The Scott 24hr Mountain Bike Race

It’s back again at Stromlo Forest Park and we are celebrating a "Decade of Dirt" with our 10th Anniversary.

This is the 10th year of Canberra Off-Road Cyclists’ Australian 24 Hour Mountain Bike Championships, known as the Scott 24 hour. Over the years the location and name of the race has changed, but the one thing that hasn’t changed is that this is the original and the best 24Hr mountain bike race in Australia – and now it’s the biggest in the world - again!

Welcome to the 2008 Scott 24 Hour Mountain Bike Championships.

The Scott 24hr is largely a participation event, although you will see riders out there of Olympic, world, and national standard. One of the great features of this event is that you can be in the same race, on the same course, at the same time, as reigning national champions and Olympic riders. Of course, if you’re like me, you might only get a glimpse of high-speed lycra as they pass you, again! The main aim is to have fun and complete the race although there are usually battles within categories (and sometimes within teams) at all levels of riding ability. The campsite area will be huge and the level of services available has been increased to allow for up to 4000 riders and 8000 spectators who continue to make this event what it is.

After the great success of the 2007 race, its on again at Mt Stromlo for 2008, the home of endurance mountain biking in Australia. Most of the innovations from the 2007 race will still be there for 2008, things you all enjoyed like:
- the hourglass style course to improve rider track spacing while still allowing shorter laps and more frequent transitions for the less experienced riders, or those who need an extra battery change at night.
- the modified finishing arrangements allowing you to finish after 23 hours of racing and avoid the wait in the queue to finish.
- the bitumen transition zone – no dust!
- a huge camping area, bigger this year (even though you didn’t fill it all last year) with some extra camping options.

But – the biggie this year is that its number 10. A decade of dirt. From the humble beginning of 24 hour mountain bike racing in Australia, 18 of the original 178 riders have done all 9 so far. The names to look out for are:

Alan Anderson Ray Giddins Wayne Morris
Trevor Bridge Jason Hart Matthias Nolte
Paul Brodie Jonathon Learmonth David Osmond
Nicholas Crisp Shaun Lewis (CORC) Brett Pound
Jeff Dau Wayde Margetts Jim Trail
Matthew Flemming Paul Mason Michael Wade

Any of these riders who enter the 2008 race will receive:
- a refund of their entry (or their portion of the team entry) at the race brief
- a special “I’ve done them all” jersey at the race brief
- a named call-up at the start

These riders still need to enter online. They then need to email timing@corc.asn.au with their entry details plus the jersey size they require. If you think we’ve missed you off the list, please also email timing@corc.asn.au and we will do another search of the results. We’re pretty confident we’ve got them all, but if you’ve changed your name we might have missed you.

24hrs of Adrenalin World Solo 24hr Mountain Bike Championships

The agreement between Canberra Off-Road Cyclists and 24hrs of Adrenalin means that there are unlimited qualifying places from both the NZO Australian Solo 24hr MTB Championship (conducted at Easter by CORC )and the Australian 24hr MTB Championships on 13-14 October. You can check out the detailed rules for qualifying on the 24hrs of Adrenalin website.

Basically, subject to the 24hrs of Adrenalin conditions, you will get a 20% discount on the entry. And, if you do more than 75% of the laps of the winning solo male/female rider, you can enter the Worlds in the Elite male/female class. If you do more than 50%, you can enter the age categories.