERE 

Wind, rain, clouds. A great weekend in beautiful Mt Beauty. And we ran a race too.

OK...first things first HUGE props to Scott Reidy and all the folks who helped out with driving. I don't think I have ever seen transport run so efficiently in all the years I have been going to this location. Over 250 riders, a 20 minute drive up and still Scott was generally ahead of the game.

Also big thanks to all the volunteers who gave up their day to stand in the pouring rain to marshal and make sure the event could go ahead. We keep saying it, but it bears repeating - these events only happen because of volunteers!

While we are on key people, a big thank you to Matt Gardiner from Mt Beauty who is a keen rider and helped make all this happen.

Timing

As we said during rider briefing (and we DO like to keep you informed) we are always looking for new and better ways of doing things. We had trialled a wireless (no cable down the hill) system a few times, and thought the advantages it gave were worth a try at this round.

Radio technology is a black art, with many strange and weird effects that can change due to time and weather. Well, that is what we got - 100% signal while the cloud cover stayed, and 0% when the cloud lifted.

Unfortunately, the communications broke down half way through the SPORT category, and we lost a few peoples times. We offered re-runs but most were not all that keen. We have decided to calculate an average time of all riders who did finish, and award this time (and corresponding points) to the riders who were affected by the failure.

Sport riders who did finish will not be adversely affected by this decision in regards to series points. 

 Results

 Results are up here.

Another excellent round of racing has concluded at Mystic Mt Taylor.  An excellent vibe, another great track and a lot of smiles on faces.  Organising downhill races is not without it's challenges, and sometimes things just don't go to plan.  What is great to see is that we have awesome volunteers that get the job done when it needs to be.  THANKYOU!

Race results are available here and for the series standings head here.

Due to people constantly mentioning that they loose touch with mountain bike friends during the off season, the Fatties DH team are organising the Social Event of the Year!

When: Saturday 11th of September.

Start: 7:30pm

Where: All Smiles Cafe, Ringwood East.

Cost: $40 per head which includes heaps of food for dinner. (Bargain!!!)  Drinks from the bar at bar prices (not included in your $50) And spots are limited to just 120.

From all reports, the All Smiles Cafe is a really nice venue with excellent meals.  You wont leave hungry!  The atmosphere is designed so people can mingle and catch up which lends itself for a great night.

This is a licensed venue and that means it's 18yo and above.  So leave the squids at home with a pizza and a DVD and have a good night out.

Tickets: Available via email or at the Mt Taylor and Mt Beauty rounds.  Contact Natalie Rees at natalierees@iprimus.com.au or see her at the rego tent.

They are up! Check here

The members blog is now active...get involved...BLOG!

Round 1: You Yangs, 17/18 October - DONE & WON

Round 2: Yackandandah, 14/15 November - DONE & WON

Round 3: Mt Beauty (Short Course), 6/7 February - DONE & WON

 Baw Baw (State Champs), 27/28 February - DONE & WON

Round 4: Mt Taylor (Bairnsdale), 27/28 March

Round 5: Mt Beauty (Big Hill), 10/11 April

Round 6: You Yangs(Geelong), 24/25 April

Presentation Day: Long Gully (Healesville), 15/16 May

Notes:

State Champs does NOT attract any points.

Riders will NOT be able to "Drop" any rounds this season. 

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