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CORC solo 24 hour - NE
Mt Majura, ACT, April 15-16, 2006
Great conditions and a great attendance
By Russell Baker
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The Easter weekend of 15/16 April saw the second of the Canberra Off-Road Cyclists annual Australian Solo-Only 24 Hour MTB races. Numbers increased by 50 percent from last year and the riders were treated to perfect weather, a crystal clear night, full moon, and a great track after some rain on Friday night was enough to keep the dust down but not enough to make conditions slippery.
The Mount Majura course was 8.1km of challenging track, set by race director and seasoned rider John Graydon. This race is one for the hard riders, so the technical level is a bit more difficult than you might find for team or participation events.
Pre-race favourite Saul Britton continued his unhappy run at Canberra endurance events and had to withdraw after 15 hours. Cooma's Paul Eccleston had been dueling with Saul all race and then went on to take out the overall first place, two laps clear of Mark Fenner in second and three laps clear of Andrew Fellows in third. Paul Rode 380km, the equivalent of riding the highway from Canberra to Newcastle (but on the median strip).
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Freya Scollay showed everyone why she placed fourth in the 24 Hours of Adrenalin 2005 World Solo 24 Hour Mountain Bike Championships with a dominant win. 32 laps and six laps clear of Megan Dimozantos in second. Freya was even able to take a couple of hours off for a sleep. But watch out Freya...Rosie Barnes was third with 25 laps but Rosie was treating the race as preparation for the upcoming 100km marathon events and rode 100km on Saturday, then had the night off before riding another 100km on Sunday morning. She completed 25 laps in 12 hours at a faster pace than the overall male winner!
The closest duel of the race was between two Canberra riders, John Henderson and Neil Dall in the 40+ category. The lead changed 6 times throughout the race with Neil eventually coming to a stop late Sunday morning to give John the win by three laps.
For the under 18 riders, not allowed to complete in a solo 24, CORC ran a 6+6 hour race, with six hours on Saturday and six on Sunday and a compulsory 12 hour rest in between. This was convincingly won by Canberra's Nathan Haas.
The race continued on the success of the 2005 event, and CORC will continue to build Australia's only solo-only 24 hour race. The Easter weekend provides a chance for some relaxed travel and a bit of a recovery period for the riders.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Michael Baker
- The Open women winners: Rosemary Barnes (3rd - left), Megan Dimozantos (2nd - centre) and Freya Scollay (1st - right)
- Andrew Fellows (3rd, Male Open)
- Mark Fenner (2nd, Male Open)
- The pain begins to show for John Henderson early Sunday morning, being assisted at the end of a lap by his son Ben
- John Henderson (1st, Male 40+ and 5th overall)
- Paul Eccleston explains how he did it, watched by 3rd placed Andrew Fellows (left) and 2nd placed Mark Fenner (2nd from left)
Images by Mark Gunter/www.pbase.com/gunterphotograph
- Freya Scollay early on. She won completing 32 laps
- Trevor Kloeden gets into the Easter spirit
- Paul Eccleston on his way to a memorable win
- Rosemary Barnes zooms by in the forest
- Nathan Haas was the U18 champion
- Andrew Fellows went hard early
- As dusk falls the lights come on
- A true test to make it through the night
- A rider coming into the marshall area
- Paul Eccleston dining out 24 hour style
- Night rider
- Dawn approaches as the riders make their way through the cold
- Paul Eccleston was still riding strong as the sun came up
- Rosemary Barnes made the morning as well
- Paul Eccleston was still riding well, but started looking tired
- Morgan Pilley finished 2nd in the U23 with 36 laps
- Glenn Stewart powers in the U18 division
- Mark Fenner looked strong in the final few hours
- Paul Eccleston had to keep going and hold his lead
- Mark Fenner through the forest
- Paul Eccleston riding on
- Paul Eccleston has a nanna with one to go
- Victory is sweet when you've been riding for 24 hours
- At the presentation Paul tells his stories from the following night
- Paul Eccleston with all his booty
Results
1 Paul Eccleston 47 24.17.42
2 Mark Fenner (Optus Nowra) 45 24.00.04
3 Andrew Fellows (Bikeride Hobart) 44 24.18.43
4 Patrick Jones (Single Speed) (Cheeky) 41 24.06.44
5 Ian Spencer 34 24.04.24
6 Todd Stafford (wanderingaussie) 34 24.11.20
7 Tom Stewart-Moore 33 24.10.13
8 Ryan Dixon 33 24.24.02
9 Lex Lambeck 28 24.20.27
10 Russell Hatton 26 24.00.22
11 Steve Tattam 26 24.10.16
12 Hieu Nguyen 25 24.05.58
13 Glenn Apps 24 24.16.50
14 Tony Bond 23 24.01.46
15 Matt Free (miles4murray) 21 24.05.49
16 Mike Brennan (Kayaks Australia) 21 24.40.18
17 Trevor Page 20 24.00.27
18 Michael Free (Freestyle) 20 24.04.18
19 Andrew Fife 20 24.04.20
20 Mark Causer (TAGGAT) 16 24.33.25
21 Christian Ward (Magiboard Presentations) 13 24.00.31
22 Sasha Pesic 12 24.10.41
DNF Saul Britton (Solo Saul) 31 15.02.35
DNF Kevin Wells 31 20.17.22
DNF Richard Palmer 27 22.10.39
DNF Tristan Bennett (Single speed) 19 11.01.07
DNF Gilian Lee 14 7.43.57
DNF Nicholas Lee 13 8.12.31
DNF Nicholas Clark 11 7.27.58
Female Open
1 Freya Scollay (Netti/Vicious Power/Alstar/BodyGO) 32 24.17.37
2 Megan Dimozantos 26 24.17.34
3 Rosemary Barnes (Mal Adjusted Bicycle Emporium) 25 24.25.50
DNF Alina McMaster (AROC) 13 6.49.50
Male Under 23
1 Chris Smith (Renegade Cycles/Niterider lights) 39 24.10.50
2 Morgan Pilley 36 24.00.16
3 Luke Graydon 23 24.37.17
4 David Rosier 13 24.25.04
Female Under 23
DNF Jenna Laycock
Male 40 +
1 John Henderson 41 24.11.05
2 Neil Dall (KAZ Technology Services) 38 24.02.12
3 Jonathan Chowns 28 24.15.55
4 Geoff Moon 24 24.00.51
5 Geoffrey Clarke 23 24.05.52
Female 40 +
1 Tina Jones (Raw NRG/Thredbo) 24 24.39.03
Male 50 +
1 Trevor Kloeden 32 24.00.09
2 Dave McGregor 28 24.10.44
3 Jack Spahr (Just A Blur) 20 24.07.52
4 Mark Walker (Ericsson Corp Networks/Sedcom) 12 24.13.32
Female 50 +
1 Amanda Graydon 6 24.01.42
Male Under 18 6Hr + 6Hr
1 Nathan Haas (CORC, TLC Cycles) 25 24.02.53
2 Glenn Stewart (Cannondale-Maxxis/SRAM) 24 24.02.58
3 Edward Hood 24 24.17.40
4 Andrew Adams 13 24.01.58
