RTE Superflow Ourimbah - Round 4

An early morning start to head from CrummyMTB HQ to Ourimbah, our second week in a row. The morning skys on the west side of the Great Dividing Range were clear and blue, as we rolled south east and over the Divide it became misty and cloudy. The result of the last few days of rain the east coast of NSW had received.

At Ourimbah we were briefed by Rocky Trail, met up with our JetBlack MTB Racing team mates and caught up with a number of friends and fellow competitors who had made their own trek for a day of SuperFlow. Rolling out onto the trail for a quick reccy, it was clear that we were going to be under-gunned on our XC rig from last week.

While traction was low, we made a race runs of each trail to set our minimum times in the wet and slippery conditions. With sunshine and a clear day predicted, the trails could only get faster as more water ran-off and mud packed-down. It was time for lunch and we refuelled, cleaned and lubed our chain, and wiped the mud splatter from our glasses.

With a check of the Rocky Trail live timing I could see that our early runs had placed us in the top 5. There was only a handful of seconds between third and fourth, something achievable with good knowledge of the trail and smooth flowing lines to keep momentum. We headed back up the hill to lay down our fast runs in the changing conditions, and if possible pinch some seconds.

Race runs done and a check of the live timing had us sitting in 3rd by just a few seconds. Time to hit the hill, again, and make sure we would hold a top three.

We pushed hard and found the limits of our Mitas XC tyres and the limit trees move, these mistakes cost us time, but even still we clawed back a second. Refocusing at the top on something between our limit and our safe runs, a smooth but fast run, we blasted back down to the bottom and found those seconds.

It was getting late in the afternoon and there was just an enough time for a couple more runs. I knew my competitors might be out doing the same, trying to improve their times to pip us for a top three place. We hit the most aggressive trail as our last run, we had given our utmost on the on the other trails and this trail was where we had lost most time. 

Sprinting off the gate we u-turned into the single-track and let gravity take over. Looking ahead and floating over the obstacles we wound our way to the bottom in our best attempt to roll with as most momentum as possible through every section. 

At the bottom we found we had gained another couple of seconds on our previous runs and were done for the day. We had held onto third and in doing so, had some great riding in the conditions. It was great to make this round of SuperFlow and had some great laughs in the process.

JetBlack MTB Racing are support by the following;

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Rocky Trail GP Ourimbah - Round 5

All photos by OuterImage Collective

It was a short series again for us this year. Last years series saw us only get to two rounds and again this year, for different reasons, we unfortunately only got to two rounds of the series. 

In the last ten years of RTE GP Series our consistency has shone through with sufficient results, and only a small amount of individual wins, to place on the podium for the series.

Check out our 2009 GP races here. 2010 GP races, 2011 GP races, 2012 GP races, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and our previous 2019 round here.

The RTE show was in their home town at Ourimbah, the massive Shimano arch and the Red Bull tent were up and providing the hub for this final round of the Grand Prix series.

JetBlack Mountainbike Racing Team were out in force for this round too, and for good reason. A year of excellent individual and team results throughout the rounds was going to cumulate today, hopefully.

It was a packed start and we had underestimated how many riders were in attendance. We wound up with a fairly lazy start lap but well warmed up.

The course was a pretty standard Ourimbah XC offering. A couple of new sections to link it all together and some newly updated features to keep the trail a little more sustainable. Conditions were very dry and sandy, roots and rocks were harshly exposed in some sections more than the last time we race here.

After a couple of laps we caught up with some of the leading 7hr solos Garry James, then further on Mark Astley. Mark and the next 7hr solo rider ahead of us, Mick Sherwood, are focusing on the upcoming 24hr endurance events and were smashing along at their "all-day" pace.

Unfortunately our next lap saw us get a smashing of our own when we joined another rider in at moment of "what just happened?". Seems we both collected a stump with our foot which sent us into the bush, off the trail and off the bike. Thanks to the lady with the Tathra MTB Rider jersey for looking after us both, hopefully the other rider got his glasses back and you enjoyed the rest of your ride.

