It was the race that no one thought would happen, after being originally scheduled for April then rescheduled for November. Both dates had to be canned after near biblical weather events. But third time proved to be a charm as the Hunter region put on perfect weather last weekend for the final round of the SRAM Singletrack Mind Series.
The purpose designed trails and venue of Awaba Mountain Bike Park ensured that the 8¼ hour series finale would be an event to remember with over 11km of flowing trail, of which almost all was swooping singletrack. Many hailed it as the best venue of the Series and gave great credit for the work of the Hunter Mountain Bike Association.
While the rescheduled date may have not worked out for some of the 500 entrants, it did fit in to the hectic race program of current 24 hour Solo World Champion Jason English. The Port Macquarie rider would be an unbackable favourite in the Male solo category. As this was also the conclusion of the 6 race series there would also be battles further back in the field for the overall Series podiums. Andrew Hall went into the race holding the red Series leader plate for the male solo category but his nemesis and fellow Canberran Ed McDonald would be looking to claw back the 50 point deficit.
After a torrid fireroad start section, which included two sharp climbs, the field settled in for a big day in the saddle. The leading rider after the first lap was Newcastle local and World Championships representative Cam Ivory of the Swell/Redshift team while a little further back it was of little surprise to see Jason English leading the soloists, but Andrew Hall wasn't going to allow English out of his sights – Hall remained glued to the wheel of the World Champion until the elastic broke around 3 hours into the race. All three podium getters finished on 14 laps with Hall 18 minutes behind and Ed McDonald a further 14 minutes back. With three Series wins and two 2nd placings it was Andrew Hall who comfortably took the overall Series title. He said that he had set winning the Series as a major goal for 2011 and after some 40 hours in the saddle he was very satisfied with the achievement.
The women's field also featured riders aiming towards Series victory and one who had the race win as her goal. Karen Evans of the Southern Highlands club is a late convert to mountain biking but she has been improving rapidly under the tutelage of former Track World Champion Rod McGee. Evans had not previously competed in a race of over two hours’ duration, so setting the task of completing the 8¼ hour event would be a huge step up. The results show that she positively revelled in the format, producing consistent lap times all day to take the win. Similarly, Lindsay Gorrell is a rider who, after a couple of years off the scene, has come back to racing with renewed focus. She started fast, leading in the early laps but with fewer miles in the legs, endurance got the better of her and she slipped back to 3rd while winner of rounds 4 & 6 Liz Smith came in just 8 minutes behind Evans, her 2nd place securing her win of the overall Series title.
The Masters solo categories saw fitting resolutions to season long battles. In the women, Merryl King took her first race win over eventual Series champion Wendy Stevenson and in the men it was yet more domination from Phil Welch who added to his collection of Series victories and took out the series by more than 100 points over last year’s Series champion Trent Moore.
The three person teams saw yet more close and exciting racing as only 5 minutes covered the top 3. Team “Frothers” were riding on the limit to close down the deficit to eventual 2nd place team “Father, Son and Mate” but “Wallies of Pain” took the win and locked in their victory of the Series. “Stevens Bikes Trio” again dominated the mixed threes and after winning 4 rounds of the Series they walked away with the Series trophy.
The final race of the Series also saw the biggest junior category entered with 7 teams. Wollongong based team “CCC Racing” have already shown great form with 2nd and 3rd placings but with their arch rivals the Ramrods not in attendance the CCC crew had a clear run at the win, defeating Ashfield Cycles Juniors and AllTrack Bicycles by over a lap. CCC's consistent results were also enough to take the Series.
And finally to the pairs categories which provided loads of entertainment all day long. The Masters Pairs once again featured the series long grudge match between “Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk” and “Beware Hulk Here Comes Horccules”, and while the former had the edge once again, they would both be upstaged by the local combo of David Harris and Craig Coates from Drift Bikes. Like the super hero they are named after, “Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk” triumphed over the competition taking the Series by over 120 points. Consistency was key to the “Elderly Illegitimates”, despite only taking one podium all season it was enough for them to take second in the Series.
The result of the Female Pairs sounded like a plot for a cheezy movie as the team of “Crack'n'race” had become the eternal bridesmaids with four 2nd place finishes but the Awaba round would be the big day they had been waiting so long for! Thankfully they did it without the dress and train (it would have got caught in the spokes ...) but Shannon Lloyd and Emmanuelle Hutchins looked great on the podium anyway as they won the round and their consistency won them the Series as well. “Po & the Turtle” featured Laura Stone as a substitute rider who, in her first ever race, found herself on the podium and helped the team take 2nd in the Series. Needless to say Laura is now hooked on enduro racing!
