Welcome to the Garvey Park Dirt Crit Series, Hosted by PMBC.

Firstly, a dirt crit is a combination of a cyclo-cross race – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqzgbJS8Fs4&feature=related and a criterium road race. The course is very much shorter than a conventional XC mountain bike race and in many ways less technical. To make up for this, and as an extra dimension, the race is to be run under twilight/night conditions. Therefore bring your lights, (and start eating lots of carrots).

The City of Belmont have been very supportive in granting approval to use the grounds at Garvey Park to host the first series of this kind in the Perth metropolitan area. This is a trial series to gauge the viability and it is hoped future races will be run throughout the year pending further approval and consideration from the City of Belmont.

Importantly, there are a number of conditions the City of Belmont request us to adhere to and they are reproduced below. An announcement will be made prior to each race starting to remind you of these rules.

1) Don’t litter
2) Use lights both front and rear
3) Be courteous to other park users
4) Use the die-back disinfectant trough for your bike and shoes prior to racing

The Race format

Firstly the dates: Tuesday evenings 12/10, 19/10, 26/10, 2/11, 9/11, 16/11 6:30pm registration opens for a 7pm start.

This race is intended to be simple and straight forward and it requires a little patience and co-operation, especially during this trial series as we get up to speed with a normal routine. To spell out the subtle reading between the lines – this type of thing has never been attempted before in Perth and it is unknown how the mountain biking community will take to the race (there could be 300 people turn up and we’ll be racing until 10pm or nobody will show up and I’ll have a ride around the park by myself).

Here’s the plan…

Turn up at Garvey Park with all the following items as a minimum:
1) MTBA Race licence (if you have one),
2) Lights front and rear,
3) Helmet
4) Bike
5) $5 entry (and $15 for a day licence if you aren’t a member of the MTBA)
6) Enthusiasm.

In addition to the ample car parking, it is worth pointing out there is good bike path access to the park if you want to turn the race into a good training exercise. We are currently in negotiations to acquire some demo/loan lights for this series. Stay tuned for more details.

Registration will be open at 6:30pm and you will be required to take your bike and shoes through a specially made disinfectant trough to prevent Die-Back. The races will be split into 4 separate categories which you self select from A, B, C and, if required, D. There is no scientific formula for working out your category and by all means you can move up or down if necessary. Ladies can choose category where they will be competitive. Here is a guide…

A – for those that race Elite or Expert cross country races and other equally competitive forms of cycling,
B – for those that race Sport in cross country races and are fairly competitive cyclists from other disciplines of cycling and are new to mountain biking. Also Elite/Expert women if they wish.
C – for those that love cycling, and for one reason or another, don’t get out on the bike enough but would want to escape the many routines of life and have a race,
D – for those novice riders who have never raced before or, if needed, to further segregate the above categories.

The entry fee is $5 for those who are MTBA members and an extra $15 for a day licence for those that are not. This is for insurance purposes.

The course will be approximately 2-3km in length and will be varied each race to add variety and limit excessive damage to the grounds.

The racing will start at 7pm with A grade. After they have completed one lap, B grade will start their race and after B grade have completed their first lap C (and D) will start.

A grade will complete 5 or 6 laps (approx 45 mins), B grade 4 or 5 laps (approx 35 mins) and C grade 3 or 4 laps (approx 25 mins) with all categories all finishing on the same lap.

To repeat, this format may change throughout the series if a better system works.

After the race, there will be fury of activity to organise some race results and a modest prize presentation before you can be on with your usual activities for a Tuesday night in Perth.

Lights & Prizes

Nathan from SC Imports has loaned us four sets of Nite Lights as demo lights for people without their own.

Send an email to Greg – gr.murison@gmail.com to book them for next weeks race. First come, first served. Priority the next week will be given to those who miss out this week and so on.

Secondly, Armadale Cycles have generously agreed to support the Series with random prizes. These will be given away after the last race on 16th November. For each race you do, you’ll get a raffle ticket, so the more races you do, the more chances you have to win.

Busy Bee

Finally, we will be having a busy bee at Garvey Park this Sunday from 9am. If you want to come down and help us out with a little bit of track marking and maintenance, it would be appreciated, and you’ll get to see the track.

It would be great if SPR could get a few riders along to support this event and make it a regular occurance.