Rocky Trail MTB Grand Prix and Sydney 24hr MTB Championships

There was everything to race for, some people this was their chance to qualify for Worlds. For others their first 24hr event, in a team or solo. At the pointy end of the 24hr solo race, this was pay day. This was the first of many events in Australia this year to hand out a large plastic cheque. Could this see the World Champion travel to all qualifying events for this guaranteed financial reward?
One track, one day, two races and a week of rain. This was the setup.
The last round of the Rocky Trail Grand Prix Series saw another good turn out but qualifying was not as well attended as previous rounds. The qualifier saw riders pump out a very quick lap of the mini BMX track located at the resort. There was up to a minute and a half head start on the rest of the GP and 24 riders on offer. It was this lead that helped seal win for me at the first round and I was up to the challenge.
A snappy 22 second lap was set early in qualifying and I placed second on the grid by fractions of a second.
Once out on the track I found it relatively easy, off the grass of the resort grounds onto a bitumen road. Follow the road for a couple of kilometers or so, turn left and up a dirt road. It was this dirt road that gained all the elevation in the track, approximately 120m in 2000m, some of it was fairly steep and saw a walker or ten. Riding off the top of the climb you followed the road over corrugated and gutter ruts to the start of the decent. The decent turned to single track and swept its way down the hill, it then followed a creek line with some small rock gardens and water crossings. Leaving the creek the track headed back onto the grounds of the resort with a concreted section up a small rise turning to a small section of single track twisting back along the river. From here you popped out on concrete again and made your way back towards the transition area. Off the concrete and around onto hard packed gravel then as you followed the river it was back onto grass. This grass section took you past the main area for a couple of hundred meters until you were allowed to make a u-turn onto gravel again for another pass of the main area and a couple of final turns into transition. At just over nine kilometers long the track could get a little dizzy for the 24hr riders.