LATEST NEWS

HHCCC now even easier for team entries.
Tuesday 6 January, 2008.
Register Now have upgraded their online entry system to make it even easier to enter a team in the Holden High Country Cycle Challenge. 

Instead of going through the whole entry process for each entrant, you can now enter as many riders as you like on one credit card. This makes it much easier ... particularly if you're entering a work team in the Mt Buller Corporate Cup!

So, if you want to defeat the 2008 winners, Multiplex Constructions, get your team together and start the fundraising for The Cancer Council Victoria now!

And pay for all the entries on the firm's credit card!

If you do enter your work team into the Corporate Cup, make sure you enter each rider as a team entrant and include the team name for each one. Then, use the link to visit My Cause and set-up a fundraising page for your team. Invite your friends to support the cause and you're up and running. It's really easy! 

Make sure you also email Bikevents a copy of your logo so it can be published on the Home page of www.hhccc.com.au - so all the world can see what good corporate citizens you are! 

The winning team will have its name engraved on the Corporate Cup perpetual trophy which will be on permanent public display at the Mt Buller and Mt Stirling Alpine Resort Management Board offices. The winning team will also receive a replica of the Cup to keep and they'll each get a winter 2009 lift ticket for Mt Buller.

For more details, use this link to go to the Teams / Fund Raising page. 

Our next First 500 Club winner!
Thursday 18 December, 2008.
We now have 300 entries into the Holden High Country Cycle Challenge ... which means we get to draw the next winner in the First 500 Club. The prize is almost $400 worth of SRAM goodies, including a SRAM Red 1090 10-speed (11-26) rear cassette, valued at $349, plus a SRAM prize pack of a musette bag, bidon and t-shirt. 

Congratulations to ... drum roll please ... Eric Sheppard of Ashburton, Victoria. Eric, Bruce will send out your prize pack straight away! 

Thanks very much to Mick, Simon, Rob, Kristjan and all the team at SRAM for this great prize. (Keep an eye on the Prizes page as SRAM will be announcing their other prizes very shortly.) Next up for grabs is a pair of Velocity Fusion 32-spoke road wheels valued at $500!

Sorry, no time trial.
Wednesday 17 December, 2008.
Due to circumstances beyond the control of both Bikevents Australia and SRAM, the SRAM Time Trial, advertised as part of the Holden High Country Cycle Challenge, will not be held during the 2009 event.

We will still be awarding some fantastic prizes for the King and Queen of the Mountain, including an exclusive SCODY jersey and a holiday at the Mt Buller Chalet Hotel for each winner. And entrants to Ride Option A will still get to enjoy the challenge of riding to Jamieson on Sunday morning (and enjoying the great coffee at Perkins and Grey in Jamieson.) But unfortunately, neither of these sections of the HHCCC will be timed with transponders as advertised.

We apologise for any inconvenience this causes our entrants and assure you we will endevour to have the transponder timing system available for the 2010 HHCCC. 

Special Christmas offer!
Monday 24 November, 2008.
As entries into the Holden High Country Cycle Challenge get closer to 300 entries (and we prepare to giveaway some fabulous SRAM Red prizes) Steve and Bruce have decided to make a special offer in the lead up to Christmas. This is a great way to entice your wife or husband, boyfriend or girlfriend, niece or great-uncle to come along and join you for a weekend of cycling in The High Country.

If you enter Ride Option A - the Holden High Country Cycle Challenge - or Ride Option B - the TORQ Mt Buller Challenge - or Ride Option D - the CycleCover Buller and Back in a Day - between now and Christmas 2008, we'll give you a free entry into Ride Option C to giveaway as a Christmas present! Ride Option C - the SCODY 60K Challenge - is our shorter ride around and through Mansfield on the morning of Saturday 28 February. If you enter either of Ride Options A or B, it means you'll both get to ride together on Saturday morning before you ride up to Mt Buller on Saturday afternoon.

Here's all you need to do:
- Go to the How to Enter page and register yourself for Ride Option A, B or D;
- Then email Bruce on info@bikevents.com.au (including your receipt number from Register Now) with the name, contact details, date of birth, email address, jersey size and emergency contact details of the rider you'd like to enter into Ride Option C; and
- Bruce will email you a certificate which you can print out and present to your riding partner on Christmas Day!

And don't forget ... you're riding partner will still receive the free SCODY jersey as long as they're one of the first 1,000 entries. But remember, this offer is valid only until Christmas 2008. 

