Rocky Trail GP Series Final

The country seems to be gripped by finals fever, football here, football there, thank goodness Rocky Trail could focus us on our favourite sport and the Series Final of the Shimano Gran Prix. But what a controversial week it had been leading up to the Finals weekend, with mountainbikers literally being thrown out of the Appin trails, the location that had been locked-in for the Series Final. In premiership style Rocky Trail swiftly negotiated a new location at the famed Ourimbah trails, it must have been a special moment for a lot of solo riders when they were informed they wouldn’t have to face the tough and treacherous trails of Appin.

It dawned to a cracking day out the back of the Central Coast, with a light shower overnight, the trails were in superb conditions, coming up dry and mostly hard-packed. Having recently moved to the area Rocky Trail had scoped out some of their new favourite routes around Ourimbah for us to have fun on during the Grand Prix. There was the fun Jurassic Park and suitably named Rollercoaster, Graveyard through the flatlands and the Meadow Trails climbing back towards the transition area.

In the GP4 Central Coast local James Lamb, who had seen his King of Kincumba title slip from his fingers last weekend, was keen to produce a good result. James was pushed all the way by Jorge Baron who placed third in the Male Solo Elite Category. Out in front though was Jarrod Hughes, the 2012 Tour de Timor KOM jersey winner gained a commanding lead from the first lap and steadily gained time through the first three hours, finishing with close to a ten minute lead on James.

Rocky Trail Grand Prix Series Final GP4 Top 6

The dominance continued for Wendy Walker in the Female Solo Elite Category for the GP4. Wendy has been duelling with Vanessa Boatwright throughout the series and the GP at Ourimbah was no different. Vanessa didn’t have the pace of Wendy and the podium was rounded out by Eliza Eldridge Bassett.

The fast and furious Mark Tupalski seemed to have the Solo Elite Category for this GP7 wrapped up within the first few stomps on his peddles. While Mark was out in front it was down to Andrew Lloyd to chasing him around the trail. Andrew has been on the podium every round of the GP Series and once again he put in a solid performance staying well clear two laps up with Mark over third place getter Callum McNamara.

Unfortunately there was no competition in the Female Solo Elite GP7 Category but this didn’t stop Sarah Neumann from completing the allocated the seven hours and then some, with fairly consistent lap times. Sarah was joined on the podium by Jo Fox, Jo had worked out an enviable balance of Rocky Trail Entertainment atmosphere and the sweet Ourimbah trails.

Super excited before the start after my warm-up lap of the trail.

My race went well with a good start, this time I didn’t hang at the back of the pack on the start line. It wasn’t long before there was plenty of open trail to razz, making the most of the endless descents and flatter sections. There were just so many cool little bits, the fire-trail double, the sideways launch on the massive dipper, the vert drop-in, and that’s just all in the first few kilometres.

It was great to get a solid ride in and catching up with friends along the way, sorry Mark I just can’t keep up with your serious pace. One of the best things about mountainbiking is visiting new locations. I can’t believe it was my first time to these Ourimbah trails, I’ll be back for more!

The flowing trails played a great host to the Series Final of the Shimano Grand Prix. For every small climb you were rewarded with what seemed like an unbelievable amount of descent that everybody I came across was enjoying. It’s that enjoyment and possibly the supply of cold beverages, that makes this Series Final one of the best yet.