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Highland Fling 2015


jp's picture

By jp - Posted on 07 October 2015

When: 
Sunday, 8 November, 2015 - 08:00
Duration: 
8 hours
Come Rain or Shine: 
I'll be there, no matter what the weather.
Meeting Point: 

Bill O'Reilly Oval, Bundanoon

Details:

2015 is the 11th running of The CamelBak Highland Fling. The Fling is a mountain bike marathon for all. It offers a scenic and challenging route through forests and farmland in the Southern Highlands of NSW, hammering singletrack, forest tracks, dirt road and less than 2km of blacktop.

The CamelBak Highland Fling is the final event in the Maverick Marathon Series which combines 4 of Australia's largest mountain bike marathons in one exciting series. You and your mates get the chance to race the best courses and see how you rate against other riders from across the country.

Do the Full Fling (approx 110km), the Half Fling (approx 55km), or the brand new Some Fling (23km). If you are up for something different then maybe the relay Flinging Threesome is for you. Need more of a challenge? Take on the 100Mile Fling.

The main racing is on Sunday 8th November but there’s plenty happening on Saturday 7th too including the The Bundanoon Dash, (including The Battle of The Businesses) a fundraising 6km ‘sprint’ race (it’s not compulsory!) along with entertainment, food & drink, gear displays, demos, Kids MTB Skills Course and more.

Who's in?
Lach, jp, nh, Fatboy, sly_artichoke, Sasco, stephen, pommyracer, Tristania, bloodpuddle, Hangers, sikllama, xmas, all74, GarethP, Pyrate, the pedaling donkey (17 riders)
Lach jp nh Fatboy sly_artichoke Sasco stephen pommyracer Tristania bloodpuddle Hangers sikllama xmas all74 GarethP Pyrate the pedaling donkey
What Happened?

Blog entries about this meeting (as this is a race standings and times are shown, click on the title for more and to comment)...

Who Title Status Time Pos.Gen. Category Pos.Cat.
Fatboy Fling + a few km... Finished Full - Men
Pyrate What a difference a year makes Finished Full - Men
jp Who let the cows out? Finished Half - Men
sikllama Dirty deeds done dirt cheap Finished Half - Men
Lach Another good Fling... Finished Half - Men
the pedaling donkey the first fling has me feeling f......... Finished 02:50:34 58 Half - Men
Valoboy My First MTB Race Half Fling Finished 04:00:03 Half - Men
Antsonline That wasnt meant to happen.... Finished 04:50:00 7 Full - Men 7
Tristania "Fling Like nobody's listening!" Finished 05:07:00 24 Full - Men 11
Hangers Full Fling 2015 Finished 05:39:57 52
TG HIghland Fling second attempt - much better! Finished 05:54:00 68 Full - Men 20
GarethP The Fuller Fling Finished 10:35:23 11 100mile - Men 11

Were you there and have a story to tell?

Ride Gallery
GarethP's picture

Going to try the 100 miler this year. Not sure I'm fast enough to make the cuts but my friend assures me we will be OK. Oh well it's worth a crack.

With friends like these.....

jp's picture

The Half is hard enough. 100 miler is massive.

Pyrate's picture

Doing the 50 again.

After last years tough day at the office for me as a novice rider, I have a point to prove to myself.

Does anyone know if the route is the same or are they changing?

GarethP's picture

I believe they have removed some of the hills that were introduced in the first part of last years race to make it a bit easier.

sly_artichoke's picture

I did the 100 miler in 2012 in my first year as a supermaster. Similarly cajoled by a mate (who's 17 years younger than me), I wasn't sure it was a good idea, having done the "short" 110-ish km Fling many times before. Likewise, I was assured I'd be OK. And I was. Just.

But I made it, in 8:37:41. The trick is to try and just go steady for the whole day (no red-zoning anywhere) and keep your nutrition and fluids up. Sounds easier than it really is! For a comparison, my 2013 Full Fling time was 5:48:14.

The pluses:
You find that the second loop of the Shimano stage is remarkably peaceful and quiet.
You get to start at the front to improve your photo ops.
You get the special M prefix to your race plate.
Personalised service at rego, and a bottle drop service which for a non-elite was a little luxury.
Bragging rights.
Bragging rights.
And bragging rights.

The minuses:
Having to do that horrible stretch of always-headwind-affected dirt road into Wingello twice.
Most people seemed to have gone home before you finish.
If you're camping without a back-up crew, having to pack the tent up after such an effort.

So all the best in your endeavours. The memories of the event improve exponentially with the temporal distance from it!

Cheers,

Simon

hawkeye's picture

You're mental.

Eye-wink

sly_artichoke's picture

I love to be showered with complements Hawkeye!

