Wednesday July 2 - Information and entry details for the 2008 Herberton 8 Hour are now available from the Herberton 8 Hour link above. It is strongly recommended that you register online so there is no messing around on race day...

Tuesday July 1 - Just a gentle reminder: THE NEXT XC RACE IS ON SUNDAY! Details on the race notes page...

Sunday June 29 - Another great day of DH racing at Smithfield! Photos are available in the usual place while the results and the series points to date are available from the Results page.

Thursday June 26 - Information on XC3 is now available from the Race Notes page.

Tuesday June 24 - Not sure if your membership is up to date? You can now check on the "About Us" page, where you will be able to download a PDF file showing your name, member number, membership expiry date and membership status.

And some more Normienotes^TM:

A reminder for all about the Downhill race on the weekend, Sunday 29/06, details on the poster and same format as the previous race. We will need helpers on the day, track marshalls and drivers, please come and see Normie or Mal on Sunday if you can help out.

Please note the course will be open Saturday afternoon from 2.00pm for riding. 4WD vehicle access will be permitted, however you need to contact us to get your vehicle approved to drive into the site. Please do not just drive in, the arrangements we have for access are for official vehicles only (ie, transport, first aid, event organisers).

Hope to see you all on Sunday, don’t forget the Port Douglas/Mossman crew are putting on a breakfast, so bring some $. Registration will be open from 8.30AM and transport for practice will start at 9.00AM sharp.

Thursday June 19 - Some Normienotes^TM:

Entries are now open for the Townsville Mountain Bike Club’s annual Paluma Push event. Entry is online only and is accessible from the Rockwheelers website www.rockwheelers.com. Entries have been capped at 500 riders and in two days nearly 200 people have registered, so better get in quick if you want to have a go.

Entry details for the Herberton 8 Hour will be posted soon along with the Triple R. Few changes for this year with online entries available for both events.

Looking for a new riding jersey? Luke is getting some Canibal Brand Cylcing Jersey’s made up and these are available by special order only.  Orders need to be in and paid for by 6 July 2008 to secure one.  The design of the jersey is being finalised, but it will have the colours of orange, blue, grey and a hint of green. There are 3 back pockets with Cairns MTB logo on front and Herberton 8 Hour logo on the back.  Cost of Jerseys is $110.00 each and the styles of the jerseys are the same as those used by Pump N Pedals. You can get an idea of the style for Mens and Womens at the Canibal website www.canibal.com.au.

Sizing is Small, Medium, Large, Xlarge in both mens and womens styles and more info can be found at http://www.cannibal.com.au/size-chart.php

If you are interested please contact Luke McDonald on 0428415531.

Monday 16 June - A short story on the Race Stories page about yesterday's DH2. Just in case anyone is getting confused about whether it was DH1 or DH2, it was actually the originally programmed DH2. However, due to the road not being ready some weeks ago, DH1 had to be postponed to the end of this month (29th). Therefore, yesterday was officially DH2 and the next one is DH1. But youo are likely to see either race being referred to by either Round number. Basically, it doesn't matter...

Points standings now posted on the Results page.

Sunday 15 June - (Updated Monday AM) Today's DH race was a cracker, with Mick Hannah winning by nearly 9 seconds from Miles Mead in Expert, Austen Buckley popped his head up out of the woodwork to take Sport, there were standout performances from some of the Juniors and a good time was had by (almost) all. Photos are available in the usual place, and are already appearing on Farkin.net. Video available here. Full results available now on the Results page, Points scores to come. Thanks to the Mossman crew for looking after lunch for everyone. Be warned - they are organising brekkie for the next race in two weeks time, so bring your money with you!

Tuesday June 10 - You'll find information on DH1 and DH2 on the Racenotes page...

Tuesday June 3 - Thanks to Jay Marron, there's a short story about last Saturday's XC2 on the Stories page (couldn't think of a better place for it...) Also, since the race on Saturday we've had emails from several people volunteering their services for cleanup work and helping with the organisation of the Downhill race on the 15th. All welcome - many hands make etc etc

Sunday June 1 - Full results for yesterday's Round 2 of Cross-country and Pony Express are now available on the Results page along with the season standings, and, thanks to Luc Whitfield there are some photos of the event here (camera phone).

From Normie:

• Another big weekend for the club, first up Round 2 of the XC series with 56 riders taking the challenge and by all reports, enjoying the new additions to the course. Word of warning for you all, the expert riders are still below the minimum lap times, so guess what, the course will be extended a bit further for Round 3. 

• Thanks for all who made it out for the downhill working bee on Sunday. Great to see a big crew all keen to get the course ready for the first Downhill of the 2008 season on the 15^th June. The start will be from the 2004 Nationals and course is much the same, few improvements and some new jumps and lines to spice things up. Some notable changes in the finish area with a new kicker jump that is bound to provide some great photo opportunities. Big thanks to Miles for supplying the bobcat, makes track building and repairing so much easier.

