21 riders eagerly awaited the distribution of the all important map before the start which showed the checkpoint locations so they could plan their route. There were 10 checkpoints throughout the trail network. The winner would be the first rider back with all their checkpoints marked correctly, a penalty of 10 minutes was applied to the rider’s time for each point that was that was either missed or marked incorrectly.

The start was an interesting one with the option of waiting patiently and marking your card with the first checkpoint at the start line or collecting it at the end. Most of the male riders powered off in their separate directions while all the women patiently waited and collected the first checkpoint.

Riders spread out in all directions very quickly, plenty of people powering away and missing a checkpoint here and there and having to backtrack. The climb towards the trig seemed to be a popular first destination for many, picking up a couple of points along the way. The motivation to climb the trig is always there when you get the reward of riding down Switchback Heaven. The checkpoints were well set up to allow for a route that would almost mean no backtracking which was great.

In the end it was local knowledge and navigation skills that were the winner with the top 5 riders coming in before the current club championship leader Brad Fisher. Graeme Trewern took overall honors collecting all the checkpoints in 1.05.38, this is the second year that Graeme has taken the top honors in this event. He was closely followed by Daniel Robie in 1.06.19 and Stephen James in 3rd with 1.06.45. It is great to see how close these guys were in times when you consider they all rode completely different routes to achieve the same outcome.

The women’s race proved an interesting one with the navigation skills of a Forester and an Outdoor Ed student up against some really fit riders. In the end it was the navigation skills that again won the day with Jacinta Nelsson taking the win over Liz Carlson and Emma Beveridge.

Jack Walk continued his domination of the junior club championship taking the win in the junior category yet again.

Next race will be at Erica on 26th September.

• Full Race Results
• Club Championship 2010