Rocky Trail Grand Prix Orange

Orange's Kinross trails, home of the legendary Ginja Ninja, host to numerous XCO and endurance events over the years. It's blissful winding climbs and joyful bermed descents, were laced together with some XCO-bar-biting pinches and white-knuckle off-camber loose downhills for this the first of the Rocky Trail Entertainment Grand Prix.

It hadn't taken much arm-twisting but we had a posse from Tamworth arrive late Friday after my JetBlack MTB Racing team mates had setup a prime transition position within the event centre.

After a distraught melancholy of overnight moos for those who camped at Kinross, race morning finally arrived, and it was a comfortable and mild. A caravan of cars with bikes attached started arriving and plenty of pre-race rituals were underway. The event centre went from ghost-town to down-town as the RedBull truck arrived and 3x3 shades rose from Kinross's reddish dirt.

As the countdown started, we lined up close to the front as to benefit from the short run into the single-track. It was a cracking start and while the pace was on, it felt good on legs that had seen plenty of kms over the Christmas break. Sitting behind Tamworth local and frother Justin Roberts, our pace solid over the first three laps. 

With a 2019 endurance result not to be scoffed at, we followed a pairs-team from Inverell for as long as we could. These young guys were blasting around the track and had sneaked slowly up on us, Justin couldn't take the pace, dropping off somewhere mid-forest. A couple of laps was all we could handle but this had brought us onto the wheel of a local, who was more of a match to our 4hr endurance pace.

Settled back into a sustainable pace we were caught by the leading 4hr, then eventually the leading 7hr riders. Jon Odams had the lead on Ben Fillingham as he flew by us, but a tyre issue saw Ben take the lead and complete the 4hrs first. Mick Sherwood was on a very good rolling pace when rolling with us, when we paused at transition to take on more water, Mick was up the hill and gone. Mick went on to win the 7hr.

Little did we know there was in-category rivalry as a quiet Matt Clutterham rolled behind us, returning to Grand Prix racing after a few years hiatus. Again we paused at transition to sort out our gear for the final laps and Matt slipped up the trail to take 2nd by a mere minute.

An awesome day on the trails of Kinross and a timely reminder of what cool trails we have on offer around our regional towns. Can't wait to race the next event, we'll see you there!

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Full results here.

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).

WSMTB XC 2017

It was April and finally the WSMTB XC season has kicked off. Ok, there was a rained out start last month, to the effect that the trails have been suffering since. But Round 2 got off to a glorious start, mist in the hollows, but on the side of the Blue Mountains at the home of XC in Sydney it was all sunshine.

The dust started flying with the U10s and U13s, the U10s included juniors from age 3 on balance bikes, on their own trail. U13s completed a shortened loop of the main trail, with all the timing and lap counts the more senior riders are use to.

Over eighty riders had signed up for the round, and this time there was a re-visited twist. It has been a long time coming, but Lumley's is back. Some major time and effort by the small WSMTB XC trail crew has restored this classic climb. Had to cast our mind back, way back, to the last time this route was raced on.

Young gun Owen Gordon. Photo - WSMTB

In A Grade there were some of the usual suspects, the regulars, then there were the young guys nipping at the heels. The likes of Owen Gordon, who last year blitzed WSMTB B Grade, has made the move to A this year. Fergus Mackie - JetBlack MTB Racing, also joined in the A Grade fray.

Wheels kicked and cleats snapped from the call "GO", managing to reach the bottom of the first singletrack in the first half of the group. It then turned uphill and we went quickly from first half to virtually last.

From there focus shifted to staying in touch with the tail-enders and in-front of B Grade. A few B Graders slipped by as we battled it out for the remainder of the laps and it came down to a sprint finish with my fellow competitor.

James rolls one of the rock sections in C Grade. Photo - WSMTB 

The great thing about WSMTB is the inclusive atmosphere and of course the local RFS manning the BBQ, there is always plenty for that post ride recovery meal. It was a another nice morning out, fun on bikes for everyone. Awesome work by WSMTB!

Thanks to our supporters and partners JetBlack MTB Racing with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance and Rocky Trail Entertainment. See you at another event soon.

Riddles of Rydal

Drifting at pace through the slalom trees.