• Next weekend 7/8 June is the Queens Birthday Long weekend and word is a good sized crew from Cairns (and Port Douglas) will be making the trip for Round 2 of the NQ Series at Mackay. The Mackay downhill is well known as a great and challenging track and this race is always a great weekend. If you are thinking of going, you’ll need to get onto Marcia Eves 0428533200 and make sure you have your entries sorted out. Don’t just turn up and expect to race, the Mackay club need to know you are coming so they can get things organised.

• For the Cairns Downhill race on Sunday 15^th June we will get some details out later this week. As for all our events we are chasing some help and if you are able to assist, could you please get in touch with us at info@cairnsmtb.com or if you have Mal’s or my number please give us a call. We are after help with,

• Track Marshalls – You get to wander around the course with a radio and make sure riders remain on the track and everyone stay’s safe. If you have First Aid experience this is a bonus as well.

• Transport and Drivers – A problem area for us last year and we need to know who out there will to provide a 4WD trayback car or passenger type with a solid bike trailer for use during practice and racing for the day. We do have some riders who offer to use their car so we also need responsible and 4WD experienced drivers to look after transport duties for the day. If we can get a few drivers we do rotate to allow some time for spectating. Fuel money will be provided and if you have a car and/or driver and are willing to help, please get in touch with us ASAP.

• Race Timing – This is for the start and finish area and I’m keen to teach anyone who wants to learn more about timing of mountain bike events.

• There is always more to do in preparation for a race, and if you have some spare time during the week before or want to help setup or learn more about running events, please get in touch as Mal and I will be glad to share the work.

Thanks, Normie

Sunday May 18 - The results for yesterdays first round of the Cross Country Series and the Pony Express have now been posted on the Results page. Points standings will be added in a day or so (Normie's got new software to play with!) and photos from the event are also posted on the Gallery link (which, if you didn't already know, takes you to my home page). Some notes from Normie on the event results:

There are three pdf files on the results page -

1. XC Results and places which will be used for the points tally

2. The classification for the Pony X and this was done assuming all riders actually participated, so the most laps in the two hours won.

3. A lap by lap record for each rider/team to show each lap time. The coloured times are purple – fastest time of the day, green, the fastest lap time at that point in the race. So if there are multiple green entries for a rider it means their laps were getting faster as the race went on.

Also, on the Trails & Maintenance page, you'll find a very nice map of the Smithfield trails, courtesy of Sean Newell!

Tuesday April 22 - Calendar Updates/Revisions from Normie:

• Saturday 26/04: Working bee for DH this Saturday – Postponed, and moved to Sunday 11^th May, see comment on DH Access Road below.

• Saturday 26/04: Working bee for XC this Saturday – There was some great work done last weekend with a big turnout for the working bee. We were hoping to have the slip on third finger sorted out this weekend, but there have been some delays in getting materials. This will be completed before the first Pony X and XC race on the 17/05. For anyone interested in heading out to Smithfield, there is still plenty of patch up work needed on the lower sections of third finger, the green loop and if anyone is keen, 2^nd finger.

• Sunday 11/05: Downhill Round 1 postponed and this will now be a working bee commencing at 9.30AM (not to early for a Sunday). We are planning on holding one or two more working bees to clear the trail back to the start of the 2004 Nationals. Downhill Round 1 will be moved to Sunday 29^th June

• Sunday 15/06: Downhill Round 2, (as originally planned)

• Sunday 29/06: Downhill Round 1

• DH Access Road: Queensland Parks have confirmed work on the road will commence sometime after the 6^th May although we are not sure how long this will take.

Tuesday April 8 - Changes to the calendar: Mackay round of Tri-Cities is confirmed (probable pre-nomination only); Suncorp 8-hour XC deleted; DH1 may have to be postponed due the access road not being useable - watch this space. If we can't run the race on the appointed day, it will probably be moved to June 1.

Working bee this weekend will be XC only - the DH trail is fine, unlike the access road, and only needs a little work which won't be looked at until we have the access road fixed... Kuranda DH is in good nick, but don't forget what we said on March 18 (just below this).

Sunday March 30 - Apologies for the site not being updated over the past few days, a broken motherboard and flaky hard disk (totally unexpected) will do that for you every time. Hopefully, normal service will now be resumed...

Tuesday March 18 - A message from the Management Committee re Kuranda Downhill:

"For those who may or may not be aware Main Roads have put up a new guard rail at the “Kuranda Downhill Dropoff Point” therefore stopping all access to the parking area at the top of the range. The preferred and safe options at this point in time is to park in the lookout carpark, lift your bike over the guardrail and ride down the outside edge of the hill to access the trail.

Main Roads and the Club are presently in negations concerning future development of the area and a user access to the trail.

 In the present state congestion and lack of parking may occur at the lookout car park so please 'think safety' and act wisely because carelessness and stupidity could result in an accident and jeopardize access to the area.

Please work with us in achieving a positive outcome with Main Roads and help educate other mountain bikers of safe and friendly procedures to have a fun day down-hilling on Kuranda."

Monday 10 March - Minor update to the calendar - changes in Townsville events, more info on the Rockwheelers site.