The Lowdown on The Pines and Margaret River Special Stage.
Planning Finalised for Stage 3 of 2015 Cape to Cape MTB
Following his recent trip to Margaret River to meet with the various event stakeholders and to be briefed on the logging developments in The Pines, Cape to Cape MTB Race Director Jason Dover and his team have now worked to finalise the course for Stage 3 of this year’s event. Given the doubts surrounding the logging impact on trails in the area the event management team have agreed to release the full details of the planned course for our riders.
Pretty much the only thing that will remain the same for the Margaret River Special Stage in 2015 is the start and finish!
Stage 3 will start again in 2015 with a controlled rollout from Xanadu Winery through the main streets of town enroot to the restart at Carters Road. From here the course will be changed up after the start down Carters Road. Instead of the previous alignment around the river and out to the private estate at Freshwater Drive which we will this year send you straight into The Pines and up the fire road climb on the western boundary and straight out to the Burnside loop to break up the field. The plan is again to use the Return of the Jedi sections of single track break offs back to The Pines that include the new Princess Leia, the Dark Side and Use The Force.
Back into The Pines you will climb up a wide fire road to allow for overtaking. With the change to the logging plans we now expect to be able to include a great section of trails straight away that will include Mr Nice, Aunt Lou, the extended Lilly Trailand then back up and down into Whoop Whoop. Riders will then face another fire road climb to allow for overtaking before hitting the sweet berms of Noodle Bowlthen making their way over to Long Macchiato then a nice fire road climb back to the top of Big Pine. After screaming down this flowing mecca The Pines will culminate with a technical test as the course takes Rock N Root into Hoodiesbefore finding the Rails Trail below.
It is from here on that the course gets really interesting as our Race Director has reached into the history books and pulled out a number of old trails from his bag of tricks. Riders will next climb a large fire road up to Wharncliffe Mill before enjoying a blast back down to the river on one of the first trails ever built for mountain biking in Margaret River. This will then connect into the Chimney Trail as it flows along the river bank before a technical rocky section bring a challenging climb back up to the main settlement of Wharncliffe Mill. The course will then cross over to the top ofRiverglen and use a series of trails opened up for the 2009 event linking into Minnie Keenan trail and the series of tracks around the river back into town.
Here the course crosses town at the newly opened Hairy Marron before taking a leafy flowing track that winds east out to the river crossing that is more picturesque than words can describe. Look right as you ride over the bridge crossing for a postcard view of the Margaret River or left if you prefer the crashing waterfalls as the water spills over the weir on it’s way into town. Once across the river the course winds toward the old alignment out to Colonial with one nasty sting left in the planned course alterations for 2015. To get to Swing Road this year and the last section of single track riders will traverse The Powerlines due north, a climb set to test the toughest of competitors. But once conquered riders can enjoy a quick section of closed in forest trails via Swing Rd, out toward Colonial Brewery with onlyOne Last Hill remaining in their way.
The current planned course distance for Stage 3 this year sits at 45km plus a 7km neutral rollout. Whilst this is a little shorter than previous years we feel riders will appreciate the distance chosen as the percentage of single track and technical riding will be far greater than in any other year.
In summarising the changes planned for this year, Race Director Jason Dover said;
“We are super excited to release this course information for 2015 and expect a sold out field to celebrate in the ultimate style a last hurrah for The Pines and a nod to many of the old trails used in past events as we look forward to a new era coming for mountain biking in Margaret River.”
For more info, visit the Cape to Cape MTB website. www.capetocapemtb.com
The Sundown Shootout Revamped for 2015
They say a change is as good as a holiday. So while you may enjoy a week away at the Cape to Cape MTB our race team have got busy making some exciting changes to the Sundown Shootout for this year’s event.
The Sundown Shootout will remain on the Friday afternoon in The Pines between 4pm and 5pm. But this year the location will be moved from the finish line at Woop Woop to instead start and finish in the one location at Noodle Bowl. This change is expected to add to the excitement for both spectators and the elite riders as riders will start from right next to the finish line.
The planned course is 1.2km and will see riders head from the start onto Rock N Root climbing to the top of Hoodies before ripping over for the descent down Noodle Bowl with the goal to claim their place on the Red Bull hot seat. The highlight for spectators is sure to be the two huge berms in the middle of Noodle Bowl and the opportunity to see Australia’s best mountain bikers hit these sections at warp speed as they race for the $1000 winners cheque.
For more info, visit the Cape to Cape MTB website. www.capetocapemtb.com