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Merida 24 hour - NE
Kooralbyn, Queensland, Australia, April 22-23, 2006
Melbourne courier Andrew Bell delivers victory at Merida 24 Hour
By John Michael Flynn at Kooralbyn, Queensland Australia
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Melbourne bicycle courier Andrew Bell has emerged as Australian endurance mountain biking's 'man of the moment' with a stunning victory in the Merida 24 Hour at Kooralbyn in Queensland.
In what could only be described as one of the most impressive rides yet seen in a 24 hour cross-country endurance event on Australian soil, Bell completed forty laps of the demanding 10 kilometre Kooralbyn circuit, amassing a grand total of 400 kilometres in the saddle.
The 31 year old Victorian's monumental effort proved a fitting climax to the
largest 24 hour mountain bike event ever staged in Queensland. Bell's lap tally
ranked higher than many of the four and six member teams in the field of 450
riders.
"I had to dig deep, I was ready to stop about six hours ago," an emotional Bell
told Cyclingnews at race end.
"The last four laps I thought 'bugger it I'm not stopping, I'm just going to go through and see what the body can do' and it held up.
"It hurt a lot, a hell of a lot."
A perfect day for racing
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Set amid the backdrop of South-East Queensland's spectacular Scenic Rim, Kooralbyn turned on perfect weather conditions for the Merida 24 Hour, with the race beginning at midday Saturday and finishing at midday on Sunday.
The ten kilometre circuit took riders on a journey through open eucalypt forest and grass tree country, featuring undulating single trail, moderate climbs and enough technical riding and switchbacks to keep riders wanting to come back for more.
That was certainly the case for Victoria's Andrew Bell, whose description of the course as "phenomenal with lots of rolling hills" was mirrored by many fellow competitors.
The name 'Andrew Bell' is now very much a talking point among Australia's endurance mountain bike community, following back to back wins at the NZO 24 hour, and now the Merida 24 Hour, within the space of a few weeks.
In a sense it was just another day (or two) at the office for the father of two, whose wife and kids were awaiting him at the finish line.
"I'm training for Mont [the famed Mont Canberra 24 hour in October] and I thought
this is the best way to do it, go out there and just get my ass off the seat
and ride my bike," Bell said of the Kooralbyn game-plan.
"I work as a bike courier so I spend nine hours a day on the bike, regardless."
Praise for Bell's efforts came from every corner of the picturesque Kooralbyn circuit, but none could have been more credible than that levelled at the Victorian from his main rival in the Merida 24 Hour.
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Queensland's Ross Uhlmann, who was stepping up to the 24 hour solo discipline for the first time, finished nine laps in arrears of the solo race winner after being burdened with a knee injury.
"I Finished second, proudly second, because I wasn't going to touch Andrew," Uhlmann said in tribute to the solo race winner.
"He did stuff I didn't believe was possible. His final lap was as fast as my first or second lap, the man's a legend."
Fellows backs up for two-man team win
Another of the form riders in Australian endurance mountain biking, Queensland's Andrew Fellows backed up from his podium performance at the recent CORC Solo 24 Hour event, to win the two man teams category at the Merida 24 hour.
Fellows teamed up with fellow Queenslander Lynton Byrne and set the foundation for an aggressive race with a blistering opening lap.
"We got off to a cracking start because Andy came equal second after the first lap, got us in a good position," Byrne told Cyclingnews at the race presentation.
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Working to a game plan, the duo quickly established a one lap lead, which increased when darkness fell over Queensland's spectacular scenic rim.
"At Eight O'clock (in the evening) we had two laps on second, next thing we had six laps up," Byrne said. You've just to be out there doing it (lapping).
Gold Coasters win race outright
The future of Australian mountain biking was very much on show at the Merida 24 hour, and none more so than in the six man teams event, which produced the outright race winners.
Gold Coast team 'Dirty Mongrels', led by one of the terminally defiant hard-men of cross-country racing in champion masters competitor Brett Stevens, relied heavily on its younger recruits, including emerging downhill and cross country talent Daniel Hallam, to set a fast pace through both day and night.
