Category: Event Reports
Gippsland riders excel at state championships
Gippsland MTB has had a successful group of riders compete at the Victorian State Downhill Mountain Bike Championships at Mt Buller last weekend, featuring 234 downhill competitors on an energy sapping course in near freezing conditions. Gippsland MTB riders proved their skills during practice on the downhill course in horrendous weather conditions that some riders found…
March Point to Point Social Ride
On Sunday Match 8th we ran the first Point to Point ride for a social event as a trial to see both how much interest there was in this sort of ride and also how the logistics of such an event would work. I am pleased to report that there were big ticks in both…
Baines wins GMTB season opener
Mark Baines rode strongly for 4 long hours to take out GMTB’s first race for 2009 on Sunday at the Colquhuon Forest near Lakes Entrance. Baines took care of some more fancied riders to take out the 4 hour enduro by over 3 minutes from a super-fit Glenn Wearne with Dino Giove coming in third.
4X Fires Back Up @ Delhuntie Park
The long awaited revival of 4X riding at Delhuntie Park fired back up on the 7th of December. It has been a long time coming and the 20 riders who turned up with two wheels were not disappointed. Delhuntie Park has been the scene of some fantastic mountain biking over the years, but unfortunately due to many reasons the track was left unused and abandoned. Fast forward to the present days of Gippsland MTB and we now have the use of this iconic legend of mountain biking in Gippsland, and Australia for that matter.
Gippsland mountain bikers lap it up at Blores Hill
Gippsland MTB recently held its first four hour enduro race at Blores Hill, Glenmaggie on Sunday the 30th of November. Enduro racing is a great way to hone your skills on a cross-country mountain bike, and there were varying levels of skilled riders lining the start line of the race. The four hour enduro was a competition held on a 7 kilometre loop course with varying levels of terrain and technical sections of track purposely built for mountain biking. 29 competitors fronted for the race and the event conditions were explained. The rider who completed the most laps of the course in a minimum time of four hours would find themselves taking the spoils.
Poker ride at Lakes Entrance
Sunday the 26th October saw 18 riders take part in GMTB’s inaugural ‘poker ride’. Participants did laps of a 3.8km circuit of some of East Gippsland’s finest singletrack, each lap collecting a playing card that would hopefully resemble a winning poker hand. A balmy spring morning had an eager bunch of riders head off at break-neck speed. All were concerned that perennial accident-waiting-to-happen Bryce didn’t take it literally. The first laps were absolute blinders, Steve McRae set a cracking pace, closely followed by Brian Wallace, Ashley Higman, road riding gun David McLean and local expert Ben Blackman. All riders must have been feeling quite brave allowing Steve to lead given his prowess in getting lost. Amazingly Steve managed to make it back in one piece but had some explaining to do as it took 4 days to get home to the valley because he went via Horsham.
Mt Taylor Downhill Ride Day a Success!
The day finally came for downhillers in Gippsland with the first official DH club event being held at Mt Taylor just north of Bairnsdale. There was anticipation in the air when the STAKKA mobile rolled into the Boys Camp and was greeted by a few crew just milling around waiting for that first rocket descent. There was a few seasoned DHer’s lurking about preping themselves for a full day of riding, a couple of xc boys ready to tackle the big stuff, and a few complete novices wondering what the hell they had just got themselves into!
Blores Hill 3 Hour Enduro 28-Sep-2008
29 people competed in the Blores Hill 3 Hour Enduro on Sunday, with almost perfect weather greeting them. There was only a slight bit wind, but that was perfect for keeping the dust away. The course started with a 2km prologue up the tram line to sort the sprinters from the cruisers. Once this loop was completed, the riders then embarked on the normal 6.5km track for the remainder of the 3 hours. This track had a bit of everything, with loose rocky climbs, flowing singletrack descents and a few small drops and log crossings to keep everyone on their toes.
Delhuntie Park 4X – Nearly ready to ride!
The track build weekend at Delhuntie Park 4X track was huge success with around 14 dedicated workers busting their guts towards the revival of a forgotten legend of mountain biking in Australia. The disused 4X track has undergone some dramatic improvements and has been lovingly sculpted, sawn, cleared, raked, shaped, drained and packed in an effort to get it ready to ride within the next few months.
Blores Hill Ride – 10 Aug
11 people took the gamble of bad weather to venture out for a social ride at Blores Hill and they were not disappointed. While it was raining in Traralgon, Blores Hill was only overcast with the blue sky breaking through. The ground had just the right level of moisture for awesome traction with everyone having…
Brad Fisher wins GMTB XC
Fifteen riders took part in GMTB’s first race at Colquhuon Forest, Lakes Entrance on Sunday 27th July. Riders rolled down the fire trail to the log crossing picnic area where the race began with a 2.6km ride up to Bruces Road where it was then three laps of a 13.6km circuit which involved 90% singletrack with some really quick downhill stretches & a few nasty pinches.
Blores Hill Ride
Thanks everyone for a great ride, especially to Simon and Stuart for organising it all. We had about 37 riders today out at Blores Hill. It was fantastic to see so many people to our first event. Check out the photo gallery for some pics from the day. Watch this space for news of our…