I did the 70km route. Was meant to start in A but dropped back to C to ride with mates. I found the signage was fine as long as you read the route split boards instead of just following the yellow and black signs as they said in the briefing. However, being a bit further back in the field this time meant that we merged with the riders doing the shorter distances. This COMPLETELY stuffed up the day for me. There was so much traffic on the trail that it was impossible to move. From the second water-point (great stop at that one! Plenty of food, vibey music, lube - all great!) onward the whole thing was a write-off. I was getting super frustrated, and even the multiple beers at the races unofficial end point at the beer tent couldn't fix it. And then the last 9km of riding around fields in a big circle around Darling felt like an utter waste of time. I feel that switching the route around this year was the problem. Last year we hit all the trails first and then tackled the big climbs at the end. This meant that we never merged with anybody and flowed smoothly. If the course is kept the same as this year I definitely won't be back.
