Mitas X-Road CX Tyres

We have been rolling around on Mitas mountain bike tyres over the last couple of years. Their Scylla XC tyre has been the choice of many XC racers, we found the fast square blocks providing predicable performance and a low rolling resistance. The Scylla fitted neatly our need for a marathon/XC tyre. When we wanted something with a little more grip for our front tyre with Gravity Enduro in mind, we stepped up to the Mitas’s Kratos. The Kratos is a surprisingly fast rolling tyre but with wide aggressive knobs for plenty of grip, the Kratos have track us through the wildest trails thrown at us.

Mitas Kratos

This brings us to our latest review and not necessarily a change of pace either, the Mitas X-Road. You might think it blasphemy mentioning anything road related, but the X-Road is part of Mitas’s CX range. It comes with similar features of their top mountain bike treads; Tubeless Supra 127tpi casing and CRX race compound rubber.

Our first introduction to Tubeless CX tyres

We have been using CX tyres for a number of years both for CX racing and our on-road riding. CX tyres give us a super light but grippy tyre, one that spins up quickly on just about all surfaces. Given a few extra pumps of air, the CX tyres improved our average speed through lowered our rolling resistance and their light-weight was noticed on the climbs, particularly over our previous choices of commuting/training tyre (PRs in Strava, woohoo!).

Endless dirt roads over summer

With a current trend to include more dirt-based adventure rides, and a physical move to a more a hostile riding environment we were more than excited to wrap the Mitas X-Road around our wheels. Planned rides included plenty of dirt roads and fire-trails, some trail exploring of our new location, bunch rides with the roadies and maybe even a race.

Close-up of the almost familiar tread patten

The X-Road tyre tread reminds us of a fairly traditional XC mountain bike tyre pattern. The center blocks are small and closely spaced, providing a fast tread for road and dirt conditions. As your roll over to the edge the tread opens up and gets slightly more bold, this gives grip for cornering and loose situations no matter dry or wet. The tyres are suitably light too; we weighed them in at 350g, for their 33C casing. With a standard splash of sealant the tyres quickly inflated and held firm. The wheels were then placed on our test rig, a steel framed hard-tail mountain bike.

70kms offroad for Buffalo Gelato 

Out on the road the X-Road sat pretty comfortably between a smooth tread and a light XC tyre, giving off just a slight hum as the closely spaced tread rolled across the bitumen. While the tyres are stamped for pressures up to 85psi, we only nudged them to 60psi due to the mountain bike rims they were shoeing. We found that 60psi gave us the suppleness needed for the rough country roads we were testing on, but still kept us fast enough for a bunch.

The dirt roads and fire-trails is where the X-Road excels, the tread pattern offered plenty of grip and rolled effortlessly over the mixture of terrain. For these multi-hour adventures we dropped the pressure down a tad and found the tyres responded well, we were thinking less about being careful where we were riding and were able to enjoy the ride more. We then set about with some all-out exploration, finding running trails and sheep tracks, with plenty of rocks and cacti. It was a blast to bomb downhill on a narrow trail into the unknown, finding the our limits amongst the loose shale. Exploring our new backyard, lookouts, tracks and scenery. To be fair we did hike-a-bike back out of a few sections, but that was more about the gearing choice than anything else.

Local XC race on the X-Roads, guess who won Elites?

It has been summer and CX racing isn’t in full swing, so instead we took our X-Road tyres to a XC race. The local clubby event was only 45 minutes long and the trails included some rough rock-garden features. Even still, the club called it their “Fast and Furious” loop, smooth is fast yeah? Tyres were set at 40 and 45psi , front and rear respectively. These were tough testing conditions, a dry and dusty trail that mixed hard-pack, sandy dust, loose-over-hard and rocks. When pushed the tyres provided predictable drift especially as it moved to sandy conditions. They were also durable enough to allow for multiple close calls between the rocks and rims, with some “yes-I-did-feel-that” moments. We did have to slow down a little to pick our way more neatly through the rock-garden, but with such light tyres we accelerated out of corners faster and held a higher speed on the straights. In our experience the X-Road would be highly suitable for any Australian CX course.

Toowoomba MTB Club trails

Finally we toured some of the Northern NSW and South East QLD mountain bike trails. Sometimes doing a roadie bunch ride, then rolling straight into some mountain biking after. We did find the limits of the X-Road amongst the rocks and Black Diamond trails, however, aggressive XC trails aren’t what the X-Road are built for. The X-Road are neatly placed as a CX tyre, and rightly so. We did love the super-light tubeless features, we fear not catheads and cactus of our new hostile riding environment. And there’s still a bucket load of tread remaining, attesting to their quality and durability after 4 months of solid summer riding. We are looking forward to more adventures in the coming months on our X-Roads.

