Time Adjustments

One thing that I'm V excite about is the handicapping of the rides, based on bicycle. I guess in a way its an acknowledgment that I think certain bikes are faster than others (but in a BIGGER way, its an acknowledgement that I think riders of certain bikes are faster than others) and I think adjusting times will add some excitment to the weekend. I think riding in a group and checking out others' equipment and knowing that you either need to drop them at some stage or that they need to drop you, would be a cool thing! So, as mentioned in an earlier post, handicaps (or time bonuses) will be given out in relation to the base bicycle, a suspension equipped (even if it's just a stem) mountain bike with multiple gears. Things that will earn you time bonuses are:

Narrow tires - Narrower than 43mm will usually get you a little, and narrower than 26mm will usually get you a lot.

No suspension - A rigid bike is a beautiful bike. This is pretty much to up the chances of bikes that I love showing up on the weekend.

One freewheeling gear - I love single speed and this is to encourage single speeders to show up and know they can be at the pointy end of things even though there is a near complete lack of technical riding.

Fixed gear - Or should I say (thanks to sturney archer) a SINGLE fixed gear.Lots of people have them and love them, and they should be encouraged to explore otehr types of riding... and lots of them are fast, so it might put the wind up some more trad racer types.

So here are the provisional adjustments for the first two loops.

Mt Ainslie

No suspension - 30 seconds bonus

Tires narrower than 43mm - 45 seconds bonus, ORTires narrower than 26mm - 120 seconds bonus

Single speed - 90 seconds bonus, OR
Fixed gear - 120 seconds bonus.

So, if you are riding a fixed gear road bike with 25mm tires and no suspension, you will have a bonus of 30 + 120 + 120 seconds per lap, or 4min30seconds per lap. Thats 13min30seconds for the ride compared to a suspended mtb! Worthwhile thinking about if you're a zen master fixter... I don't have the guts to even try to ride the lap with that set up, so the adjustment may be way over or way under what is fair.

Bruce ridge

Tires narrower than 26mm - 10 seconds per lap bonus.

Single speed - 10 seconds per lap bonus, OR
Fixed gear - 15 seconds per lap bonus.

This is indicative of the benign nature of the Bruce ridge loop.... its pretty much a a drag to the end!