Congratulations to Lauren Fox for taking out the Under 16's Female category in the recent Wombat 100 Race.

Here is a picture of Lauren on the podium proudly displaying the Gippsland MTB logo.

Hopefully this is the first of many podiums for Lauren.

I’d been looking forward to the Foster enduro for quite some time now, seeing that Chilli Cycles had done an amazing job on the Cannondale and that I was keen to improve my lap times from last year. I was a bit worried when it started to rain on the way to the event but that was short lived as the sun came out upon my arrival.

While preparing for the race I met up with Sean Holden, (manager of Chilli Cycles and also the man responsible for the fancy bike and racing kit) which was a bit of a surprise for me but it was good to see him out on the trails.

Come race start the track had dried up a bit and all was looking well. I took off with the faster pack of riders and took up the first climb. The bike was running well and the new tyres that had been fitted were doing the trick. I’d seen a lot of riders spin out on the roots and the steep climbs but I wasn’t having any of those problems. The only problem I had at this stage was that the roots where making the bike bounce all over the place but that was not hard to deal with.

Until the third lap, I had been keeping good pace by keeping in 2nd position in the juniors, but half way through the lap fellow junior rider Jared Lane took ahead and I struggled to keep at his pace. For the rest of the race I kept an even pace staying in 3rd position which was quite hard to do on the rough and technical terrain.

It was good to get a bit of motivation by some of the other racers cheering me on and telling me that I was doing a good job (which has got to be one of the highlights of the sport!) By the end of the race I finished in 3rd position, beaten by Jared Lane (2nd place) and Jack Walk (1st place.) I finished with a total of 7 laps getting one more lap in than last year and I ended up having a great day.

My thanks go to the people who spend their time maintaining the trails at Foster. The tracks were awesome and I had great fun! Also to Gippsland MTB for the effort they put into holding these races and my sponsors Chilli Cycles for the great work that they put into the Cannondale in preparation for the race.

I also congratulate Jack Walk for his impressive 1st place position with a total of 8 laps. I think he’s got the stuff to take 1st place in the juniors for the 2012 championship so I’ll be lucky to get a 2nd in the overall.

It is with great pleasure that Gippsland MTB Inc. together with Andrew Sharpe from the Bairnsdale Department of Sustainability and Environment and Simon French of DirtArt, declare that the Mt Taylor Downhill Mountain Bike Course is officially open for recreational usage. The course was officially opened over the weekend.

Due to its fast paced and technical nature the aptly rated “Double Black Diamond” course starts just below the communication towers of Mt Taylor and winds its way down the mountain with fast corners, big jumps and loose rocks. Downhill mountain bikers end up sprinting across the finish line at the ‘Boys Camp’ staging area which was originally set up in the early 20th Century as a forestry and silviculture camp for young unemployed men. The ‘Boys Camp’ is now a great place to enjoy a picnic or to get out and about to enjoy the myriad of recreational opportunities in the area.

Gippsland MTB Downhill Representative Nick King says “This is huge for mountain biking in Gippsland, with a downhill course that is 2.32 kilometres long with 300 metres of vertical descent, many downhill riders are sure to be tested. Mt Taylor is about 20 minutes drive north of Bairnsdale, “...don’t let this stop you taking a trip out there to see all the hard work that has been undertaken!” , “Believe me you will be flabbergasted seeing skilled downhill riders hurling themselves down the mountain!”

Getting up early for a day of riding mountain bikes is nothing unusual for me, but today was an exception. Today was the official opening for the double black diamond downhill trail and I had a day of downhill shuttles as well as a 3hr twilight enduro lined up for me.

For today’s downhill I would be riding my 2012 Giant Reign with my trusty GoPro Hero attached on a bar mount. Lining up at the start of the downhill, I was a little nervous as I had never ridden downhill before, but that didn’t stop me. In fact what did stop me was a flat tyre that I got only 400m into the track, which really annoyed me because all my tools where at the car park at the bottom of the run, so I had to carry my bike all the way down! After fixing the flat, the rest of the day went well. I didn’t get any more flats or other problems with the bike and I had great fun attempting to navigate through the rough terrain, (especially the cabbage patch.) I even got the guts up to do some of the jumps as well as successfully filming a couple of crashes with my GoPro!