Jollynose - SuperFlow 2018

Epic days begin like this, it is still dark.

Pack the car, load the bike.

Short drive, pick up team mate.

It is still dark, there is no traffic.

Hornsby, Wyong, first light.

Bulahdelah, Nabiac, Taree, almost there.

Dusty road, unload bikes, rego.

A tale of bookends.

Bookend 1 - Race Run 1

I had a quiet word to myself, have a safe smooth run, get a run on the board. The top section was pretty open and fast before moving through a more rocky section. From there it was a number of rollers and jumps before the mostly flat sprint to the finish.

Have a safe smooth run, I get down past most of the obstacles, just before the flat finish, the bike has handled well and I find myself in the dirt, on my back beside the trail. How did that happen? I'm shaken, I take a couple of breaths before checking myself for injuries. I'm just covered in dirt, my shoulder seems to have made contact as I was thrown.

A number of riders pass me including my team mate, yes I'm ok thanks, but I'm still a bit shaken as this felt like one of the biggest offs I have had in a very long time. Retrieve the bike from where it had landed in the bush, all seems ok. What did I hit?

I look over the trail, there is nothing obvious at first but as I walk around the corner I spot a 100mm tall thin sapling stump on the inside of the corner. Did this just collect me? I look back to where I collected myself from the dirt, yep must have been. I listen out for any immediate riders before rolling through to the finish timing. Not the safe smooth run I had envisaged.

Bookend 2 - Final Race Run

The same trail a run 1. I needed to revisit and better my time from that first run, but my day had been generally dulled by the crash. No runs today had been 100%, my shoulder had tightened after taking some of the impact, and I couldn't find the spark to light-up the trails. Just one more run, better my crash time, safe and smooth.

Through the open flowing dusty section into the rocks, keep the hardtail light and dancing. Move to the rollers and jumps, sweet, just remember the stump on the inside of the corner, done. Not far to go almost at the flat sprint section, then BAM! The back end of the bike flails loosely around, a quick glance confirms just before the only part of this trail specifically designed for the hardtail rider in mind ;), the rear rubber has come off the rim! Oh it is to late in the day for this, I muscle-up over the front wheel and ride onto the flat sprint section, there is no stopping now. I cross the line on flat rubber and call it a day.

Awesome to share the podium with long time shredder Kyle

At the time JetBlack MTB Racing was partnered with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance, Rocky Trail Entertainment and AMB. Series results so far, here (yes, we are leading the Hardtail Category).

Full Jollynose SuperFlow Round 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).

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...

SuperFlow Stomlo

We were excited to return to gravity based racing this year. 2012-13 were both successful years for us with a Series win followed by a Series fifth place in what was becoming the most fun timed style event for everyone!

Race write-ups - 2012 Del Rio, 2012 Stromlo, 2013 Ourimbah, 2013 Thredbo.

Stromlo still holds a special place in our mountain biking destination list. Our first solo 24 probably set it all off, now we were returning for RockyTrail Entertainment's SuperFlow Series. The series has gone through a few name changes but has been drawing an ever-increasing crowd of followers since its inception.

We were on the Hume early, a pickup along the way, fellow JetBlack MTB racer Kurt. At Stromlo the crew met the rest of the team, then a whole heap of other riders we knew from our variety of riding. Yep, SuperFlow is for everyone!

A quick rego for number plates, GU and a bottle, then race director, Martin, was on the mic delivering his pre-race brief to the 400 odd riders in attendance. We had a couple of hours to chill and sus the trails for today's timed sections, so it was on bike and for a spin up the hill.

We weren’t at Stromlo for the climbing though, the SuperFlow's aim: to bomb down the timed sections, in the shortest time possible. We sessioned the more-fun flowing trails first, then the short-rocky-to-open-sprint trail, to finish.

A clear sky had brought a cool start to the day but with the sun now high in the sky it warmed up fast, seriously fast, and racing was due to start at 11am sharp. With fresh and full RTE bottles we headed up the mountain to join fellow racers for the short social wait to get the first race run underway.

Race runs were in the following order, Stan’s (Double D, Pork Barrell). This trail is one of our favourite combinations having ridden it recently on a Pivot 5.5. Bringing our hardtail this time sure set a challenge for us!

Then it was onto Fox (Skyline, Luge), a bottle refill, then back to Stan’s. Who doesn't love these trails! Finally we headed over to JetBlack (Little Seymour). On completion of this it was pretty hot, well over thirty degrees, time for another break. Lunch. Food. Rest. Recovery. More fluids. Sunscreen!

Given the run we had on JetBlack, there was probably more to be had, time to be lost. We went out for one more run at it. A good thing too, a better run resulted in a shorter time, whoop! Nailed it. Now it was time to rest.

