2019 Wrap!

• It has been another massive year. Thanks to my team and team mates for all their support. While some our results are individual we get great support from friends and family who give up their time to hand out bottles and drive us after an exhausting day.
• We have a number of standout events and results, here they are in no particular order.
• 2nd Pair 12hrs in the Piney

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• 1st NW Mountainbikers Mt Borah GE

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• 1st NSW Police Games XC

• 3rd (5th overall) NSW Police Games GE

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• 2nd Jacks Ridge XXX

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• 4th Elite TAMMTB Summer Race 6Feb

• 1st Elite TAMMTB Summer Race 14Feb

• 4th Elite TAMMTB Summer Race 27Feb

• 4th Elite TAMMTB Summer Race 16Oct

• 7th Elite TAMMTB Summer Race 23Oct

• 2nd Elite TAMMTB Summer Race 30Oct

• 2nd Elite TAMMTB Summer Race 6Nov

• 7th Elite TAMMTB Summer Race 13Nov

• 4th Elite TAMMTB Summer Race 20Nov

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• 2nd Masters 2 National Cup XCO NEMTB

• 2nd Masters 2 National Cup XCC NEMTB

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• 1st RT Grand Prix Championship Awaba

• 5th RT Grand Prix Ourimbah

• 8th RT Grand Prix Glenrock

• 17th RT Grand Prix Series (28th GC Rnd 3 & 5 only) 

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• 2nd Elite NIXCS UNE

• 3rd Elite NIXCS Tamworth

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• 2nd RT SuperFlow Champs Jollynose

• 3rd RT SuperFlow Enduro Ourimbah

• 5th RT SuperFlow Enduro Taree

• 7th RT SuperFlow Enduro Awaba

• 7th RT SuperFlow Series
• JetBlack MTB Racing are support by the following;
  
  #ridejetblack #jetblackproducts #theoddspoke #rockytrailentertainment #hubbardproof #prismbike #M2Oindustries #blacktownfamilydental #ambmagazine #mitastyres
  
  @jetblackmtbrace @ridejetblack @jetblackcycling @theoddspoke @rockytrailentertainment @prism.bike @M2OIndustries @australianmountainbike @mitas_tyres

12hrs in the Piney - 6+6 Pairs

Solos, Teams and Support Crew.

 It has been a massive build towards Armidale hosting the WEMBO World 24hr Solo titles in 2020. As part of this build the New England MTB Club have hosted a couple of National Cup races, and a year out from WEMBO they hosted the Asia/Pacific WEMBO/National 24hr Solo Champs and their annual 12hrs in the Piney race, as one event!

With team mate Browny looking for a pairs partner, and our only goal to attend, we were off to the races and had our spot booked in the 6+6 event. Riders from all over NSW/ACT, QLD and some from Victoria (we even spotted a kiwi flag) descended on Armidale for a festive weekend of racing.

A combination of WEMBO, National 24 solo and 12hrs in the Piney.

With everyone settled in their pitting areas and the formalities carried out by NEMTB, Browny was dressed and ready to go (for our little team). We had Kevlar, Catherine and Dalene from the JetBlack Team entered in the 24 solo, Guru and Chops in the pits, and Peter returning to riding in the solo 6+6.  In addition to our pit area we had multiple World Champ Jason English and crew Jenni PLUS Grafton locals Michelle and Grant (in their first 24 solo).

A number of small changes had cleaned up the UNE trail providing a mostly smooth hard-packed trail free of loose obstacles and gravel. They had included a couple of kilometres of grass following the creek-line and a steady-grade grass hill to push the trail out to 10km. With the solos getting a two minute lead on the 6+6 riders, we had about thirty minutes to get dressed and ready for Browny's return.

Working our way through the trails on a warm and windy Saturday afternoon.

Browny and I went lap for lap, heading out onto the trail. While resting and fuelling in the pits we helped out as the solo riders rolled through. Many solo riders were just as quick as many of the teams, well at this early stage. It was a very fluid and dynamic environment within the pit, looking out for our riders, being on hand to help and getting ourselves ready for our next snappy lap.

