Team Refusenix consisting of the Gillies, Sue & Trevor were first to arrive at lunchtime on Friday. The car had barely come to a stop before they’d unloaded and hit the trails. Next to arrive Friday arvo were the lads in Cottage 2 (Jeff, Simon & Pete) who had no idea of where they were going, but by heading away from the dark clouds managed to stumble across some great trailsSaturday morning arrived, the sky was blue and the few puddles on the trail had dried up so it was time for another couple of hours on the bike. This time we had the trail GPS (Drew & Ryan) with us so we were able to ride the trails in the direction they were built to ride. Highlights were the “Skull” & “Jonno’s” loop with some nice rocky sections, fast descents and flowing turns. “3x3” had our legs shaking from the crazy drop into the gully and then winding down through a dry rocky creek bed.
Lesson 1: If the boys don’t ride it, then it’s probably best if you don’t ride it.
Lesson 2: Just because the boys rode it, doesn’t mean that you should ride it.
Mark Wood joined cottage 2 just in time for lunch and was impatient to hit the trails for the arvo session so off we all went with the exception of Jaye & Sue who headed into town for a civilised meal. Best part of the day was seeing a very healthy Koala close up who didn’t seem surprised to see mountain bikes around. More new trails were ridden before we consulted the GPS for the best way to get to the “Jump Track”. Like all GPS’s this one gave conflicting advice and it almost ended in an argument before we decided that all the trails were magic so it didn’t really matter which way we went.
The Jump track is exactly that, a jump track which splits half way down so you can race each other to the end. The left split gets smaller jumps and a cool wall ride while the right split gets bigger jumps. Pairs were organised for racing and off we went – shame we forgot to warn Mark of “Armadillo” which is a cool drop off structure that could surprise you when sitting on someone’s wheel at speed... Doh!
After about 4 runs on the jump track, my ego was defeated too many times by kids under the age of 12 so we had some fun on the logs and gullies of the “playground” before heading to the race loop for another lap. Half way round the race loop we stumbled across team Parkes/Leahy who were out for a reccy lap having just arrived in Taree. It’s always good to see friendly faces when out on the trail – especially when away from home. From the worried looks on their faces though, I'm not sure if they trusted our excited trail descriptions..
Race day arrived and conditions were perfect, the coffee was strong, a live band was playing and the course had more flow than the mighty Clarence River in flood. Charlie Watson had apparently been in the area for a couple of days getting inside trail info off the locals. Peter Hawley & Graham Paterson had driven down that morning whilst Ryley Schultz, Craig Evers, John & Fergus McQueen must have snuck in under the cover of darkness and for some reason did not do a reccy of the 15km course before the starting gun was fired.
The race was a cracker but also a blur. So if you decided to stay home with a nice cup of tea and some milk arrowroot biscuits instead of having a great weekend but still want to know what went on then you'll have to checkout the results here. There are also some nice photos on facebook (a hint for some -click on the photo to see the whole image - the heads are only cut off when viewed in the gallery)
There are only 10 days until Pleasure & Pain and the track is in unreal condition - it's gonna be fast & furious. Bring It On!!!!
Lesson 1: If the boys don’t ride it, then it’s probably best if you don’t ride it.
Lesson 2: Just because the boys rode it, doesn’t mean that you should ride it.
Mark Wood joined cottage 2 just in time for lunch and was impatient to hit the trails for the arvo session so off we all went with the exception of Jaye & Sue who headed into town for a civilised meal. Best part of the day was seeing a very healthy Koala close up who didn’t seem surprised to see mountain bikes around. More new trails were ridden before we consulted the GPS for the best way to get to the “Jump Track”. Like all GPS’s this one gave conflicting advice and it almost ended in an argument before we decided that all the trails were magic so it didn’t really matter which way we went.
The Jump track is exactly that, a jump track which splits half way down so you can race each other to the end. The left split gets smaller jumps and a cool wall ride while the right split gets bigger jumps. Pairs were organised for racing and off we went – shame we forgot to warn Mark of “Armadillo” which is a cool drop off structure that could surprise you when sitting on someone’s wheel at speed... Doh!
After about 4 runs on the jump track, my ego was defeated too many times by kids under the age of 12 so we had some fun on the logs and gullies of the “playground” before heading to the race loop for another lap. Half way round the race loop we stumbled across team Parkes/Leahy who were out for a reccy lap having just arrived in Taree. It’s always good to see friendly faces when out on the trail – especially when away from home. From the worried looks on their faces though, I'm not sure if they trusted our excited trail descriptions..
Race day arrived and conditions were perfect, the coffee was strong, a live band was playing and the course had more flow than the mighty Clarence River in flood. Charlie Watson had apparently been in the area for a couple of days getting inside trail info off the locals. Peter Hawley & Graham Paterson had driven down that morning whilst Ryley Schultz, Craig Evers, John & Fergus McQueen must have snuck in under the cover of darkness and for some reason did not do a reccy of the 15km course before the starting gun was fired.
The race was a cracker but also a blur. So if you decided to stay home with a nice cup of tea and some milk arrowroot biscuits instead of having a great weekend but still want to know what went on then you'll have to checkout the results here. There are also some nice photos on facebook (a hint for some -click on the photo to see the whole image - the heads are only cut off when viewed in the gallery)
There are only 10 days until Pleasure & Pain and the track is in unreal condition - it's gonna be fast & furious. Bring It On!!!!
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