Our next 'First 500 Club' winner!
Friday 31 October, 2008.
We've now reached 200 entries into the Holden High Country Cycle Challenge ... which means we get to draw the next winner in the First 500 Club. The prize is $400 of brilliant cycling gear from Ground Effect (visit www.groundeffect.co.nz to check out their great range). Congratulations to Mark Schwarze of Camperdown, New South Wales! (That's two NSW winners so far!) Thanks very much to all the team at Ground Effect for this fabulous prize!
Next up, for 300 entries, is a SRAM Red 1090 10-speed (11-26) rear cassette, valued at $349, plus a SRAM prize pack of a musette bag, bidons, info and stickers. 

Our first 'First 500 Club' winner!
Friday 15 August, 2008.
We've now reached 100 entries into the Holden High Country Cycle Challenge ... which means we get to draw our first winner in the First 500 Club. The first prize up for grabs is a fantastic luxury weekend for four people at the Alzburg Resort, Mansfield, worth $650.
Congratulations to Chris Watkin of Bowral in New South Wales! Chris was extremely pleased when Bruce phoned to let him know. He'd actually stayed at the Alzburg last March when he rode Buller and Back in a Day, so he's really looking forward to getting back to the Alzburg.
Thanks very much to Pat at the team at Alzburg Resort for the prize. Next up, for 200 entries, is $400 worth of fantastic clothing from Ground Effect.

Good luck in Beijing!
Wednesday 6 August, 2008.
Bruce and Steve would like to wish all the best of luck to a couple of Beijing bound riders ...
Firstly, congratulations to the 2008 HHCCC King of the Mountain Dan McConnell for being selected to race in the cross country mountain biking on Saturday 23 August at the Beijing Olympic Games. Good luck Dan! Secondly, congratulations to Mansfield's own Simon Gerrans, the 2008 HHCCC Ambassador, who will race in the Men's Road Race on Saturday 9 August. In case you've been living under a rock for the last few weeks, Simon rode brilliantly during le Tour de France to win Stage 15. Let's hope he has another great ride on the weekend to help bring home a medal for Australia! And good luck to all the other Australians riding at the Games too!

Entries are now open!
Thursday 3 July, 2008.
Bruce and Steve are pleased to announce that entries for the fourth annual Holden High Country Cycle Challenge are now open! Go to the How to Enter page to get your registration in now. 
The first 1,000 entries will each receive a free SCODY souvenir jersey (worth $100! You can also order matching knicks direct from SCODY) and if you're one of the first 500 to enter, you could win thousands of dollars worth of great prizes as part of the First 500 Club.

Get fit for the HHCCC.
Thursday 26 June, 2008.
Here are a few upcoming events to help get you ready for the HHCCC. Tell 'em Bruce and Steve sent you.

Shepparton Hospice Fruit Loop Ride - Sunday 14 September, 2008.
The first long distance ride of the season - three distance options starting and finishing in Shepparton. For more details and entries visit www.fruitloopshepparton.com

Around the Bay in a Day - Sunday 19 October, 2008.
Are you hungry for your next challenge? Then put the 2008 Around the Bay in a Day - Get Sponsored for The Smith Family Sunday 19 October on your list of rides to do. Registrations at www.aroundthebay.com.au. With eight different ride options, everyone will be able to choose their own challenge - which one will you do?

Tour of the Shipwreck Coast - Sunday 26 October, 2008.
Four ride options, all starting and finishing in Warrnambool, held the day after the 113th running of the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic - the world's second-oldest one-day cycle race. Join The Melbourne to Warrnambool Society and you could be in the running to win some fantastic prizes, including a trip-for-two to the 2009 Tour de France with 5-nights accommodation! Visit caribou.net.au for more details and entries.

SCODY Team Plus Mornington Peninsula
- Sunday 16 November, 2008.
Test your team ... test yourself!
Teams Plus is your chance to test yourself against the clock over one of the most spectacular courses in Australia! As part of the 112km ride, we’ll time individuals, and teams, from Mornington to Flinders. You can stop in Flinders or cruise back into Mornington for a well deserved coffee … a total distance of 112km. There will also be a 60km ride … but it doesn't include the climb up Arthur’s Seat! This one won’t be timed so there’ll be plenty of time to cruise along by the beach, visit a café or one of the Mornington Peninsula’s famous wineries! Visit www.teamsplus.com.au for more details.