The Mixed Pairs is always a highly tactical category as teams try to assess the relative strengths of their rivals. The Drift Bikes team found themselves in a see-sawing battle again the last years Series champions MicNic and the SCC Professional Amateurs. Over the course of the day they would lose and regain the lead three times. MicNic again had a run of bad luck as they alternately suffered a crash and a flat tyre but they recovered to take 2nd behind Drift and the SCC Professional Amateurs proved themselves to be far more pro than amateur by taking 3rd place which would more than enough for them to take out the category for the Series.
The Mens pairs would be truly gripping. The Swell/Redshift team of Nick Both and Cam Ivory tore off to establish a solid lead and really didn't look threatened all day, but the battle for the Series would be far more intriguing. Matt Potter and John Odams wore the Series leaders plates but with Stevens Bikes only a few points behind they would have to finish no worse than two places behind Stevens Bikes to secure the series win. Within the first few laps all hope looked lost for the “Yeti chomp on Gu” team as they went as far back as 5th place while Stevens were holding down 3rd, then moving up to 2nd at the 4 hour mark. At the 5 hour mark Yeti found their second wind and laid down a succession of 34 minute laps and incredibly Jon Odams pulled out a 31.51 on his final lap to finish only 7.8 seconds behind Jason Morgan. “If the course was only 100 metres longer we could have beaten them” Odams said at the finish. Less than 8 seconds separated the two teams after 6 rounds of racing, Odams and Potter both back to back Series Champions.
With 6 rounds of exciting racing in 2011, great sponsor support and the involvement of dedicated mountain bike clubs the SRAM Singletrack Mind Series has been declared a tremendous success with over 2000 competitors across the series, a 50% increase on last year and over $65,000 in cash and prizes awarded. Series organisers Chocolate Foot have already released dates for next year’s Series and will confirm locations, including some new venues early next year.
2012 SRAM Singletrack Mind Series event dates
Round 1 - 29 April
Round 2 – 24 June
Round 3 – 19 August
Round 4 – 16 September
Round 5 – 28 October
Round 6 – 25 November
For more information see: www.chocolatefoot.com.au
Merida’s Jason English on his way to racking up yet another solo victory in 2011
Amy Austin’s consistent laps helped the Stevens Bikes Trio take their fourth win and Overall Series trophy
Swell Redshift’s Cam Ivory ripping through the rainforest section
The purpose designed trails and venue of Awaba Mountain Bike Park ensured that the 8¼ hour series finale would be an event to remember with over 11km of flowing trail, of which almost all was swooping singletrack. Many hailed it as the best venue of the Series and gave great credit for the work of the Hunter Mountain Bike Association.
While the rescheduled date may have not worked out for some of the 500 entrants, it did fit in to the hectic race program of current 24 hour Solo World Champion Jason English. The Port Macquarie rider would be an unbackable favourite in the Male solo category. As this was also the conclusion of the 6 race series there would also be battles further back in the field for the overall Series podiums. Andrew Hall went into the race holding the red Series leader plate for the male solo category but his nemesis and fellow Canberran Ed McDonald would be looking to claw back the 50 point deficit.
After a torrid fireroad start section, which included two sharp climbs, the field settled in for a big day in the saddle. The leading rider after the first lap was Newcastle local and World Championships representative Cam Ivory of the Swell/Redshift team while a little further back it was of little surprise to see Jason English leading the soloists, but Andrew Hall wasn't going to allow English out of his sights – Hall remained glued to the wheel of the World Champion until the elastic broke around 3 hours into the race. All three podium getters finished on 14 laps with Hall 18 minutes behind and Ed McDonald a further 14 minutes back. With three Series wins and two 2nd placings it was Andrew Hall who comfortably took the overall Series title. He said that he had set winning the Series as a major goal for 2011 and after some 40 hours in the saddle he was very satisfied with the achievement.
The women's field also featured riders aiming towards Series victory and one who had the race win as her goal. Karen Evans of the Southern Highlands club is a late convert to mountain biking but she has been improving rapidly under the tutelage of former Track World Champion Rod McGee. Evans had not previously competed in a race of over two hours’ duration, so setting the task of completing the 8¼ hour event would be a huge step up. The results show that she positively revelled in the format, producing consistent lap times all day to take the win. Similarly, Lindsay Gorrell is a rider who, after a couple of years off the scene, has come back to racing with renewed focus. She started fast, leading in the early laps but with fewer miles in the legs, endurance got the better of her and she slipped back to 3rd while winner of rounds 4 & 6 Liz Smith came in just 8 minutes behind Evans, her 2nd place securing her win of the overall Series title.