It had been ages, a really long time, since drinks at Rydal. Our last visit to the trails just west of Lithgow was back in 2011 and 2012 with Fi, Joe and the Chocolate Foot crew (Gumby included). My wrap-up of the trails read  "With almost all of it being the twisty, on-camber, but mostly off-camber, flowing, but with plenty of tighter corners, SINGLETRACK. It all wrapped up on a fairly flat ridge-line and made the most of the land available". And not to much has changed!

The JetBlack MTB racing crew were all in attendance, we had a good measure of 4hr and 7hr riders, both in teams and solo. A mass of shades, chairs and tables, our bikes littering the grass, and looking down through the transition area it was pretty similar for everyone else. A good number of riders turning up for this round, maybe not as many as Round 1 at Glenrock but still plenty of competition.

Pinchy rises.

After a mild start at Glenrock, there was plenty of room for improvement and with a short open section before the endless singletrack, it was more crucial than ever at Rydal. A flurry of cleat-clipping and some mud we were into the narrow trails. It didn't go as planned for everyone, the self-seeding and XC style sprint start, saw some spills.

Happy with the start, the pace was manageable through the trees. It wasn't long and a few neat passing manoeuvres later and I found myself on the rear wheel of master-pedal-turner, Garry James. We were making good time and it was pretty smooth sailing wheel-sitting, getting use to the trail again particularly the newer and newest sections.

Pop-it or drop it.

A couple of laps with Garry and I found myself on the front and with a bit of breathing room, room for speed! Must admit Rydal did suit us, we have local trails that are just as twisty, tight and turny. Smooth fast cornering and connecting those corners was key for us, riding with some of the pairs teams it was easy to sense the over-braking and hard acceleration on the out of the corners they were doing.

Back in the race there were a couple of nice flying laps, lap three being our fastest before it all settled down to mid twenty five minute laps, at about 20kph. While keep up with the four-hour pairs was fun we were also keeping an eye on our team-mates. In this instance, at Rydal, they weren't inchingly close and just in front of us, this time they were just behind. Yes it felt good to be running with the teams as a solo, even if they were team-mates, riding the seven hour and in a team of three.

No troubling trolls.

A surprise find on the trail was BigDog, aboard his do-it-all long-travel bike. Super easy to follow, we had a good chat and then lost contact winding amongst the trees after a fast transition. From there it was a matter of holding on to as much smoothness as possible, fatigue was setting in, edges were getting dull.

Smashing a couple more gels and we were into the last hour, several quick in-head calculations and we would be heading out for a final lap with minutes to spare. Our team-mates, team of three, Elton, Browny and Shad were hot on our tail and Elton had just closed the gap on the final climb, second last lap. Elton handed over to Browny, who went down the transition like a startled gazelle. But, little by little the gap between us reduced, till we had made it onto Browny's rear wheel. Some chess moves later and we are on that final climb, Browny punches it out of that last pinch and sprints up the firetrail. There is a moment when all plans were to go with Browny, sprint those last final hundred meters, our quads had other plans.

A good day walking away with something to put on the fridge.

It was great to race back at Rydal and get a solid result in the second round of the Grand Prix Series. Thanks to our supporters and partners JetBlack MTB Racing with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance and Rocky Trail Entertainment. Our new Ascent Cycling Enterprises custom built wheels and Mitas tyres continue to handled everything with ease and helped us remain fast throughout.

WSMTB Summer Series Twilight 4hr Round

We weren't able to make the first round of the series due to another riding engagement but with the calendar clear and the end of our summer holiday period almost over, the twilight round of WSMTB's Summer Series was good to go.

The holiday period had meant we were able to prepare nicely (a visit to Orange for XCO Nats included), with a quick check on Strava for the route and a multitude of visits to familiarise ourselves with the trails.

Of course the summer weather was punching pretty high with plenty on heat during the buildup and on race day, when we arrived at Yellomundee mid afternoon there was little getting away from the scorching conditions.

A few riders mentioned prior to starting that it could be a race of attrition, particularly if the sweltering heat stuck around into the evening, bottles of fluid were neatly packed away in eskies of ice, or in some cases portable fridges.

Riders at the starting line. Photo: CrummyMTB

As the riders launched from the start line dedicated support crews huddled beneath 3x3 shades with cool towels and water sprayers, after a short while all eyes and ears were peeled for the first riders to pass close to transition, signalling the start of the crew duties.