Come the end of the day, I had completely forgotten about the cross-country but none the less I still had to get ready, so I switched from my downhill gear into my Chilli Cycles race suit and started preparing for the race. For the cross-country I would be riding a Cannondale F3, which was kindly supplied by my sponsors Chilli Cycles. Chilli Cycles also supplied my cross-country riding gear and I would like to thank them for that.

Come the start of the 3hr twilight enduro, I was filled with just a couple of sausages I had at the BBQ lunch and some nutritional bars, as well as being tired out by the Downhill. Yet as the race started I was feeling great. I powered through the first few laps, but on my 4th lap the previous downhill riding started to show. My legs started to really burn and even started cramping up a little. This started to show in my lap times as I lost about 4-5 minutes compared to my previous laps. After hitting the mud a couple of times at the bottom of the final climb, my lower gears started to cause a bit of a problem, but I finished the race with a total of eight laps and I really enjoyed myself. After placing 3rd in the cross-country and after getting a free tube for riding both the downhill and cross-country I was very satisfied with myself. I’d just like to say thank you to the club and anyone involved in the effort to making this day happen.

Well, the first GMTB event of the year was kicked off in style.  For this rider at least, there was some definite nervousness surrounding rain and wet trails from the year previous, especially with the light sprinkle of rain (or was sweat) at about 1 hour in????   However, what greeted the 50 odd riders was nothing other than awesome,  hard pack trails the had nice flow, a decent where eyeballs were popping out of your head.  Just as you thought there was a little relief, a hairpin tree corner down the bottom hill was waiting to catch you out.  Then just to top off the lap, a thigh burning granny gear climb, cramp anyone?  Thank you to all the Erica trail builders for an awesome course.  The course took its toll on both riders and bikes alike... Derailleurs and apparently un-needed spokes were smashed, thanks Watty.  If you look hard, you might even find a few chain links and pins buried in the course... time for a new sparkly hollow pin Shaz?

2012 begun just like with the end of 2011: Brad Fisher dominated, knocking out 30 minute laps for the entire ride.  Brad took out the overall win with a lap in hand... well done Brad.   The ‘Best of the Rest’ included Foster specialist Adam Wiggins and Trevor Nicklen, the local trails man in 3rd; both knocking out six laps a piece.

Our lady’s category saw 2011 downhill champ walk away with the chocolates, Leonie Picton rode well for her five laps, building fitness for Canadian odyssey beginning in May.   Sharon Dilly came in second with three quarters of a chain and new member Kirstin Curtis was third, both on four laps.

In the juniors, Jack “Walked” away with the victory on five laps which was impressive, with Thorben Adebahr in 2nd on four laps and Harry Ewings in 3rd on three laps.  Well done to all the juniors.

Peace and Elbows team of Justin Prior and Roland Kahsnitz took out the teams event with six laps clocked up.
It was awesome to see so many new faces out at Erica for the first race of the season, closet MTB’ers and Roadie converts are most welcome!  We hope the friendly atmosphere, BBQ and soft drink will entice you all to come along a couple more rounds of the GTMB calendar.  Next round is a special one, the official Mt Taylor opening day, with downhill shuttles from 10am to 4pm, and a 4 hour twilight enduro from 6pm. Remember your lights!

Last of all, thanks to committee and local trail builders (all over Gippsland) for putting the race, the series and working tirelessly for us riders to access great, sustainable trails.  Thanks for use of the private property where the staging for the event was located. Much appreciated.

2012 Event List

1. Championship points are only awarded to current Gippsland MTB members.
   • All events are open to Non-Gippsland MTB riders, they are just not eligible for championship points.
2. Points are awarded for position achieved in each class.
   • Outright
   • Solo Male (inc. Single Speed)
   • Solo Female (inc. Single Speed)
   • Solo Junior (inc. Single Speed)
   • Teams
   • Single Speed
3. Competitors are awarded points based on their 8 best championship results.
4. In the case of a position draw, results will be counted back to the competitor with the most 1st places.