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Elite Fling


woftt's picture

By woftt - Posted on 02 November 2008

Hi, does anybody know why the full fling Elite riders start @ 8.00am yet everybody else starts at 7.30am? Seems reverse of what it should be.

Woftt

pikey's picture

The fast guys starting 30 mins after the others is just plain stupid. they have to overtake everybody and slows their times as well.

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Salad is what food eats Smiling
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leximack's picture

i dont understand it either, it means they have to fight there way through 600 full flingers, seems a bit weird, send them off before the rest, then they can fight it out amongst themselves.
It is cool though watching them go past and see what crazy speeds they do.

Don

ar_junkie's picture

A downside of the alternative i.e. sending them off first, is that they finish within 4-5 hours of starting and then sit around for another 4-5 hours (or longer) waiting for prize giving.
Some may argue that the elites aren't truly apart of the big event as they start first and are never seen again and may leave soon after finishing...

Is there a happy medium? It's all relative...
Eye-wink

Rob's picture

If you think about it, the only way to have Elites start after recreational racers and yet not have to battle through crowds would be to send them off on a different course.

At the Fling the Elites could start couple hours later and head out on the usual course backwards. They could then do the Wingello stage and pass through the rest of the field in there, but things should be spread out by then.

Trouble is if someone enters Elite and isn't able to complete what is now the final stage backwards in a reasonable amount of time things might get nasty. Plus there would be signage and other safety issues no doubt.

Nope - this sounds silly - any more thoughts? Just make the Elites start even later so the main field is even more spread when they are caught?

Paul's picture

Maybe there doing this to help train the Elite's for 24 hour races. I mean where else can they practice overtaking 750 riders while yelling "track" or "race leader".

It should be the aim of every non-Elite to try and get to the sniggle before being overtaken.

alchemist's picture

Nothing to get, it's Huw and he likes to be a little different.

It is cool though watching them go past and see what crazy speeds they do.

I suspect that is part of it.

woftt's picture

I'd better not start with the Elite bunch, after the first minute or two I may never see another bike on the track! Smiling except for the ones that broke down.

So what do we consider as Elite - time wise 4.5 hours?

alchemist's picture

Sub 4 hr 15 min if you want to win.

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