Brushing the dirt off our jersey, checking our head, neck and collarbone. Not injured we took a couple of breaths before heading off down the trail and back on our bike. There seemed like a huge gap time to pull back, lap after lap we attempted the smoothest run and it seemed like we were not getting back amongst the riders prior to the incident.

Thankfully we had a number of team mates in support, much like the JetBlack MTB Racing junior team chasing us and the pairs and teams of three. This kept us motivated and pumped for the next lap.

Climbing out of the gully for the last time we were very happy to have left everything out on the trail.   There were so many fun sections and we had managed to dial in some fast lines across the trail. Checking on the results we managed a respectable 5th place amongst one of the most competitive categories. We are excited to return to Ourimbah next week for SuperFlow!

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).

Ourimbah - Grand Prix 4hr Solo

There is no doubting that we love the Ourimbah MTB trails. A quick look back over the last few seasons of Grand Prix’s have seen some favourable results, 3rd 2017, 4th 2016 and 1st 2015. It is the amazing technical sections with their brutal rocks, and the twisted ribbon curves of trails that draw you to ride faster. This is one trail that can hold you in the edge of bar-gripping fear and outright hero-dirt exhilaration!

With a massive break between rounds, I couldn’t wait for the Ourimbah GP weekend to come around. There had been a number of other events on the calendar, a couple of club XC events and a weekend away at Rydal. But when it comes to full froth there is nothing quite like finding your flow at Ourimbah.

We are lucky to have a team of dedicated riders within JetBlack MTB Racing and some of the team had rolled into the forest on Friday, setting up the monster JetBlack pit area. We hummed along the freeway in the early hours of Saturday morning to join the team riders and our support crews for nervous pre-race catch-ups and laughs.

After the rider’s brief we headed down the fire road for the short haul back into singletrack for the race course. As the race got off there was a mid firetrail incident on the hill and due to my poor positioning, I was caught amongst the mid pack riders rolling around on the first lap. 

Looking to pull back some time and bless my bike with endless momentum, I knocked a couple of minutes off lap 2, 3 and 4. It was pure pleasure, allowing our 29” wheels to float clear of obstacles, hearing the swoosh of rubber bitting into dirt as railed heavily into the turns. With this effort I had made it back up to JetBlack MTB Racing team mates, team of 3 7hr of Browny, Elton and Nathan.

It was good knowing I was back into the mix with the teams, but as Nathan passed me on a climb I went to follow and found nothing to back me up. My legs had seen their fun and were now zoning out. Shortly after I made some technical errors and I knew I was in trouble, both my mind and my legs were a fuzz.

The only way out of this hole was to dig it myself and I eased off the gas, hoping I could roll it in on sheer guts. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one having a rollercoaster of a time, while chatting to others out on the course, there were some in deeper holes than I. Then there were high rollers, like Jason English, pulling himself back from a flat on an early lap, chatty as always, and Jon Odams, lapping me during my state of self-imposed recovery, happily holding a wheel then zipping effortlessly away down the trail at the next opportunity. 

Ourimbah’s sweeping trails, with short punchy climbs and fun rough descents still remain a favourite of ours. Rocky, loamy and with un-proportionally long descents, it is mountain biking goodness that we’ll always return to. For this event we managed to hold onto 5th place and snuck a top 20 fastest lap of the day! Whoop!

Next stop Coondoo on the South Coast for Round 3 of the GP 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 round here.

Rocking, rolling, riding.

It all kicked off in Rocky Trail style and a unanimous vote, for the long uphill fire-trail start from behind the Shimano flag. While the sun was out it still remained a cool morning, riders from around NSW and the ACT chose to begin their day with the challenges of Ourimbah MTB trails.

Morgs from Shimano kept us company during the first couple of laps.