We weren't surprised to see BigDog pass by first, but what did surprises us was the gap to the following riders. A quick fix of some bunting and everyone was back on track, four hours is plenty for the leading teams and solos to battle out the difference.

It was that first hour of racing that hit everyone pretty hard, some riders stopped after those first one or two laps, rightly complaining that it was extremely hot. At this stage it was time for a couple of snappy laps after our team mate had been out on that initial lap.

The course was fast but every breath felt like breathing from a furnace, dry baking the back of your throat. Breath less, ride faster. The usual tough but short Yellomundee climbs were offset with rocky flowing descents.

A quick sub forty minute double and we were back at transition to check on our team mate. The conditions were not favourable and it took our team a while to recover and get back out on the trail. It had only cooled off ever so slightly.

Enough time had passed and it seemed like on our second lap we would be out during the "lights-on" period so we quickly fitted our Ay-Ups, gave the bike a once-over and prepared for our next double lap.

Our team mate had made they way around the track, we placed a cooled towel over their shoulders and leapt on our bike. Down the first descent the bike felt stiff, feeling like it was more than a tyre pressure check. It was quickly obvious that our most junior support crew, still in training, had done their own bike check, locking out the fork.

This second double was quicker than the first and it was pretty good to be out during the twilight. The trail was dry and fast, WSMTB had picked a fairly open climbing course, opting the narrow climb of Steve's Descent instead of the parallel firetrail.

Now was crunch time for our team, head out for another lap with the possibility of it turning dark while our team mate was still out there. This would be their first night ride, some encouragement and support from another rider, and they both headed out lights blazing.

Before long our team mate was back, a quick look at the time and we could head out for one more lap. Lights back on our bike and it was out for a casual night lap to wrap-up the 4hr up for our team.

Thanks to WSMTB for putting on a great 4hr event, it was great to see a wide range of teams and solos out on the trail. We had a helpful crew in transition, supporting multiple solos and keeping an eye on us too, cheers.

We'll see you at the next event!

National XCO Series Round 1 & 2

Photo: Iona Reynolds

Orange hosted the opening rounds of the MTBA 2017 XCO National Series over the weekend, with all participants facing hot, dry and dusty conditions at Kinross State Forest. The first time National Series hosts put together a couple of short and steep loops, reminiscent of old classic XC loops for both days.

With a number of local Sydney based riders attending, given the chance to race Kinross again and catch up with riders from other areas, we sealed our trip to Orange with the race fees. It was busy at Kinross when we arrived, the Juniors and older Masters were finishing their round 1 race. Rego was a breeze and we were able to watch the start of the Elite Woman.

There were a number of big names in mountain biking in attendance, across many of the categories and riders had come from almost all states to represent. Did that mean that all racing was fast and furious? Thankfully no, there was some breadth albeit just a handful.

Photo: Iona Reynolds

With any XCO racing it was super fast paced, probably something we could work on after all these years of endurance racing. Those who could punch up the climbs had the time wins, but the trails featured numerous great descents plus a number of rough blown-out ones, putting smiles on dials.

A sprint to the first section of singletrack initially sorted the groups out, particularly on Sunday when there were some already heavy legs. Flowing trail took us up to the large rock climb and from there the trail differed for the each round. Saturdays round included the longish quarts-climb, previously used in a Ginja Ninja (2015?). From there we connected up to some firetrail before the epically good North Shore trail back to transition.

On Saturday our pace wasn't super fast and over the four laps we managed to pull a few riders back from our grouping. The older categories were hot on our heel though and the fastest of them caught us and in a couple of cases, just powered away.

Photo: Russ Baker

Sunday's route took us up a few climbs that felt like we had never seen them on previous visits, after turning right at the rock climb we continued to climb for what seemed like forever, some gradual but most of it steep or pinchy. This trail was only completed three times for our category, where as Saturdays was four.

We had a good weekend in Orange and were pretty pleased with our first outing at National XCO level. Bec Henderson and Anna Bec won the womans elite rounds consecutively and Dan McConnell made it all look pretty easy in the elite mens.

They were long hot days in the sun and dust so a big shout-out to our JetBlack MTB Racing team mates and our support crews. See you all at the next event!

NSW Junior Series - Round 1

Sixty riders entered the NSW Junior Series on the weekend, this first round was hosted by Western Sydney Mountain Bike Club at their home trail Yellomundee. While the conditions were dry there was some nervous anticipation as dark clouds hovered overhead.

