Round 9 of the Gippsland Mountain Bike club’s cross country series was a point to point race starting at Collins Siding just South of Erica and finishing at Caringal scout camp. The weather on the day was fine but a course designed to test the resilience, stamina and skill of the very best riders had the added element of lots of mud and surface water on top of several hike-a-bikes and even a river portage.

A good field of almost 50 riders set off wondering what was in store for them after a pre-race briefing that left no-one in any doubt about the difficulty of the task confronting them. The toughness of the course saw many of the leading riders experiencing mechanical difficulties or losing control on the slippery surfaces.

Negotiating all obstacles in his path to lead the field home after 20 kms was Jarryd Jones from Warragul in a time 0f 1 hour and 18 minutes, 3 minutes ahead of Rob Preston.

In an amazing performance, Bairnsdale’s Tom Deller took out the junior section in a time of 1 hour and 21 minutes whilst also taking third place in the overall standings. The minor junior placings went to Erica’s Malte Adebahr and Jared Lane.The ladies category was taken out by Bairnsdale’s Sharon Dilly in a time of 1 hour and 45 minutes ahead of Anna Caruthers and Kirstin Curtis.

On a challenging track, all riders felt like winners at the finish line having tamed the beast with many war stories being swapped at the end of a hard but satisfying days racing. Gippsland Mountain Bike club’s next scheduled event is a twilight race at Blores Hill on the 24th of November with half of the race in daylight and half in darkness. This event will be a great opportunity to sign off the cross country season with some night riding and then staying overnight at the local campgrounds with some relaxed socialising.