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Kowalski Classic 2015 - 20 Sept - Entries Now Open


Mont24Team's picture

By Mont24Team - Posted on 03 June 2015

Now in its fourth year, the Kowalski Classic is a one-day showcase of the famous trails in East Kowen Forest and Sparrow Hill. The event celebrates the achievements of local trail builders Paul Cole, Alan Anderson and the mysterious Kowalski Brothers, who together have hand built over 100km of flowing trail in East Kowen (the Kow) & Sparrow Hill (the Bird).

Love single track? Then you will love the Kowalski Classic.
RACE DAY is September 20. Register HERE

WHAT'S NEW IN 2015?

New Course. The Kowalski Classic is all about singletrack (in mind bending amounts), so each year we design a bold new course — weaving together our all-time favourites, long lost (seldom ridden) friends and folding in trails we've just built for debut on race day. The course is quite different each year and 2015's will be no exception. Expect a day full of flow, challenge and smiles on this grand tour of skinny dirt. A singletrack marathon like no other.

New Loop Order and Wave Starts. We have made a number of changes to reduce on-track congestion early in the race. The main changes are: 1. Riders in the Full Kowalski will head out on a different 50km loop to the Half Kowalski. 2. We will increase the time gap between wave starts. 3. We will include more passing opportunities (double single track and stabs of fireroad).

New Race Distance. At 25km, the QRTR Kowalski (Tyrion) is a distance that will suit riders coming into the sport as well as those getting back on the bike and unsure if they have the legs for the Half Kowalski. Loads of singletrack and never too far from HQ. Sweet.

Junior Category. The minimum age has been lowered to include riders 12 years and up.
(Parental consent is required for participation in Junior category)

Registration at East Hotel. East Hotel are sponsor and Official Accommodation Partner for 2015. Race registration will be held at East Hotel on Friday afternoon and Saturday before race day, so book a room for the weekend, register for the race, collect your event merchandise and kick back in ridiculous comfort. (See the race website for packages)

New Trails. Absolutely. The trail builders have been busy in Sparrow and East Kowen, so you can expect to ride lots of new trail.

Which distance is for you?
Each race distance features a great combination of our favourite trails so there’s no compromise should you choose something shorter (high on smiles, lower on distance). The Bird is the Word. The Kow is like Wow.

AND THE FORESTS WILL ECHO WITH LAUGHTER

The Kowalski Brothers Trailworks Crew are hard at work building two bold new trails:
1. Stairway to Heaven is the toughest and longest climb they've ever built. Steep, squirrely and downright technical in places, it snakes up the hill in a most devilish way. It features benched traverses, uphill berms and some radical rockwork. Keep something in your tank for this one.
2. The Trail That Cannot be Named (not its real name) is a new descending trail right beside Stairway to Heaven. The terrain is steep and rocky so you can look forward to plenty of features, jumps and a healthy amount of gnar. More technical by design, this trail will ask for your undivided attention, so pack some attitude (and maybe some Band-Aids).

Pete B's picture

After doing this last year, it's now on my 'must do' list.

Looking forward to it.

Antsonline's picture

Ah this race, its one I love to hate, or maybe even hate to love - so much Single-track its ridiculous. Exhausting, exhilarating, and totally unique but always a hard day out.
Can you have too much of a good thing? Probably not.

Its a classic.

staffe's picture

Missed it last year but will not miss it again this year. And yes after a few ks one start to wonder when there will be some fire trail to relax on. Best race ever

GarethP's picture

In - can't wait!

ALMOST too much single track! NAH!

Jubas's picture

Have always been overseas for previous versions, and am pumped to finally be around!

adski's picture

the bottlenecks last year dispersed after the first few conga lines - it wasn't that bad. So Boo to all the complainers that has resulted in 'more fire trail' this year. This event is all about the sniggle - it will still be awesome but pfft to all the whiners.

obmal's picture

I'm IN!

Conga lines fixed? Well there goes my excuse to sandbag for the first hour or so and then blame an average result on those damn roadies that cant shred a corner..

GarethP's picture

I dunno, I'm glad they have done something about the congestion, I reckon I was in a conga line for at least 30km.

No matter, I'm sure we'll all have our fill of lovely singletrack!

sly_artichoke's picture

Was lucky enough to get a "free entry baby" slip in my Willo prize bag earlier this year so, yep, I'm in. Must say last year's race was one of the toughest I did last year. Looking forward to it.

Mont24Team's picture

The Kowalski Brothers are spending an inordinate amount of time in the forest this winter – tooling new trails that will challenge and reward riders. The two we're working on right now are STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN (a long, long climb) and ROMPER ROOM (a brand new descent right beside the Stairway). Built in steep terrain, they are our toughest trails yet and will feature late in the Full and Half Kowalski.

You can stay up to date on our progress on the trail by reading Trail Builder News HERE

If you are planning to come to Canberra for riding in the coming months and want to swing tools with us for a few hours, simply join the Kowalski Trail Team HERE

Viva la Kowalski!

Whisperer's picture

Hi All,
I've been quiet on the site for ages, but dropping a line to let you know I'll be driving over from Adelaide for the Kowalski Classic, and hope to see some familiar faces there!
I'll be continuing on to Sydney after the race and working in town for a couple of weeks.
So hoping for a few laps of the Dam, the new Bantry Bay trails, and possibly a return to the Old North Rd on the weekend of the 26/27th of September.
Whisperer

Brian's picture

So should I pencil in Wisemans for the 26th then Smiling

Antsonline's picture

Hey all - I popped down to Kowan on Sunday with @Dicko to avoid the Sydney rain, and hooked up with the Kowalksi team to get a guided tour of the 50km (1/2 Kowalski) loop, which is also the 2nd 50km of the 100km race.

The new trails - Romper Room and Stairway to Heaven - are fantastic additions to the trail network in Kowan - providing something slightly different to the style of trail you might be used to. In fact, much more reminiscent of the Seratta or Gahnia style rock roll-downs, and technical type of riding.

I'll be doing a full preview of the race shortly, but in the meantime, if any of you are interested, here is the Strava file of the ride - and yes, it suggests that keeping your powder dry until the 25km / 75km point of each race would be a good tactic....

https://www.strava.com/activities/375352075

amarkie's picture

I was down there recently and took video of my first runs on Romper Room and Stairway To Heaven.

Climbing is not my thing as you can tell by the puffing, but it does give you an indication of the toughness of the Stairway to Heaven climb. It's much tougher than Web Track.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuYri656a...

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