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The Shifty 50 Series is a mass-participation Victorian mountain bike series with 25km and 50km course options.

Each event is held in a different location and by different event hosts offering a variety of courses in terrain, climbing, technical sections, and landscape.

50 km is a great distance to go for broke and if you blow up, shouldn’t be too far to the finish.

Or plug away and achieve the rewarding feeling of finishing the ride. Training doesn’t need to be too extreme to achieve 50kms and you can try to improve on your skill and fitness as the series progresses.

Here’s the 2024 calendar. Entries are now open for all rounds.

26 March 2024
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

e-Bike Policy + Rules

eBikes have a race category for both men and women. They also have 2 start options. 9:55am BOOST start group for those that want to go full speed ahead or start between 10:05 and 10:15 if you want to take a more relaxed time out there. 

Remember if you start in the 9:55 BOOST start you will have a huge bunch of very fast riders starting 5 mins behind you. 

New rules in 2024

  • E-Bike Category can either start in the E-Bike Boost Category or at 10:05 Choose your own start time
  • E-Bikes must be limited to the Australian standard of 25km/ph motor support
  • Battery swaps are allowed but discouraged and hope riders can challenge them self to finishing the full 50km on one battery.

How far is the Shifty Fifty?

We try to have every event around 50 km, if you’re not up to riding 50km on the MTB, check out the Shifty Shorty, these are 25 km and a great entryway to riding this series. Oh and eMTBs are welcome at all our events. 

Is it a race?

Yes and no. You can either race these to see how you stack up against the field, or you can just ride the route for a personal challenge. There’s a podium presentation for every age group and eMTBs so make sure you stick around to see if you’ve won the choccies.

If I get on the podium, what do I win?

You are literally racing for the choccies. Yep, a bar of tasty chocolate that you get to enjoy made by the Mildura Chocolate Factory which is a social enterprise. So by eating this amazing chocolate you can feel good about the social benefit as well. No prize money is awarded as this series is all about bragging rights. 

How do I earn series points?

By riding the Shifty Fifty, regardless of where you finish, you automatically earn overall series points. At the end of the season, we award an overall season winner in each category.  You must have done at least 2 rounds to be eligible but there is no limit to how many rounds you can do. You’ll get a limited edition trophy for the pool room. 

How are points scored?

  • Race either 1 or all races in the series
  • Even non finishes get points
  • The higher you place the better your points
  • Enter the same Category each round
    • Junior Under 18: Male and Female
    • Open 18 to 39: Male and Female
    • Masters 40 to 49: Male and Female
    • 50+ Age: Male and Female
    • E-Bike Male and Female

How are points awarded?

1st – 80, 2nd 65, 3rd 55, 4th 48, 5th 43, 6th 38, 7th 33, 8th 29, 9th 25, 10th 22, 11th 20, 12th 19, 13th 18, 14th 17, 15th 16 and 16th to last all get 15 points each.

Did not finish (DNF) will get 15 points

Did not start (DNS) will get 0

What are the Shifty Fifty categories?

  • Junior Under 19: Male and Female
  • Open 19 to 39: Male and Female
  • Masters 40-49: Male and Female
  • Masters 50 and over: Male and Female
  • E-Bike Open: Male and Female
  • Shifty Shorty Categories
  • Junior Under 15: Male and Female
  • Junior Under 19: Male and Female
  • Open 19 to 99: Male and Female
  • E-Bike Open: Male and Female

Age Calculation for categories

Age will be taken as per the UCI age category, being your age on the 31 December in the year of that series. i.e., if you turn 40 before 31 Dec 2024 then you will race in 40+

How does the start work?

Very unique to the Shifty Fifty series is our ‘Choose Your Start Time’ procedure. Be you there to race for the many sheep stations or just want to challenge yourself this system is great for you.

9:55 am – E-BIKE Boost Start

In this group should be E-bike riders either 50 or 25 km who know they are fast and want a nice clean track. If the analog riders catch you, you MUST give way immediately. After all, they did give you a 5min head start

10:00 am – Gun Time race start

In this start all riders get the same start time, so be you start on the front line or back of the pack your start time is 10am

10:05 to 10:10 – Rolling start

In this start all riders get a start time based on the chip read from the RFID timing chip, get the details here. So their finish time is accurately calculated by the difference between the two. So start either at 10:05 or

What insurance do you have?

For 2024 BIG HILL EVENTS events all participants are covered under the AusCycling Insurance policy that includes personal accident insurance cover.

This cover only applies for the day or days of each event only for NON Aus cycling members. To read what this cover is click here.

ABOUT AUSCYCLING INSURANCE

Can I volunteer?

Cycling events in Australia are made possible thanks to volunteers like you. When you volunteer for any Big Hill Event, you’ll score a free entry to another Big Hill Event. These are transferable also, so if you’re keen, get in touch and let us know where you’d like to volunteer.

Contact us on info@bighillevents.com.au

GET IN TOUCH

 

info@bighillevents.com.au