2005 NSW State Round 6, 14th August 2005
CCMTBC – Ourimbah State Forest, NSW

What a great race! This event was a fantastic one to attend for a lot of different reasons, and if you weren’t there, then you missed out. The Central Coast Club is a dedicated club and really got things organised well for this race. There was efficient sign on, a BBQ, fantastic transport, a few changes to the track to keep things interesting, great prizes, spot on timing and great weather to cap it all off. All these things added together to help everyone there to have a great time, which created a superb atmosphere. At the end of the day, everyone looks at the results from the race, but the satisfaction felt by the participants comes from a lot of other factors, not just the final results. I’m sure that a majority of the participants from this weekend went home satisfied.

The weekend stared early for some people. Very early. Try a week before. The Sunday before the race saw close to 50 people at the site getting their own practice sessions in. There was even spectators on the track too! Come race weekend and it was relatively quite. Plenty of buses and trailers and a smallish turn out meant that you never (that’s right NEVER) had to wait for a bus. They were always there, ready to take you back to the top. It was good to have practice limited by your own fitness and stamina rather than the transport.

Plenty of locals were out to prove themselves, ripping down the track at unbelievable speeds. Damien Reeve was one such person. I personally saw him ride the rock garden faster than I had thought possible. The track had changed a fair bit from when I was last there, but that had been a while. A few new corners at the top, avoiding the old pallet jump, was followed by the same fire road sprint down to the Rock Garden. Once out of the Rock Garden you were spat down the rough fire road again, pedal through the flat fire road, into the rolling single track, which had a few new bits too, then ducking through the trees as the incline steepened again. Again, there were a few new sections here, which felt as though the trees were even closer now! Once you hit the big left-hander and over the log drop, the rest of the track was the same: the rutted out, steep right hander followed by the other log drop, onto the fast fire road, sweeping right hander into the G-Out, over the water bars, into the single track, over the pallet, sprint to the line.

There was enough in it to keep you busy the whole way down, and plenty of places to pick your own special line. There was a balance to be found though between sprinting the flat sections and saving yourself for the technical sections. Some people went all out pedalling only to find their limbs turned to jelly by the time they reached the single track, others relaxed too much and lost their momentum. The key was to keep the pedals turning but remember to keep breathing and not burn yourself out too early.

Anyway, Sunday came and the fight for parking spaces along with it. If there is one draw back about this venue, it’s that there is a limited amount of parking at the rego/transport pick-up area, and that this area is about a kilometre from the finish of the downhill track. But, as I said, it would be the only drawback. I mean, it’s only 5 minutes from the exit on the F3! How’s that for convenience?

There were quite a few more people turn up for the Sunday, which meant that you did occasionally have to line up for the buses, but not longer than 10 minutes. One person who didn’t really get to appreciate this was Jamie Russell. A big over the bars crash off the side of the Rock Garden led to a wrist broken in three places and a trip to the local hospital. Bummer. Get well soon Russ. One other non-starter was Troy Rowell who had a freak accident on Saturday and cut his thigh open on the little mud guard on the back of his V-10. Nasty. Hope you’re back on it soon Troy.

The track didn’t change too much during practice, perhaps just getting a bit dustier if that was possible, and before long everyone was heading up for their race runs. The neat little start ramp and professional timing gave the race a classy feel, but all that was forgotten once you got started, as it was just you against the track.

The bar was set very high in the Elites by local ripper Brock Newling, posting a 3.22. Next closest was Asterix rider Jon Odams, but even he was 5 seconds back. Another local Brad Kelly (Specialized) was another second behind. There was plenty of speculation about who had being saving themselves and by how much they could improve their times. Adam Smithson was one who a few were picking as a likely winner. One top gun that was taken out of the equation was Ben Cory who flatted in the first run, posting a DNF. Disappointing for the Commencal rider from Canberra.

