Gippsland mountain bikers lap it up at Blores Hill
Riders took off at the start only to leave Rodney Lloyd behind with the first mechanical failure for the day. Riders cranked, weaved and rode their mountain bikes on the perfectly prepared track surface that can be found right throughout the reserve at Blores Hill which is managed by Parks Victoria.
Riders do not have to complete the entire four hour event on the bike as a relaxed atmosphere is encouraged within the club. Saying that, some of the seasoned enduro riders had different plans for attacking the event.
Adventure racer Sharon Dilly set a cracking pace from the start line to complete a phenomenal 9 laps in a time of 04:09:53 which put her in 1st place for Solo Women. Solo Men had the largest number of competitors entered in the race and was hotly contested by 20 riders. First placed Brian Wallace, a mountain bike rider ‘just getting back into it’ entertained the field by absolutely smashing the course to pieces with a total of 11 laps in a time of 04:16:00, closely followed by second placed David Croxford on 10 laps in 04:04:00 and fastest lap time of 18 minutes to pip third placed Ashley Higman also with 10 laps, by a close margin of 2 seconds.
An amazing effort over four hours of race time! Riders coming through the timing control had smiles on their faces and were also commenting on the technical section known as the ‘Y-tree’ – a gap between a tree that was surely less than handlebar width. This ‘Y-tree’ found a few knuckles and fingers throughout the day.
The competition also included a team event, whereby riders can team up to complete the race taking turns to head out onto the course. Four teams entered the event and it was great to see father and son tag team Tony and Morgan Clark take line honours with 6 laps and 5 laps respectively in a time of 04:13:40. Second place was secured by bling rider Steve McRae (6 laps) and Richard Northover (4 laps) in 04:07:14 and third place was wrapped up by mountain bike stalwart Lenny Van Berkel (5 laps) and Lyn Kahsuitz (4 laps) in 04:09:09.
Prizes were kindly donated by Shane Dunn of Mallard Cycles Morwell and Darrin Wilson of Push’n’Pedal Sale. Trophies were inspirationally created be Lenny Van Berkel. Thanks go to Mark Cattanach who supplied the meat for the BBQ and GMTB members Max Cook, Roger Newgreen and Lenny Van Berkel for their track maintenance expertise. A huge thankyou goes out to Parks Victoria land manager Peter Lawrence for letting the Club obtain a permit to access this fantastic natural environment. Make sure you don’t miss the next GMTB event. Detailed results of the event and the photo gallery will appear as soon as you can get me off my bike! A fantastic event for all who participated.
Click here to view photos from the event!
Place | Name | Competitor Total Laps | Fastest Lap(minute) | Team Total Laps | Total Time (h:mm:ss) |
1st | Tony Clark | 6 | 21*2nd | 11 | 4:13:40 |
Morgan Clark | 5 | 23 | 11 | 4:13:40 | |
2nd | Steve McRae | 6 | 22*3rd | 10 | 4:07:14 |
Richard Northover | 4 | 27 | 10 | 4:07:14 | |
3rd | Lenny Van Berkel | 5 | 24 | 9 | 4:09:09 |
Lyn Kahsuitz | 4 | 30 | 9 | 4:09:09 | |
4th | Kingsley Sexton | 5 | 23 | 9 | 4:19:00 |
Graeme Trewern | 4 | 27 | 9 | 4:19:00 |
Open Solo Women
Place | Name | Competitor Total Laps | Fastest Lap(minute) | Total Time (h:mm:ss) | |
1st | Sharon Dilly | 9 | 26 | 4:09:53 | |
Open Solo Men
Place | Name | Competitor Total Laps | Fastest Lap(minute) | Fastest Lap | Total Time (h:mm:ss) |
1st | Brian Wallace | 11 | 22 | *3rd | 4:16:00 |
2nd | David Croxford | 10 | 18 | 1st | 4:04:00 |
3rd | Ashley Higman | 10 | 22 | *3rd | 4:04:02 |
4th | Andrew Brown | 10 | 24 | 4:23:34 | |
5th | Alan Maguire | 9 | 25 | 4:04:15 | |
6th | James Lalor | 9 | 24 | 4:07:20 | |
7th | John Batten | 9 | 26 | 4:09:40 | |
8th | Julian Thomas | 9 | 26 | 4:13:27 | |
9th | Howard Blegg | 9 | 28 | 4:18:10 | |
10th | Ian Johnstone | 8 | 27 | 3:48:35 | |
11th | Dave McFarlane | 8 | 21 | *2nd | 3:59:00 |
12th | Wade Lewis | 8 | 24 | 4:13:16 | |
13th | Max Cook | 8 | 24 | 4:20:31 | |
14th | Jeremy Cattanach | 8 | 26 | 4:23:00 | |
15th | Rodney Lloyd | 6 | 31 | 4:00:00 | |
16th | Thomas McFarlane | 5 | 34 | 3:59:00 | |
17th | Mark Cattanach | 4 | 33 | 2:46:20 | |
18th | Darrin Wilson | 3 | 30 | 1:29:10 | |
19th | Maurice O’Neil | 3 | 36 | 1:52:55 | |
20th | Sam Chapman | 2 | 37 | 3:05:00 |
*Denotes finishing on the same minute