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Launceston MTB Club
Six Hour Enduro - September 25, 2005
Sunday dawned clear and slightly cool. Organisers gathered early at Four Springs in preparation for the challenge ahead. Our watches beeped 8am and the chaos began!! A hoard of people started to arrive in vehicles laden with bikes, helmets and colourful lycra suits. "Great!" the organizers thought. Registration became busier and busier and busier and busier…and the people just kept on coming! "Holey moley!" the organisers thought.
The entry pile grew and grew and we had to type faster and faster to get everyone entered into the timing programme. Due to the large turnout the start time was rescheduled to 10:15am. The masses lined up and when the magic words were spoken" Ready, Set, GO!" legs began furiously pedaling and the hoard of crazed lycra covered bodies headed off. A fast start was rapidly slowed upon entering the first piece of single-track. For some reason 50 people just don't seem able to fit through a 40cm wide gap all at the same time.
The congestion cleared as riders made their way around the 8.3km course. Bumpy sections started to smooth whilst a few dry areas decided to mutate into goopy pools of mud which metamorphosed rider's bikes from their shiny attractive colours to a common murky brown.
As time wore on; deuraileurs clunked louder, people grew wearier and drink bottles tasted more and more like mud (yum!). The clock kept ticking, slowly for some, and the laps kept being churned out. Families gathered on their picnic blankets to cheer their riders on. The little kiddies made friends and had their own fun near the timekeepers and were an amusement themselves. The sausages sizzled and supporters were seen eating the tasty morsels. Some riders also scoffed a few and were later heard to utter "3 snags probably wasn't a great idea to have before that lap."
The 6 hours finally elapsed and people rode across the line for the last time (some looked to be struggling to pedal!). In a tight tussle for overall victory Kris Clausen and Matt Dalziel for Team iRule completed a total of 13 laps in the 6 hours. Their endurance backgrounds shined through in the last few hours for them to ride away from the very competitive Cyclingo boys of Luke Wisby and Ben Greive-Johnson. These teams took out the positions 1 and 2 respectively in the Men Pairs Category from the Fairwheather Wiggins team.
It was vintage John Gregory (literally by the looks of his rear wheel) as he pumped out a phenomenal 12 laps to take out the Solo Men's Category. Keith MacQueen put in a fantastic performance to finish second ahead of Greg Dwyer in third.
The Solo Women's Category saw two riders slog their way through 8 laps each. The pocket rocket Robby Holmes managed to finish in a faster time to take first place from a consistent Jayne Guiver.
Women's Pairs was won by Imogen Pearce and Su Sprot of team IMSU (Imogen and Su - get it?) Imogen performed the fastest lap time for a female, winning herself a free cut and colour from Convict Cutters Hairdressers in Brisbane Street, Launceston (PLUG, PLUG! They do wonderful things there if you haven't tried them!! The Cheryls made up of Clare Hester and Larni Gibson took out second place.
Mixed Pairs were won by MTB Aphrodesiac (i.e. Row and Ben) who ended up having a very expensive day at the office with a snapped deuraileur and an unrepairable crank (so much for the cheap $10 entry fee!!!). Team T-Mac with Jayne Grubits and Warren Cedric Austin took the second possie from The Chicken and the Egg (i.e. Rodney Mills and Carolyn Farrar.
The Men's Four was won by We're Riding Boutique *@$% Cos We Have Little #@*$%#$'s of Robert Potter, Tim Edwards and Tom Grigg. (I think the censored words were "Tricycles" and "Brains"). Team MAD of Sam Robertson, Danny Rayenga and Matt Wilson took second and if they lost a few The Spare Tyres may not have finished third!
The Mixed Four was won by Piston Broke (David and Carol Cole and John and Jenny Purtell). Team Tortise proved their name by coming last in this category. Fortunately for Rachael Bayliss, Katrina Gittus, Alexandra Milne and Donal McIntee last also meant second as there were only two teams in this category. Well done guys!
A BIG thanks goes out to all those who showed up (participants and supporters). It was a great day and probably the biggest MTB event in Tassie aside from Wildside. We hope to make the next enduro event (12 Hour in March) bigger and better so please email us any improvement suggestions you have and keep an eye open for the event date.
MASSIVE thanks to the wonderful Mountain Designs, Geard's Cycles and Shadforths Financial Advisors all in Launceston for proving such great sponsorship and prizes.
Results
Solo Mens 1 John Gregory 2 Keith MacQueen 3 Greg Dwyer Solo Womens 1 Robby Holmes 2 Jayne Guiver Mens Pairs 1 iRule 2 Cyclingo 3 Fairwheather Wiggins Womens Pairs 1 IMSU 2 The Cheryls Mixed Pairs 1 MTB Aphrodisiacs 2 Team T-Mac 3 Chicken and Egg Mens Fours 1 We're riding boutique (etc) 2 Mad 3 The Spare Tyres Mixed Fours 1 Piston Broke 2 Team Tortise