As the Elites were left to ponder their second run strategies it was left to the remainder of the classes to make their way down. James Brodie won the U17’s in a close battle with Chris Coombe and Dylan Prohm. Shaun O’Connor was out in front in the U15’s. Joshua Lester won a very close battle in Masters 1, with the top 3 on the same second. Brett Minion, Sergio Lavermicocca and Steve Coles won their respective Masters categories. James Wilson and Ryan Murphy won the Hardtail classes. David Marshal continued his winning ways in Sporties, followed by Brad Goff on his 2 day old 223. Alice Minahan and Susan Forrester took out their Women’s classes, and the Expert class ran last and was won by local Damian Reeve, well out in front of Rick Kehoe, followed by Terry Yates, a local ex-BMXer who only got his first dually a few weeks ago. Nice one.

So, the U19’s, Elite Women and Elite Men all headed back up for their second run. The sun had dropped and the fastest times were about to as well. The Women were up first and Joanne Fox stayed out in front to grab first place. Interesting to note that Emma McNaughton (GT) chose to ride in the Expert men category for ‘more competition’. Her time was 10 seconds faster than Joanne’s. The U19’s were heading down next and fastest qualifier Scott Grundy couldn’t do the same in the second run, surrendering first place to Time Eaton. Damien Perry was in second followed by Eden Humphreys (Cove) who earned what I think is his first top 3 finish. Good one Eden.

The Elite men were now all set to prove themselves. Brock Newling was looking to cause an upset over the bigger names. Adam Smithson (GT) was looking to continue his form from the last round. Brad Kelly (Specialized) wanted to make his mark on his home track. Ricky Boyer (Orange) was trying to hold on to the overall lead, and Adam Dosseter (Commencal) was there to represent the Canberrans. Who was going to take it home? Ricky Boyer was an early leader, taking 14 seconds off his qualifier to just break Brock’s time. Had Brock saved anything for the second run? The first few failed. Matt Nauthe had broken his chain, and no one else was close to Ricky. Then came Adam Smithson and cut 5 seconds off the time and post a 3.17. Wow. A new track record. There were a few riders to come, but that would take some beating. Alan Crisp (Asterix) couldn’t match his first run, or come close to Smithson. Adam Dosseter slipped into 5th with a 3.23. Then came Brad Kelly to post the fastest time of 3.16. Another new track record. Had Brock enough in store to crack that? Jon Odams came though in a 3.27 and slipped back to 7th. And then it was Brocks turn. He bettered his first run, but only just. A 3.21. Good enough for 3rd place. Brad Kelly had held on to take the win.

It was an exciting finish to the days racing, and it was good to see plenty of fans stay to watch the final runs and also the presentation. Then again, more people had reason to as the generous sponsors had donated enough for prizes down to 5th place in each class.

As the sun went towards the horizon, everyone headed home. Most with smiles on their faces as the memories of a great event replayed in their minds. It took a lot of work on behalf of the organisers and all the volunteers to put it all on. Without their efforts the race would not have happened, so big thanks to all of them. I’ll see you all at Lithgow.

Full results can be found here.

The next NSW State DH round is to be held on the 4th September and will be put on by the Central Tablelands MTB Club. Plenty of discussion going on in the forums. Or you can check the clubs own web page: http://www.ctmbc.net/

There is also a Club race being held there this very weekend! Check the Club web page or the WSMTBC web page for the details.

The photos in this report were taken by Don Jonceski. You can get them, and many, many others on CD from him for $20. Email him at djonceski@bigpond.com.au

Some other photos of the event can be seen here: http://www.pixelpics.com.au/events.html

Photos

Photo 1: Great transport was very welcome, letting riders do as many runs as possible.

Photo 2: There was a great atmosphere at the race.

Photo 3: Elite Men winner Brad Kelly.

Photo 4: Ben Cory likes rocks, but not punctures.

Photo 5: Sergio Lavermicocca, winner of Masters 3/4