As the afternoon progressed it was evident Browny and I were being outclassed by the duo of Justin and Simon, but we were also having a little friendly competition with the Inverell pair Jodi and Brad. As the afternoon faded and the 6+6 riders completed their first 6hrs, the solo riders plodded on, probably relishing in the quiet open trails.

When the 6+6 race paused, we continued to help the solo riders.

It was time to refuel, savour Guru's custom pizzas and to maintain vigilance for our solo riders. For the solos it was was "lights-on", warm food and bike swap. It had been a windy afternoon and as dusk settled in the wind died down, the party atmosphere paused and the flood-lights were lit. 

After a short sleep it was an early rise to pull on some fresh gear, including all out winter warmers for the single digit dawn temperatures. I was pretty happy to knock out that first lap and hand over to Browny as the sun started it's steady rise into the clear sky. Unfortunately with the rise of the sun the wind began too, punishing all riders with a headwind over open sections of trail.

Having a blast on Sunday morning.

As many of our previous experiences have shown, much had happened overnight with the solos. The drop in the wind had increased the dust through the pine forest. Quite a few riders had paused for lengthy periods overnight. Notably the Elite female leader had stopped at lap 17, around midnight, opening the door for those chasing ladies. There was a few changes of placings in the Elite male as Mick Sherwood faced off with Kevin Hawes for 2nd place. Mick eventually stopped racing at 29 laps, over 18hrs of racing due to issues with the raised dust. There were so many different stories.

The trail conditions hadn't changed much overnight, maybe a little more dusty. Browny and I completed our laps with a double by me. We'd put in a solid effort staying competitive with those around us. We held onto a 2nd place in the Pairs, a couple of laps on 3rd.

A solid 12hrs of racing with Browny.

Our team mates went well too, Kevlar rode into 5th with 24 laps. Catherine held 1st with 29 laps and Dalene placed 1st with 12 laps. Peter completed 8 laps in the solo 6+6. Watch out 2020 WEMBO...

Full results here.

JetBlack MTB Racing are support by the following;

#ridejetblack #jetblackproducts #theoddspoke #rockytrailentertainment #hubbardproof #prismbike #M2Oindustries #blacktownfamilydental #ambmagazine #mitastyres

@jetblackmtbrace @ridejetblack @jetblackcycling @theoddspoke @rockytrailentertainment @prism.bike @M2OIndustries @australianmountainbike @mitas_tyres

Team mate handover.

RTE SuperFlow Taree - Round 5

The Taree Tease

An all but to brief visit to Taree for the fifth round of the SuperFlow Series. We made an exception and included it into our weekend of adventures, two hours out of our way, on what would have been a four hour journey. Given our time restrictions, this would see us time dependant on trail. Getting all our race runs, and improvements done, all in three hours.

Taree has to be one of the only east coast trails we haven't ridden. No XC, endurance or gravity EVER! Not sure really why we haven't raced at Taree but all we knew was that it was over due. Sadly we only were able to see the trails of the SuperFlow course this time, but with that as a sample... this place rocks!

We were treated to well sculpted flowing trails, in the loose dry and fast way. A variety of switchbacks, berms and gaps were laid out for what was at times a choose-your-own-adventure between the thick dusty braking ruts. As the day progressed, there was evidence corners were being over-cooked aplenty.

While not overly steep the Taree SuperFlow trails still offered up plenty of technical challenges and one "pedally" section to really balance out the competition. Looks like we'll have to book in a few more visits to Taree and have a look at ALL the other trails on offer. Our next big event is in a few weeks time... See you there!

JetBlack MTB Racing are support by the following;

#ridejetblack #jetblackproducts #theoddspoke #rockytrailentertainment #hubbardproof #prismbike #M2Oindustries #blacktownfamilydental #ambmagazine #mitastyres

@jetblackmtbrace @ridejetblack @jetblackcycling @theoddspoke @rockytrailentertainment @prism.bike @M2OIndustries @australianmountainbike @mitas_tyres

Ourimbah - SuperFlow

It was only last week we were racing at Ourimbah in the GP4, AND this week we are back again, this time for SuperFlow! SuperFlow is the new generation of Rocky Trail's Rollercoaster Series, of which we participated in originally (1st - 2012, 5th - 2013, 23rd - 2014). It is the XC take on Gravity Enduro, with probably the most popular Enduro series, the Enduro World Series (EWS) grabbing most of the attention.