Audax Alpine Classic - Sunday 25 January, 2009.
Lots of different ride options, based in Bright on the Australia Day weekend. Visit audax.org.au for details and say Bonjour Bright!

HHCCC 2008 the best yet!
Monday 23 June, 2008.
The 2008 Holden High Country Cycle Challenge on the weekend of 1 & 2 March 2008 was a great success.If facts and figures are anything to go by, it was easily the biggest and best HHCCC so far.

Rider numbers:
- Ride Option A - Holden High Country Cycle Challenge: 441
- Ride Option B - TORQ Bar Mt Buller Challenge: 112
- Ride Option C - CycleCover Insurance Ultimate Mountain Classic: 81
- Ride Option D - Portfolio Partners Buller and Back in a Day: 140
- Ride Option E - Scody 50k Challenge: 50
That's a total of 824 riders!

2008 Queen of the Mountain: Tory Thomas (Team TORQ)
2008 King of the Mountain: Dan McConnell (Team TORQ)
2008 Mt Buller Corporate Cup winner: Multiplex Constructions

Monies raised for our Charity Partners:
The Cancer Council Victoria: $14,603.20
Peter Diplock Appeal for the Mansfield District Hospital: $1,752.00

Amount of Powerade consumed: 8,000 bottles
Total distance ridden over weekend: 147,662 km
Fastest speed recorded by Victoria Police at Mirimbah on Sunday morning: 86km/h
Number of free massages given: 192

Let's hope the 2009 edition is just as good!

HHCCC fires up for 2009!
Friday 20 June, 2008.
The fourth annual Holden High Country Cycle Challenge will open for entries very soon. And we have some great changes planned.

In our feedback from 2008, many of you asked for timing. We're planning that all entrants in Options A and B will be timed from Mirimbah to the TOP of Mt Buller on Saturday afternoon. Our King and Queen will now be the FASTEST climbers, not necessarily the first! Is there anyone in Australia that can beat Simon Gerrans time of 39:50? Who will be Australia’s new King and Queen? We won’t know until presentations at the ABOM on the Saturday night! You could be climbing with Australia’s next King or Queen of the Mountain. Encourage them as they fly past! Set your own personal goal; beat an hour, beat an hour and a half, make it without walking, or just beat that bloody mountain!
And in conjunction with Cyclo Sportif Victoria, there will be a Cyclismo teams event on Sunday morning which will be timed from Mirimbah to Jamieson. More details of the timing will be published as soon as it comes to hand. We've changed the Scody 60K Challenge to Saturday morning. In 2008, we had a few 60K entrants who stayed on Mt Buller on Saturday night and found it difficult to get down to Mansfield for the 10am Sunday start. So, now it will start from Mansfield at 9am on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, logistical changes beyond out control mean we're not able to offer the 173km Ultimate Mountain Classic for 2008.
But some things won't change ... the First 500 Club will again be offering almost $7,000 worth of prizes to the first 500 riders to enter. The first 1,000 entrants will all receive a free Scody jersey worth $100 and the road up Mt Buller hasn't gotten flatter!

Finally, entries this year will all be handled by Register Now. Entries will open any day now, so stay tuned. Don’t miss out on your chance to win one of the great prizes on offer!

The First 500 Club
Thursday 19 June, 2008.
Get in early and share in great prizes. The earlier you enter, the more chances you have to win! 

After 100 ENTRIES we will draw the winner of a fabulous holiday at Alzburg Resort, Mansfield. A two night, luxury weekend for four including breakfast and complimentary bottle of wine on arrival. Value $650!  
After 200 ENTRIES we will draw the winner of $400 of stuff from new sponsor Ground Effect. All the way from the 'land of the long white cloud' visit www.groundeffect.co.nz to check out their gear. 
After 300 ENTRIES we will draw the winner of a SRAM Red 1090 10-speed (11-26) rear cassette, valued at $349, to help you get up the mountain. You'll also win a SRAM prize pack of a musette bag, bidons, info and stickers. 
After 400 ENTRIES we'll give away a brilliant set of Velocity road wheels valued at over $500! 
And then the big one ... after 500 ENTRIES we will draw the winner of an Avanti bike and Specialized 2D helmet and Carbon Pro shoes worth over $5,000! 

Remember, the earlier you enter, the more prizes you have a chance of winning. And winning a prize early on does not disqualify you from winning later in the FIRST 500 CLUB.