Local riders were joined by mountain bikers from across Sydney and further afield. It was great to have representatives from the Central Coast and Singleton to the Southern Highlands and Wollongong, Manly to Lithgow.

After the race both parents and junior riders said they would check out the other Junior Series rounds, for some this had been their first mountain bike event. Other riders couldn't commit time to travel to the furthest afield rounds due to their senior year of study and HSC.

A number of riders did a double race as there was under 10's before the NSW Junior Series and senior racing afterwards. Massive kudos to those under 10's for following it up with the Junior Series and the dedicated few who took on the senior event.

Great work by WSMTB, their committee and volunteers. The Yarramundee RFS put on a BBQ fundraiser and all the riders who came along made it a successful morning. 

WSMTB CX Round 1

A super fast launch for Open Bike to chase B Grade. Photo: Reynolds

WSMTB launch into the CX scene with Round 1 of their 2015 series held at the International Regatta Centre, Penrith. There was fun racing for the kids, then B Grade CX and Open Bike (mountain bike) which we competed in, followed by A Grade. It was a busy weekend for CX in Sydney with a "double-header", MWCC CX on Saturday and then WSMTB's CX on the Sunday. Plenty of room for more cowbell!

It takes a fair bit of work to pass through the twisty section of course. Photo: Reynolds

The course was basically around one of the small lakes followed by some corners, hurdles and mud. At 35mins of racing for Opens and B Grade you can ride on the limit for the whole time, in this instance it was about 10mins a lap for the front runners.

One of the mud pits. Photo: Reynolds

As our first real foray into CX we were pleased with our result, claiming a top 3 spot after a punishing 40mins of threshold HR. We rode our Pivot 429 Alloy, which was way to much bike but fun all the same. Setup remained standard for XC and endurance events, we might pick another bike for next time.
Fuel was provided by High5 Energy Source in the hour before the event.
See you at the next event!

Wylde STM/Evocities Round

After WSMTB held the first ever mountain bike event at Wylde there was much anticipation of the second event. This second event would be the STM Round by Chocolate Foot, which also made part of the Evocities Series, drawing riders from as far as Port Mcquarie, Dubbo and Canberra.

Wylde last year at a trail ride day. Photo: CrummyMTB

We were surprised to see a whole bunch of fast names in the 4hr categories considering there was the lure of cash up for grabs in the 7hr. This included Giant rider Jon Odams, who lead the first lap and put pressure on the fast riders to keep up.

Start to the event with Jon Odams leading it out. Photo: CrummyMTB

A little further back we were ticking along and keeping en eye on our competitors through the winding trail. You could see the 30 second and minute gap riders ahead and behind, it was nice to slowly reel those who had a faster first lap over the remaining three and a half hours of racing.

Back a little further we kick off our race.

Were pretty happy to see we had reach a top 5 position within the category on viewing the results. Especially considering the strength of competition on the day, and the fact the weather didn't make as big impression as the WSMTB 4hr round.

Thanks to the JetBlack MTB Racing team and all our sponsors for their ongoing support. For this outing at Wylde we rode our Pivot 429 in a 1x10 setup with X-Fusion forks by DIY MTB. 

Catch you all next race! 

Team mate Phil Welch's blog.

Results from the event.

Video courtesy of Chocolate Foot.

WSMTB Summer Series at Wylde

It had been a while in the making, with plenty of work by WSMTB and those involved in the making of Western Sydney Parkland’s Wylde MTB Trail. After Round 1 was cancelled, so many riders had been crossing their fingers to get a chance to race the first Wylde event with WSMTB and finally it was here.

Mass rego line, everyone wanting to race Wylde. Photo: Steve Billington

There was some trepidation as the patchy morning sky gradually turned grey and almost on the queue of race start it began raining. A thirty-minute delay was called, the rain cloud passed and mud splatter was guaranteed.

JetBlack MTB Racing team excited in preperation. Photo: CrummyMTB

On race start we had lined up a little further back than we should have and consequently had to put up with a bit of conga-line traffic during the first lap. While out in front and settling a pace only some team riders could manage (Jason English-esque), was teammate Andrew Finlayson.