So we are back at Ourimbah and there is a buzz. It is different from last week’s Grand Prix, a more casual, more fluro, baggy and longer travel buzz. This is the second round of the RTE SuperFlow Series we have been able to get to, we missed the Thredbo round a couple of months ago. Not surprisingly the SuperFlow Series has some serious followers, just about all male categories were buoyant with enthusiasts and punters alike.

We joined JetBlack MTB Racing team mates Eric, Troy, Matt and newcomer Brad at the event rego and hub area for our racing plates. There we also met with the Rocky Trail Entertainment crew, Martin and Juliana for the pre-race brief. We had a couple of hours to check out the two race trails before the 11am race kick-off.

It was a cool start for the practice session, we transitioned along the XC trails to warm up the legs. From the bottom of the valley it was couple of hundred vertical meter, fire-trail climb, to the start of the timed sections. This round I teamed up with newcomer Brad and we sessioned the shorter, steeper “Fox” trail first. 

The short, steep trail was a portion of the Ourimbah Downhill track. It was pretty intense and we stopped a number of times to sus out lines. We also had a chat with a couple of Ourimbah regulars, gleaming some invaluable insights for our race runs. Then it was back on the climb to the top to roll the “Fox” trail again, just to make sure we had absorbed as much trail information as possible in a couple of sighting laps.

We managed to squeeze a roll through of the “Stans” trail before 11am. A couple of sections we hadn’t seen before, but much of it was used last week during the Grand Prix event. All good, lets go racing!

First trail to we chose to race on was the longer "Stans" section. Having just rolled this trail and it being significant longer, our fairly fresh legs would stomp the XC styling of this section. I headed out first with Brad chasing, but through the dusty first descent section with adrenaline pumping I pushed to hard, driving into a tree on a tight left-hand corner. Shaken and with signs of some blood after taking much of the hit to the tree via my arm I went to jump on the bike, but the bars were twisted. I quickly re-aligned the bars as I saw Brad crested the hill and begin descending to my position. I had just about lost thirty seconds due to this off, I remounted and whipped the bike with a frenzy of pedal strokes to get me back down the trail.

At the bottom of the "Stans" trail I quickly self diagnosed some pretty good inflammation to my elbow, no joint pain or deep cuts. All good to continue racing, we headed back to the top for a couple more runs of the shorter DH trail, and get timed on the "Fox" section. 

For the first run at “Fox” Brad went first, I quickly counted twenty seconds and chased after him. My idea was to close the gap as much as possible on the mostly flat transition to the singletrack, then hold onto that smaller time gap as I wrestled the hardtail through the rough course.  It seemed to have worked; Brad was just heading down the singletrack as I was coming up to it. In regards to the “Fox” course it was a definite balance of control, because gaining speed no problem, it all pointed downhill. I was glad I replaced the brake pads a few days earlier, keeping the bike on the trail and pointed in the right direction was executed with volumes of braking.

After transiting back to the top to have another go at “Fox”, Brad checks out the online results, I had set initial time of just over three minutes. That result was not to shabby, with Brad sets a time seven just seconds slower. A quick hydrate, a chat with other riders and we were in the mix for another razz down the track. There was a shuffle of riders as we improved the line-up and self-seeding situation, this time Brad was to chase and potentially improve his time. I let the rider in front go just long enough that I knew I would catch them just before the singletrack to ensure free trail for the tech section. It works, I pass the DH rider just seconds before the trail narrowed and I get a clear shot at sprinting down the trail. At the bottom I wait longer than I should have to, but eventually Brad rolls in, seems he had an off mid-course. I set a time almost two seconds faster, pushing me in the sub three minute bracket.

With my young team mate having a crash it was time to make our way back to the event hub for a break, sustenance and refocus. Of course, we still had to do another lap of the longer “Stans” course to post an official time. A transition back to the top again and a good half day of riding is finally catching up with us.