A quick sprint up the hill and we all slotted into the single-track without to many complaints. Around us we had many of our JetBlack MTB Racing team mates, no slouches on the bike in their own right and grouped up together they made formidable teams. As always a couple of stragglers were swept up in the mix of the first fast lap and many of the short fire-trail sections were perfect passing opportunities. It felt comfortable getting started with the team around us, some recently smoothed sections of trail were a great surprise.

Over the first few laps we kept up with Shimano's Morgs, and it was all going swimmingly till his bike started to seriously clatter. Morgs is fast and we had other some fast riders with us, both solo and teams. Morgs pulled over for a quick inspection for the source of the racket and unfortunately we didn't see him again. For us it wasn't smooth sailing either, a scraping sound began emanating from the back brake. We pushed on, an up hill fire-trail was the perfect spot to stop and have a look, it wasn't good but it wasn't seriously bad. Opting to not carry a multi-tool this race was the first sacrifice, and in this instance a little metal on metal rub would be the second. Something had to give and the rub would eventually stop. Back on the bike!

A couple of fast descents and we made it back to the general space we had been sitting before stopping. Transitions were smooth, the scraping was dyeing down and there were just enough spots out on the trail to eat and drink. No one was having a perfect run though, one of our fast competitors motioned us through, they seemed a little rattled and didn't hold our wheel. Our mind started to race, how many laps to go, what sort of effort was going to be needed to round this race off.

Thankfully there was plenty of positive vibes out on course, particularly from our JetBlack MTB Racing team mates. We even had a couple of team mates that weren't able to race, they still turned up radiating cheer for all as on-course marshals (see the video below). We held on to make it onto the podium, the second time in the GP series for this year. Whoop!

Ourimbah is one of our favourite trails to visit, made more special by a solid result in this, the third round of the Grand Prix Series. We've now got some nice points in both 4hr General Classification (GC) and Age Group. Thanks to our supporters and partners JetBlack MTB Racing with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance and Rocky Trail Entertainment. 
Ascent Cycling Enterprises continue to stand true behind their great customer service, supporting our custom built wheels with Mitas tyres, a fast combination.

You can read the JetBlack MTB Racing team blog on AMB here. 

Get your 2018 Giro d'Italia Grupetto tour tickets here.

Happy Trails at Ourimbah

We were super keen to return to Ourimbah in 2016 for another round of Rocky Trail's Shimano Grand Prix. The 2015 event had seen our good effort rewarded with a No.1 on the podium and I was frothing to do it again.

Being part of the JetBlack MTB Racing team is incredibly motivating and from the start whistle I could see team mates up ahead, team mates I wanted to follow into the single-track. I slipped onto the back wheel of Grant Shaw for the starting portion of trail, Grant was riding in a fast team of three for the 7hr and was a good wheel to follow.

It was incredibly cold, southerly winds had brought snow chilled air to many parts of NSW and Ourimbah it was no exception. Had our Gound Effect jacket on as not to freeze.

Keeping warm. Photo: Outer Image

Grant had worked hard on the initial section of the lap and he eased up over a climb. We took this moment to pass Grant, setting about to catch the next group in front. In this next section of single track we came across an unusual event, all-round shredder Kramer having an issue on a short down-hill section.

It was during the first couple of laps we were surprised to catch a couple of seasoned endurance riders, which gave the inkling someone was riding to hard. But it was so fun to ride at this pace we just pushed on, crossing our fingers it was sustainable for the 4hrs.

On the rivet. Outer Image

Ourimbah is a trail-riders dream, sweeping and short punchy climbs followed by fun rough descents, many of which seem un-proportionally long. It is rocky in sections, loamy in others, Ourimbah is a bonanza of mountain biking goodness.

