I went down to Casey Fields (Cranbourne) on Sunday arvo after a bit of
a tootle around the comm games MTB course at blisterfield. Wanted to
have a real look at it before we race on it next w'end. It's about a
50 min drive from Vermont to the venue in low traffic. I expect about
a 2 hour ride to get there. I'll allow 3 the first time 🙂
It looks pretty good as a track - the corners are broad and can be
ridden fast, and it's not quite pefectly flat, but has no real hill to
speak of. It's 2.2km long as a sort of cross between a boomerang and a
hotdog course. The course can be split into two 1.1km courses which is
good - possible to run multiple grades on shorter courses if required.
It's a proper road, 6m wide - same width as a normal 1 lane in each
direction road with no shoulder. Plenty of room for a single grade,
but will require management if/when grades overtake. Not nearly as
much of an issue as at the Kew loop, but not as nice as Sandown or
Glenvale. Being able to split the grades however (albeit for a
considerably shorter track) is a big plus - in particular for junior
racing etc. Running split grades (A & C, D & B) and rolling
commisaires to neutralise the lower grade when being overtaken will
solve that problem with no major problems, I'd expect.
It's very exposed, no trees around it at all, it's basically in the
middle of a swamp (or it was on Sunday in the rain anyway!). Very
windy... and the road in is unsealed and according to Mal Sawford (CCCC
president) it will remain unsealed. Not a nice road to ride in on on a
roady at the moment, it's clay. Wet clay ... slippery. So riding
there will be ok except for the ride through the Casey Fields grounds
itself. There's no shelter facility - no toilet nearby - the nearest
toilet is probably one of the football/soccer pavilions which is some
considerable walk away from the course. A covered pavilion would be a
big plus there. Race organisers will probably want to provide a toilet
and a tent of some form for themselves.