We roll up to the start of the longer trail, this time I didn't need my own crash again but it was important to set a solid time. I rolled away first, diving through the tough loose first section and onto the little climb, boom, there is the first rider I catch, in fact there were three riders all up. I was feeling pretty on fire, pushing the bike as much as I felt reasonable. I launched over the finishing matt and skidded through the mid of the watching bunch on the firetrail. It was good to finish the trail with no major errors and a big smile on my face.

There was time, and energy for one more lap and see as though Brad had made a mess of his last "Fox", I encourage him to finish the day with a smooth run down. We rode to the top again and hit the trails for the last time that day.

All-n-all it was a fun day out. My three times on "Fox" had only a two second deviation, pretty consistent (placing in the top 100/300 riders). And my two runs on the longer "Stans" had a thirty second deviation, which was about what it felt when I crashed on the first of the two runs. The faster of the runs put me in the top 15 riders for the day. This result put me on the top step of the podium for the hardtail class!

Next stop is near Port Macquarie on the Mid North Coast for the Jolly Nose, Round 4 of the SuperFlow Series. Thanks to the JetBlack MTB Racing Team and our sponsors for another fun day out!

JetBlack MTB Racing continues to be partnered with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance, Rocky Trail Entertainment and AMB. Full results from this SuperFlow round here. Series results so far, here (yes, we are leading the Hardtail Category).

Rydal Interclub 3hr

It was going to be a busy weekend, with a couple of events pack in. But a couple of days of wet weather put a dampener on the CX, of all things, it was cancelled. Thankfully just over the other side of the hill, the Interclub 3hr location of Rydal didn't have the same conditions.

Rydal is just a few minutes from Lithgow and home to a whole bunch of hand-carved trail. The Rydal showground plays the perfect part of transition area, and the CTMBC the host club of this round.

Arriving with our JetBlack MTB Racing team mates, we signed on then ducked out for a reccy lap. For this fun event it was decided a pairs team would be a great change and we met with our team mate for the day in the transition area, Brad.

Brad is making waves at WSMTB XC rounds this year by winning D Grade consecutively. He has some mad on-bike skills and has recently transitioned from the club Junior racing categories. He lead out our team, and the whole race on lap 1 for the sprint to the first corner.

At transition one we were sitting as the second male pair team, rolling through as the 23rd rider. It was my turn to head out on the fun windy trail. Away from the flat show-ground area, the trails lead riders on an exciting journey of almost effortless fun. Transitioning back to Brad we had  made up a number of places and were now sitting within the top 10.

Brad puts in another impressive lap to keep us within touch of our competitors. Then it is another handover, and I race out, pre jumping the first log and runching through the following corner, all off the brakes. Hand-over, hydrate, food, rinse and repeat!

With five minutes left before the gate to the trail would close, Brad flew into view and I was tagged for our last lap. This last lap was a blinder too, with less riders out on trail and the changing trail conditions into a tacky, hero dirt ribbon of bliss.

Thanks to CTMBC for hosting the event, my JetBlack MTB Racing team mates for the travel arrangements and transition setup. Thanks to Brad for pairing up with us, turns out we won the Male Pairs Category!

See you at the next event...

Nambucca Valley CC The Tulk #2

Nambucca Valley Cycling Club have been running a number of twilight races over summer and we were able to get along to one over the weekend. Held on private "MTB lifestyle" property near Kempsey the trail is continually being developed and the 8km of marked trail we rode was fairly flat, fast and flowing. 

While it was fast and flat, there were a number of man-made features, themed sections, natural obstacles and corners to keep the mind busy. Aptly named by some as "The Jellyfish" after it's gently meandering shape as viewed from space, the mostly 1m wide trail cut through bush and farm-scape.

All up the weather was hot, but some wind kept the temperature reasonable and the dust fairly low. We had received a good amount of rain the night before which helped settle the dry conditions. It was still dry and hard packed in most sections, the others just being dry/loose.

Our host, head trail master, landowner and all-round-nice-guy lead us out on the first lap, it was fast for a social race. We hadn't gotten out for a sighting lap, so the perfect person to show us round was the exact person on the front of our little group.

The first short open fire-trail section on the second lap we switched to race tactics to see who I was riding with. We slid to the front and put some higher effort in, pushing to the edge of grip through corners and getting up speed early on the way out.

