Someone once told me that they found it frustrating trying to explain to a couch potato, the exhilarating experience of a mountain bike ride. Today would have been one such frustrating day. With the weather refusing to make way for autumn or winter, and a location of great tranquility, 52 riders would have gone home inwardly grinning from ear to ear and with a sense of complete satisfaction and possibly exhaustion.

Kevin and Peter set two courses. The first was to challenge the grown ups and had some tricky forestry tracks with drop offs, climbs and pine cones and was approximately 3 Km in length. Alternatively the shorter 1 Km track was more suited to the younger rider. The attached lap times cannot differentiate which course each rider took, some did a mixture of short and long laps. Some of the parents shared escort duties taking turns with their charges and then unleashing for solo laps. Jason was a prime example of this doing a couple of the shorter laps towing a trailer then screaming around the longer lap solo.

The first four riders on the lap time sheet were all on the longer course and a new name, Josh Foster, was impressive completing 7 laps before collapsing in a heap in the pits. Josh was in the Open Men category and was followed home, with six laps under their belt, by old timer Robert and young bucks Joel and Zahkhan.

Bruce, Kris, Tony and Connor were also on the long lap with Connor’s bike just a single speed and NO suspension. It was a mighty effort getting up the finishing rise in a big gear. Some of the wee ones also put in some good climbing efforts, their bikes not quite as sophisticated as the grown up counterparts. Young Riley was one to stand out completing 4 laps at a very tender age with Mica, Finn and Angus riding hard also.

Kevin was responsible for the soup which disappeared in short time, and the teenage boys did a great job demolishing the supply of buns.

Huge thanks to Chris & Julie Dawkins for the use of his property and to our sponsors WILKS RM.

Lap times attached.