The Masters solo categories saw fitting resolutions to season long battles. In the women, Merryl King took her first race win over eventual Series champion Wendy Stevenson and in the men it was yet more domination from Phil Welch who added to his collection of Series victories and took out the series by more than 100 points over last year’s Series champion Trent Moore.
The three person teams saw yet more close and exciting racing as only 5 minutes covered the top 3. Team “Frothers” were riding on the limit to close down the deficit to eventual 2nd place team “Father, Son and Mate” but “Wallies of Pain” took the win and locked in their victory of the Series. “Stevens Bikes Trio” again dominated the mixed threes and after winning 4 rounds of the Series they walked away with the Series trophy.
The final race of the Series also saw the biggest junior category entered with 7 teams. Wollongong based team “CCC Racing” have already shown great form with 2nd and 3rd placings but with their arch rivals the Ramrods not in attendance the CCC crew had a clear run at the win, defeating Ashfield Cycles Juniors and AllTrack Bicycles by over a lap. CCC's consistent results were also enough to take the Series.
And finally to the pairs categories which provided loads of entertainment all day long. The Masters Pairs once again featured the series long grudge match between “Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk” and “Beware Hulk Here Comes Horccules”, and while the former had the edge once again, they would both be upstaged by the local combo of David Harris and Craig Coates from Drift Bikes. Like the super hero they are named after, “Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk” triumphed over the competition taking the Series by over 120 points. Consistency was key to the “Elderly Illegitimates”, despite only taking one podium all season it was enough for them to take second in the Series.
The result of the Female Pairs sounded like a plot for a cheezy movie as the team of “Crack'n'race” had become the eternal bridesmaids with four 2nd place finishes but the Awaba round would be the big day they had been waiting so long for! Thankfully they did it without the dress and train (it would have got caught in the spokes ...) but Shannon Lloyd and Emmanuelle Hutchins looked great on the podium anyway as they won the round and their consistency won them the Series as well. “Po & the Turtle” featured Laura Stone as a substitute rider who, in her first ever race, found herself on the podium and helped the team take 2nd in the Series. Needless to say Laura is now hooked on enduro racing!
The Mixed Pairs is always a highly tactical category as teams try to assess the relative strengths of their rivals. The Drift Bikes team found themselves in a see-sawing battle again the last years Series champions MicNic and the SCC Professional Amateurs. Over the course of the day they would lose and regain the lead three times. MicNic again had a run of bad luck as they alternately suffered a crash and a flat tyre but they recovered to take 2nd behind Drift and the SCC Professional Amateurs proved themselves to be far more pro than amateur by taking 3rd place which would more than enough for them to take out the category for the Series.
The Mens pairs would be truly gripping. The Swell/Redshift team of Nick Both and Cam Ivory tore off to establish a solid lead and really didn't look threatened all day, but the battle for the Series would be far more intriguing. Matt Potter and John Odams wore the Series leaders plates but with Stevens Bikes only a few points behind they would have to finish no worse than two places behind Stevens Bikes to secure the series win. Within the first few laps all hope looked lost for the “Yeti chomp on Gu” team as they went as far back as 5th place while Stevens were holding down 3rd, then moving up to 2nd at the 4 hour mark. At the 5 hour mark Yeti found their second wind and laid down a succession of 34 minute laps and incredibly Jon Odams pulled out a 31.51 on his final lap to finish only 7.8 seconds behind Jason Morgan. “If the course was only 100 metres longer we could have beaten them” Odams said at the finish. Less than 8 seconds separated the two teams after 6 rounds of racing, Odams and Potter both back to back Series Champions.
With 6 rounds of exciting racing in 2011, great sponsor support and the involvement of dedicated mountain bike clubs the SRAM Singletrack Mind Series has been declared a tremendous success with over 2000 competitors across the series, a 50% increase on last year and over $65,000 in cash and prizes awarded. Series organisers Chocolate Foot have already released dates for next year’s Series and will confirm locations, including some new venues early next year.
2012 SRAM Singletrack Mind Series event dates
Round 1 - 29 April
Round 2 – 24 June
Round 3 – 19 August
Round 4 – 16 September
Round 5 – 28 October
Round 6 – 25 November
For more information see: www.chocolatefoot.com.au
Merida’s Jason English on his way to racking up yet another solo victory in 2011
Amy Austin’s consistent laps helped the Stevens Bikes Trio take their fourth win and Overall Series trophy
Swell Redshift’s Cam Ivory ripping through the rainforest section