At first the gap opened little by little, with all the corners it was hard to tell how far big gap was. But after a while and a couple of laps later it seemed we had control of the proceedings. As it went from dusk to night we tried not to drop the pace, keeping the pressure on ourselves to maintain our heart rate and general speed.

In the end we lapped just about everyone and it felt like we had kept a constant pace throughout the three plus hours. It was a small but dedicated crew in attendance, nothing quite like the normal events we go to. A massive shoutout to NVCC for putting it all together and giving me a chance to have fun at a unique location.

NVCC Results are here: https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=92811&did=99836&cid=528640

Our first outing in the new JetBlack MTB Racing kit with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance and Rocky Trail Entertainment as partners.

We rode our Pivot 429 Alloy with custom wheels by Ascent Cycling Enterprises and X-Fusion fork from DIYMTB.

SCUM's Andrew Fellows 3hr Day Enduro

Words by: Belinda Althaus



SCUM held its first event for the 2014 year on 22 March with a 3 + 3 hr Enduro at Butterfly track.  This even was a memorial event for the late Andrew Fellows who was an active member of SCUM in the early days. 

The event was a combination of a 3hr day Enduro, and a 3hr evening Enduro, with an hour split in between. For the first event there was a decent turnout. It’s hoped with a new event committee, rejuvenation of the trails from dedicated trail builders; they anticipate a XC race every 1-2 months. 

The field consisted of 27 soloists- male and females, 6 pairs consisting of male, females and mixed as well as 2 trio teams and a bunch of kids getting out there and having a go.  The Fat bikes were also well represented with a local team “3 Fat Ladies” made up of Greg Lewis, Adrian Whitehead and Simon Finlay flattening out the trail. It was going to be tight racing amongst all teams.

The other fat bike representing was ridden by soloist Marty Strozik from Newcastle, who placed second overall completing 9 laps in 3.17hrs.  Douglas Pollock completed a neat 9 laps in 3.06hrs ahead of Marty and local Scott Barrett wrapping up the solos men.  With his first lap time of 19.04, Douglas also clinched the quickest lap of the day but it was only just with Mark Astley (Team Smoff) riding a lap time of 19.19.  Solo ladies also rode well, with the clear winner out of the 4 contenders being Liz Smith who completing 7 laps in 2.45hrs. This was ahead of Danielle Cardile and Lyn Pavlich competing 4 and 3 laps each respectively. 

The race, which was supposed to commence at 1pm started about 20mins late and this, would prove a surprise to one particular rider, as you will read later.  I rode as part of Team Smoff (representing ADCC) with Mark Astley.  We started the race of well with Mark taking the first laps.  We had decided it was wise to ride two laps and then swap over, to avoid any warming up/down issues.  Towards the end of the first lap, Mark came through in 3^rd place behind Douglas and Marty. The second lap rolled around and it was my turn to roll. Ahead of me was Fat Bike rider Marty Strozik who provided a good pacing option around the track, and proved to me that tyre width has no barriers!  I managed to hold consistent lap times, and by the end of lap 4 we had moved into second place overall.  Racing was tense amongst the field, but our team’s consistent laps kept us in a good position.  As I was coming into the finishing straight of lap 8, I knew we were still within the time frame to head out for a 9^th lap to hold our position.  Coming into the transition, I noticed that Mark wasn’t there to handover to!  In the midst of the day’s events, he was unawares to the fact that the race had started late. It was only after lead rider Douglas Pollock had headed out for his 9^th lap with a handful of minutes to spare before the 3 hr time lapsed did he realise that we still had time for another lap. The rush was on then for Mark to get his bike back out of the car and get back into kit before my return.  Credit to Mark for achieving what was likely the quickest kit-up time ever. With minimal delay he was on his bike, minus a few details and managed to nearly make up a 2min gap between him and Douglas.  All round it was a great ride by Team Smoff, we only missing out 1^st place overall by 11 seconds.  We rode the race to finish 1^st in mixed pairs, and 1^st in pairs overall, and 2^nd overall on the 3hr Day Enduro.  Next time we will just make sure our timings are confirmed. 

Thanks to SCUM for holding a great event.  I hope the evening Enduro was as much fun for the riders that participated.  I certainly look forward to racing around some of the other local tracks around this great South Coast region.