GarethP's picture

The friend that persuaded me to do is off in Canberra doing the Scott 24hr - solo. So I suspect it will be a doddle for her....

But I've had a good block of training, the weather has helped and I am looking forward to it!

Slow and steady!

GarethP's picture

Just saw the event jersey design is released - hope it doesn't mean what I think it means....

https://www.wildhorizons.com.au/images/stories/h...

jp's picture

It does sound a bit ominous.

All the more reason for people to get their entries in ASAP. I understand why people wait til the last minute to enter races, but it makes it very difficult for the organisers to plan these large events.

jp's picture

Turns out that it's not a negative message at all... Newsletter with more info coming soon.

GarethP's picture

With all the races that seems to be stopping lately I was fearing the worst!

jp's picture

Apparently the text is "All good flings come to those who ride"

jp's picture

Apparently the text is "All good flings come to those who ride"

Lach's picture

I'm in for the halfling (TM) and will be interested to see whether they revert to the "usual" course, go with last year's one or mix it up again.

Also gutted that the Maverick Series rules appear to mean that I'm still battling against all those youngsters in the Super Masters category, despite now having a Seniors Card!!!

jp's picture

Hey Lach, I know they have taken out a couple of the climbs in the early part of the course, so there will be about 100m less climbing overall in the half fling. Other than that I think they are keeping it much the same as last year.

Lach's picture

.. thanks jp, a bit less climbing sounds good! Be even better if they could find a way to do without the up bits in Roller Coaster and maybe even BB mountain to make the back end a little les draining. Not likely.....

tubby's picture

Going back to the half after bringing up the rear of the full fling last year. Glad to have done it but not fit enough for another effort.
If the weather gods are taking requests, max of 7 from 2 years back was much better than steamy effort last year.

Sasco's picture

Hello All,

Me and my 29er are looking for a lift to the camping grounds - will cover the fuel.

Best wishes, Sasco

Sasco's picture

Just in case - thanks to a Nobmobber, my lift to Highland Fling is sorted now. =)

Brian's picture
jp's picture

All the best to Tristania racing elite, Brian and Dicko who will no doubt get strong results, and here's hoping Doc can beat Gary James in his category for another podium (it wouldn't be the first time!). If all goes well I'll be on the finish line to cheer you guys on.

After riding with Beetle couple of weeks ago I'd put money on him being in the top 10 in our category of half masters. Which by the way is the biggest category by far across the event with 242 entries!

There are no doubt plenty of other strong contenders on this site.

Most importantly, I hope everyone achieves their goals and has a fun, safe day out.

I'm heading down with the family Friday morning for a 4-day weekend.

See you down there!

Cheers,
JP

Brian's picture

@jp, unfortunately I'm not ready to be racing the mtb so will be sitting this one out Sad. Also, doc has discovered how to go back in time and is actually racing in the masters category.

beetle's picture

Thanks mate but I will just be trying to keep it up right, First ride tonight after smashing my knee on Sunday swelling has finally gone down abit. My expectation has gone down a bit after that incident.
Good luck JP. See you all down there

jp's picture

Sorry to hear about the knee Bailey... yep, see you there.

@Brain - I probably should have read the start list before i posted! Hope to see you racing MTB again soon. As for Doc, I'm not surprised - he looks younger every time I see him Smiling

Fatboy's picture

So this rain isn't throwing the event in doubt?

I've spent last 2 nights building my new bike but drinking red at the same time thinking it won't be ridden....

Hangers's picture

Weather reports say the the southern highlands have only had 10mm of rain the last 5 days compared to some places in Sydney that have had 60mm. The organisers FB page was confident yesterday reading a post that things would be sweet.

doc's picture

Cheers jp ! See you down there and good luck to you and other nobmobbers on the weekend.

Looks like just enough rain down there during the week to make the singletrack firm and grippy

Tristania's picture

Yes, my first Fling in the Elite wave so proud to be unofficially representing Nobmob (and Turramurra Cyclery) at the front (well, really behind the rest at the start) so will probably pass most of you on Sunday so give me a shout if you see me!

Weather should be fine. Showers are possible Saturday but Sunday looks okay and 18. Perfect for racing after a very hot day last year and wet day two years back. I imagine that the rain this week would have just packed the surface down and will prevent dirt flying more than anything else.

For those camping, I'll be there, hopefully having a nice relaxed night so as always come say hi

Best wishes to everyone else doing their respective races, this is always a big one so hoping some big results to go with it!

Antsonline's picture

So - I wasnt down to do this race, but ended up getting stuck in to what was one of my favourites.
I wrote an account of what was (at least from my perspective) a very interesting morning...

http://nobmob.com/node/52390

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