Turns out local elite rider James Downing had brought some of his clan to race too, bulking out the category. It was fun to find a fellow hardtail rider out zipping along the trails. James took the win easily while we nudged out the competition, taking 2nd. Pretty chuffed with the result and a whole heap of fun was had.

This 2018 season is a huge six round series plus a championships, so there is plenty of SuperFlow still to come and we might see you there!

JetBlack MTB Racing continues to be partnered with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance, Rocky Trail Entertainment and AMB. Which allows us to ride how we like! You'll see us at another event shortly!

Full results here.

2017 National Cycling Carnival - Part 1

An early morning commute from Sydney had me arrive for the Opening address and Safety Brief at the velodrome. There was quite a bit happening, people arriving, bikes in and out of the velodrome and the offer of MTB setup/maintenance tips by members. The local velodrome experts were actively fitting bikes, albeit SS, brakeless, ultra-narrow type bikes and there was also amass of bunting featured both within the velodrome and out, looking like a tidy CX course.

I managed to get out on a track bike but didn’t spend too long on it, yes it felt weirdly narrow and never got “on-top” of the gearing provided.

More importantly after a solid year of CX racing I was keen to look over the technical aspects of the days course at “The Bundahdome”. Having never visited this location previously, I was surprised at the steepness of the marked course on the outside of the velodrome, this technical aspect of the course would be a clincher for many competitors. The off-camber slopes had me drop both front and rear 35mm tyre pressure a couple of psi to find more of the grip I was wanting.

Photo: N. Burton

Unsure of how the week was going to roll, I elected to race age group rather than open/elite for CX. Sus out the competition, have a bit of fun on the first day. Jamie Burton was back again this year, and Ty Domin was present, it was us three that headed onto the course in front of the remainder of the age-groupers, once the young-guns and elites had started. The course had a variety of sweeping corners, the usual CX style, a couple of barriers and a run up the flattest section of the velodrome before turning right and making way along the top of the velodrome. Some off-camber and short pinches later we headed around to the steep outside section of the velodrome. It got pretty interesting here, with switchbacks and well-off-camber traverses across the steep and loose course.

Early on in the event I came through a sweeping off-camber grassed corner and the bike fell-out from beneath me, picking myself up off the grass slightly startled I remounted having only dropped a couple of places. On the next couple of corners I figured out what the problem was, a lack of air in the front tyre, the bike was oversteering generally and washing-out when pushed. This lack of air issue would only make this CX event more challenging.

Jamie working hard to keep up. Photo: N. Burton

A couple of laps later we dropped Ty, after all he did have the wrong gear for 90% of the time, not that we had the right gear either. Jamie and I were duelling throughout the course, quite often swapping the lead. On the final lap just before the second last fast section I dropped a chain and had to dismount to rectify the issue. Fighting hard through the tough off-camber traverses, past lines of the DH heckling crew who seemed to be in full support of skinny wheels doing amazing things on dirt, I pushed a last ditch effort to make time back to Jamie, my front wheel battling me all the way.

Jamie and I didn’t quite make up time to the front runner in the elite/young guns category but we had our first contest for this year’s NCC. Both of us winning our respective age categories, with Jamie pipping me by seconds for line honours.

The hecklers, cowbells and horns, for atmosphere. Photo: N. Burton

What has been great over the previous NCC is the availability of skills coaches or serious riders will to show/demo techniques for all to gain from. This year was a step-up from previous that I have attended with the addition of locals Dylan Cooper and Claire Whiteman for the XC crowd. Fastline Bikadamy was on hand for the Gravity/DH crowd again this year. I participated in both a Gravity and a XC skills session, first with MTBA National DH Junior Coach Indi Boer of Fastline Bikadamy, then in the afternoon with Trek rider Dylan Cooper of Ride Technics. I find as an experienced rider there is still plenty to take away from any skill session, and for me it wasn’t till the following day the lightbulb clicked on to what I had just experienced and gained from both sessions.

Stunt rider Indi Boer, Photo: CrummMTB

2017 Willo Enduro

Leading up to the Willo Enduro we were pretty excited. Over our summer we had managed a trip down to the Southern Highlands and ridden much of the trail with our crew. It had been in near perfect nick, fast, hard-packed and near dry.

Every time we had raced at Wingello previously, wether it was the local club or a larger event, it was always a great event on superb trails. The SHCC 5hr Enduro 2010 RIP Willo, STM Wingello 2011.

With all this in mind we had prepared a dutiful bike. Ok, truthfully there was little preparation, it was the same bike we commuted, chased roadies and trained on. Steel frame, 1x10 and some nice trimmings, a real road-hog.

That said it would have been easy to change out some tyres as the forecast worsened, rain in Sydney and on the coast. But in the spirit of adversity, skilfulness and adventure we stuck to our original bike and plan.

