Riders braved the slippery mud on Saturday for the fourth round of the Northern Inland XC Mountain Bike Series.
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Hosted by the Inverell Mountain Biking Club at MTB Park on Bundarra Road, the rain – while welcome – proved a challenge for competitors.
“If you were going to host a round in wet weather, Inverell would be the best track to do it on, because 95 per cent of the track is a granite track,” local club member Ian Rees said.
He said the trail was slippery at times, but held up well.
“Most mountain bike tracks, they don’t want you to be on there and cutting it up and ruining the track when it’s raining – it just pools water and makes ruts on the tracks.”
Nicknamed ‘the track fairies’, several club members were hard at work last week getting the track ready.
An inter-club competition between Armidale, Walcha, Inverell and Tamworth, riders of various levels took on the course.
Locals Brent Rees and Brad Newman gave strong performances in the elite male category, coming in first and second place with times of 01:37:22.5 and 01:45:25.8 respectively.
Riding in the under 19s male category, Mark Robinson was just under four minutes behind Rees, finishing with a time of 01:41:13.2.
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An Australian National Champion, Inverell’s Jodi Mayled came first in the elite female category. Rees said many local riders placed well in national competitions earlier in the year.
The riders were rewarded for their hard work with a sausage sizzle after the race. The next and final round will be held in Tamworth on Sunday, July 22.
The local club is now busy organising a six hour event at Copeton Dam. To be held on Sunday, September 2, the competition will raise funds for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
Rees encouraged local riders to consider joining the club, and said you do not have to be an elite athlete to enjoy the social aspects.
“There are elite riders there who are more than willing to help riders out because it’s only a small club,” he said.