When team mate Tom Morwood came whooping up behind us, our spirits lifted, just as there was a feeling of some fatigue. A few friendly words really helps out when all focus is on tearing up the trail. The same went for team mate Simon Ballard some time later, except this time all our biscuits were spent and we were about to start digging. It is so hard to see your team ride away at the pace you want to be going.

Working hard to maintain position. Photo: Outer Image

Another successful event run by Rocky Trail, no gripes here, everyone was super polite and there was plenty of rush and two-wheeled drift for an endurance event. We finished 4th, our best GP result this year. Thanks to JetBlack MTB Racing team for the friendly atmosphere, on-trail support and transition expertise. We have awesome sponsors, check them out! The team was well represented across all categories and delivered some top results on the day. You'll see us at the final Grand Prix if not before!

Rocky Trail Shimano Grand Prix at Ourimbah

The trails of Ourimbah hit our top 10 fun list, with plenty of flow and a good selection of technical challenges, it makes a great ride on just about any bike. Add a round of Rocky Trails GP to the mix and you can have over 300 riders of mixed abilities all wanting a piece of the action.

Photo: Belinda Althaus, BMC

We cut straight to the action at two and a half hours after the obligatory sighting and conga first lap, and a solid three following laps, reminiscent of our previous racing. It finally dawned on my body that this was the most riding I had done in quite a few months I hit the wall, shifted for granny-gear and sucked the chain behind the cluster.

With my legs protesting I mustered the strength to focus on completing the four hours, pulled the chain from behind the cluster, tweaked the stop screw and got back on the saddle. From here I found the great thing about riding at more of a social pace was I now shared time on the trail with those I usually hardly saw. We could hoot down the descents and cruise through the climbs having a good gasbag along the way.

Photo: Belinda Althaus, BMC

The choice of trails saw some riders say “no thank you” during a pre-race reconnaissance ride, some mid first lap, but the majority accepted what we think was the toughest GP course ever set, to test many aspects of themselves and their bikes. Massive shout to my JetBlack Racing team-mates who collected some great results across the categories and whose support and encouragement, both on and off the trail is much appreciated.

The next endurance race from Rocky Trail is the JetBlack 12hr hosted by James Estate. Bring on the fun times and we see you there.

Photo: Sonter, JetBlack Racing.

Round 1 of Rocky Trail's FLOW Rollercoaster - Gravity Enduro Series

Well over 200 riders took part in Rocky Trail's Gravity Enduro series at Ourimbah on Monday of the Australia Day long weekend. The highly popular format brings together riders from the different MTB dissiplines for what is essentially a gravity based race against the clock, or your mates, with some slight hills or flat sections to keep the DH rigs to a minimum.

Two trails were selected and it was the total time across both gave you your finishing time. With shuttle runs to the top of the first track it was all downhill shredding, rollers, berms and rocks. The fastest riders would smoothly link the sections, clear the obstacles and generally be in owe of most watching. The trails were dry and the dust hardly had time to settle before another rider stirred it up, riders were usually separated by a minute at the start gates.

From the bottom of the first run it was a un-timed push or ride to the top of the second run. This run was a little more tame than the previous DH run with more XC style trails selected but still challenging in its own right.

When we arrived at Ourimbah it was already packed with cars, people and bikes. Rego was like... a line to the toilets at a music festival. But the trails were open and with a preview trail and a place to practice the use of the timing chips, riders were already making their way down to base camp, where both race runs finished. Time to get in some practice laps of the race trails and use the sweet shuttles to the top of the DH trail.

Race runs were fun, sketchy but fun still. On the DH trail I held it till my chain jumped and twisted around the rear derailier at the lower end of the trail, not a good thing when there is a pedaly section to finish. And on the All-mountain run, everything is hard when your attempting to sprint and maintain control at the same time, the body screaming "you have hit VO2! There is no where else to go!"

The Gravity Enduro style of event looks to be an even bigger hit again this year with its friendly atmosphere and mixture of trails to just about suit everyone. Grab your bike and we might see you at one!