JetBlack MTB Racing's Andrew Finlayson leads the race. Photo: CrummyMTB

We had made the right choice to ride our Pivot 429 shod with Nobbly Nics and a Michelin Wild Race’r (review tyre) from race start. The huge widely spaced knobs on the Nic were near perfect in the wet conditions and we were able to use that control to our advantage, getting within sight of our competitors by the end of lap 1.

No caption needed. Photo: Scott Reynolds

There were many mishaps, even out on Lap 2, as the trail began to slowly change but it was still very slippery in sections. The Blue Mountains duo of Ian Anderson (fast-man from last weeks Ginja Ninja 250) and Steve Tomczyk (who also pipping us by a couple of minutes last week too) went down on the trail spectacularly in front of us, sliding sideways with their bikes like pancakes along the trail. We lost our numberplate shortly after as it was heavy with mud and we had to run back along the sodden trail to find it.

Making the most of the fast conditions. Photo: Scott Reynolds

The Pivot was having some shifting issues due to ingress of mud to the segmented wire outer (a full-length outer will be the next upgrade) and now a couple of laps in the trail was definatly drying out and getting faster. Time for a bike swap, to the cleaner, leaner, orange On One Inbred.

Now it was just settling into the pain of Wylde's short pinch climbs, which we think was the cause of some back discomfort many riders were experiencing. We had plenty of riders around us to ride with particularly Steve Billington from Quantum Racing. We were often in formation as a little pair zipping along the trails, keeping it relaxed and making it easy to for multiple riders flowing in a passing situations. We were making good time and slowly pulling back any fast XC riders out in front, both solos and teams.

Riding side by side for most of the 4hrs Steve Billington and author. Photo: Steve Billington

Getting the nutrition right was a big part of the day (could be a whole blog in its self) and we had purposely consumed a gel mid Lap 6 in prep for Lap 7, we wanted to ensure Steve had no answer for what our intentions were. Within the first 3km we could see that there was a neat gap between us, but we didn't turn the screws down till the second half of the lap, scream through the final sections making every double and railing every berm.

Solo male podium, L-R, Michael Crummy 2nd, Andrew Finlayson 1st. Not present Steve Billinton 3rd.
Photo: Scott Reynolds

Unbeknownst to most out on the trail the timing computer spat the dummy and the WSMTB timing crew had been working feverishly to pull results together. There was some anticipation at presentations as the top three team and solo riders were announced in each category, and it was a great surprise to hear Steve Billington announced as third place and that we had placed second to teammate Andrew Finlayson.

Massive shout to WSMTB and all the team behind pulling the Summer Series together. Bikeminded and our other LBS for supporting each round. Stans NoTubes and JetBlack for their support of the Series. Our team JetBlack MTB Racing for great camaraderie, and all our sponsors in which we ride for. Another top event and stoked to race Wylde for its first time!

WSMTB Twilight 4hr

Some pretty warm days lead up to WSMTB's twilight round of their 4hr Summer Series. Rolling up to the foot of the Blue Mountains on the afternoon of the race and the temperature was still in the mid thirties, it was going to be a classic hot and dry Yellomundee race.

Just over 100 riders made up the teams and solos, mostly of WSMTB regulars. Club President BigDog led the starting riders to the fire-trail start chute and got the 4hr underway, then jumped on his bike to get his own race underway.

A good couple of weeks on the bike over the festive season seemed to have done wonders and our race was going well. Climbs weren't taxing and it was easy to get some flow in the fast dry conditions.

Photo: Riding Focus

Only issue was our bottle holder was working loose, we should have work out earlier why our bike was making such a racket. This slowed us down when we to remove the holder and make room for the bottle in our jersey pocket. Back on track and slowly the days temperature was dropping and lights were about to be turned on.

Up till when we stopped to remove the super loose bottle holder we had been keeping up with a couple of pairs teams, it was good pacing and company. On what might have been our last lap we trundled around and stopped to chat just before the 4hr hour in transition. We passed the results on our way to pack up and was shocked to find our name near the top of the list.

Whoops! Probably better head out for that final lap.

Thanks to the WSMTB Club for putting on a great event with a casual vibe and fast competition. 

A big shout out to JetBlack MTB Racing team and our 2015 sponsors, we managed a 1st and 3rd in the Solo Male category.

The results are available here.

L to R: CrummyMTB 3rd, Andrew Finlayson 1st, Tim Bartholomew 3nd.