So it was we left rainy Sydney and headed south where the rain eased to patch showers. A left turn to Wingello and follow a small group of cars along the pine-tree lined forestry dirt road to the hub of the action, teaming with hundreds of keen riders.

Turning up for the Willo Enduro is a real who's-who of mountain biking, and the event was included as Round 1 of the National XCM Series. A quick glance at the sign-on board, Cooper, Henderson, McConnell, Blair and Kwan, just to name a few.

But for most it was a chance to catch up with friends, ride some sweet trails in a friendly atmosphere, sharing in the camaraderie that mountain biking brings.

Our race happened in multiple of stages, first there was the start, fast flat fire-trail, making our way close to the front of the pack before we entered the singletrack.

Then it was in this initial single track all our hard work on the start was undone, dropping our chain in a moment when we forgot to be hardtail-smooth.

The trail was slippery, especially now that the 75 and 50km riders were already out in front of us. Now that I dropped my chain, there were those 25km riders that passed me all conga-lined in front too.

On every fire-trail or open trail section we made it passed a few more riders, finding speed in space. We had to make every attempt to keep our bike on the trail, the lack of substantial knobs on our chosen tyres making grip in every corner very difficult.

After the initial stage the trail was littered with tail-end 50 and 75km riders who would graciously give a little room at opportune times. The trail conditions weren't improving but there was a good mixture of trail as we transited through the Wingello forest.

Thankfully the RFS was on hand to point us in the right direction at major intersections, in fact all the volunteers were helpful, from rego to presentations. The RFS helped us transition during the race from the traditional end of the Wingello trails back towards the aptly named the Wall, the KOM for the 75km riders. 

The Wall was followed by another tough ascent, but with the faint sound of tunes pumping from transition all energy was mustered to punch up the pinch and find ourselves on the return trail, making our way through the shelters and onto the final straight.

We were pretty happy to collect a podium spot for our efforts, thank to our supporters and partners JetBlack MTB Racing with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance and Rocky Trail Entertainment. Our Ascent Cycling Enterprises custom built wheels handled a couple of close calls and helped us remain fast throughout.

You can read "the facts" by Ed McDonald here.

Shimano Grand Prix - James Estate

A race in the Upper Hunter Valley is a good reason to spend the weekend in the picturesque region. Hosts to the event James Estate Wines not only pack a mountain bikers wine but a whole bunch of mountain bike friendly trails. Add a touch of Rocky Trail Entertainment enthusiasm and you have Round 1 of the fast and furious Shimano Grand Prix.

Rolling into James Estate the skies are clear, the tunes are pumping and by all reports are the trails are dry. There are a good couple of hundred riders in attendance from all over NSW and the ACT, plenty of team kits of fast riders and a whole bunch of first-timers keen for action.

The start. Photo: CrummyMTB

Always after improvement from our last race we negotiate our way to the front row, it is eight riders wide but there is a good drag up the farm road. This positions us within the first groups into the singletrack, getting a smooth roll through the narrow trails and a good look at the trail modifications. With no serious climbs there is plenty of fun to be had.

Over the first few hours we are in a good position, chasing hard but riding with experienced competitors, making it seem easy. The trail is mostly smooth and has some cool berms, just punctuated on the higher ground with with rocky features.

Simon Ballard follows Jason Morgan and CrummyMTB early on. Photo: CrummyMTB

Every time we pass through transition SBS's Mike Tomalarsis is on the mike, dishing out lap times and category positions. A quick bottle swap and then it is out onto the farm trail for the slight climb to the singletrack.

In the second half of our fast 4hrs it is deceivingly dry and warm and we unknowingly make an error in our nutrition consumption, this bites us a few laps later. Some of our competitors are slowly gaining time on the trail, we remind ourselves to relax and keep consistent. Then it happens, our quads start to cramp, we catch it and change body position. Minutes later both calves begin to cramp with just a few laps to completion.

The tables turned within the age group, Shane Taylor slipping outside the top 3. Photo: CrummyMTB

It was with great relief we headed out for the final lap. We couldn't match the speed of 40-49 competitor Scott Penzarella, who shot off up the trail at hour 1 speed, it had though been a good dual till that point. The last section of trail featured cow-trail, thankfully without the pats and a short punch up to transition. Turns out we had slipped into a top 3 position for our age group, a nice result for the first round of the Rocky Trail GP Series.

Thanks to the JetBlack MTB Racing team and all our sponsors for their support. We will be riding under the JetBlack/Lifestyle & Leisure banner all series. For this outing we rode our On-One Inbred in a 3x9 (modified 10spd clutch mech) setup, X-Fusion Slide by DIY MTB working superbly. 

Catch you all next race! 

Official Results here. Outer Image photos here. Team-mates Phil Welch and Jason Hewitt's blogs. 

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!