MANNING Great Lakes Tip Riders continue to receive praise for the high standard of tracks made available for the Chocolate 7 hour endrance race held in the Kiwarrak State Forest at Taree.
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More than 250 riders took part in the inaugural race held here.
Having put so much time and effort into building the trails at Taree the Manning Great Lakes Tip Riders were elated to receive such glowing praise for their work and look forward to seeing more riders choosing Taree as the destination for their next MTB adventure.
Now in its fourth year the SRAM Singletrack Mind series is well established as the premier east coast endurance mountain bike series and attracts a host of highly-credentialed riders and teams such as OnTheGo and Target Trek. The star entrant for round one was Port Macquarie's four-time world solo 24 hour and 2-time MTB marathon national champion, Jason English. Fresh off his second marathon championships win the previous weekend, his main rival, Canberra's Ed McDonald, was hoping that the tough course at Atherton might have drained English's legs.
After a tough uphill start, English showed no signs that he might be carrying any fatigue in his system, going straight to the front of the solo male category and coming through in seventh position overall at the end of the first lap. He never relinquished the lead but with McDonald slowly closing the gap. English upped the pace, culminating in English recording his fastest lap, and the third fastest lap of the race, on his final lap of the day. An extraordinary performance after 7 hours racing, with McDonald,the 2012 series champion, just 10 minutes behind and Andrew Lloyd in third.
The opening round also featured a number of new names to the series including Newcastle's Stu Adams who took a hold on the solo male masters category, engaging with series veteran Jason McAvoy in a battle to the end. McAvoy closed in fast through the dying stages, but missing the top step of the podium by just one minute after more than 7 hours in the saddle. After making her series debut at the final Singletrack Mind Series round in 2012, Eliza Kwan has now established herself as a force to be reckoned with, taking the female solo win.
The male pairs was an epic tussle with positions changing constantly throughout the day. Altitude Training Systems had the early lead after a flying opening lap from Oliver Dharma-Ratne. Manly Blue's Miha Remec and Lucas Gamble settled into a consistent pace and eventually clawed back the lead, going clear of their rivals at half race time. The Cam Peterson and Rob Booker also showed that consistency pays, moving up to third.
The 2012 masters female solo series champion Wendy Stevenson was back and in-form taking the opening round convincingly. The masters pairs saw a breakthrough win for long time series competitors Justin Millington and Steven Powis.