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"Oh there's only one race strategy, you've gotta come out real hard and demoralize them," Stevens said of what turned out to be a perfect race plan.
The Gold Coasters led from start finish, with Hallam setting a sizzling pace on the first of his team's 51 laps of the Kooralbyn circuit.
"Yeah it's a really good feeling," Hallam said of his 24 hour race experience.
"We worked hard just putting in the consistent laps and going like a bat out of hell every lap."
Second overall at the Merida 24 Hour and winner of the four man team's category, the Race Elements outfit also featured a smattering of Queensland and Australia's best young mountain bikers including national champion James Maltman, Ryan Gittins and Andre Wilcher.
Race Elements (50 laps) finished just one lap behind the Gold Coast team in the final tally.
Team captain Simon Frederiksen admitted his toughest task was ensuring riders (Maltman in particular) were awake when it was time to hit the trail.
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"Just consistency I think and giving this guy (Maltman) about four calls every time we needed him up to do a lap," Frederiksen joked post-race. The Race Elements team also impressed with Queensland's largest 24 hour event to date.
"Yeah amazing, like we've raced at Mont and I'd compare the track as interesting as Mont," Maltman said. "To have 480-odd people here is amazing, especially for Queensland."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by John Flynn/Cyclingnews.com
- Rider briefing at the Merida 24 Hour 2006
- Le Mans Start Ladies and Gentlemen .. Start your engines. The Merida 24 hour gets underway.
- Night riding team riders wait in transition
- Riding under lights - the team campsites at night
- Wakeup time - dawn at kooralbyn
- Under lights - but not for much longer as day breaks at Kooralbyn
- Climbing at daybreak with the Scenic Rim as the backdrop
- Singletrack - A team Netti Corp Net rider negotiates a bumpy section
- Nerang Mountainbike centre riding towards a podium result in the mixed teams
- A queensland Cycling rider out in the early morning
- Team Anaconda riding the grass tree country
- Andrew Bell on his way to a 400 kilometre ride
- Race Elements setting the pace in the four men team's event
- Smooth riding on the kooralbyn singletrack
- Grass tree country Negotiating tight singletrack
- A big smile And why not .. On a perfect day for cross-country racing
- Early morning start for the Race Elements team
- Mount Barney - a spectacular backdrop for riders competing in the Merida 24 hour
- Brett Stevens - cross country hard-man reflects the golden sunrise
- Ross Uhlmann - the picture tells the story - the knee won't work
- Switchback surprise - techy riding at Kooralbyn
- Ian Moore racing in the solo men's category
- Up close - a Kenmore cycles rider negotiates a switchback
- The dawn patrol - everyone's favourite lap
- Australian Defence Force teams are always a big presence at 24-hour races
- A cracking pace - the Gold Coast 'Dirty Mongrels' led from start to finish
- Team Merida makes the podium in the six man teams event
- Andrew Bell looking smooth
Results
Solo men laps time 1 Andrew Bell 40 24.35.57 2 Ross Uhlmann 31 22.29.47 3 Shane Russell 28 23.48.55 4 Greig Smart 23 23.51.45 5 Allan Ferris 23 23.57.15 6 Martin Comer 21 23.32.11 7 Ben Madden 20 23.21.05 8 Brad Poidevin 20 23.58.49 9 Hayden Lester 18 24.00.28 10 Bob Crawford 18 24.03.24 11 Ian Moore 17 24.02.50 12 Mad Mike Zande 16 12.15.05 13 Michael Walsh 16 21.29.19 14 Carlos Steenland 16 23.11.10 15 Wayne Holloway 16 23.21.10 16 Ryan Hawson 16 23.28.13 17 Vang Nguyen 15 22.57.23 18 David Wilson 15 24.23.19 19 Dillon Price 14 24.17.13 20 Noel Kerger 14 24.22.20 21 Kris Bust 13 22.35.58 22 Vaughan Caseley 12 18.42.14 23 Pierre Lee 12 24.04.32 24 Brendan Walker 10 23.18.17 25 Dan Lewis 8 20.09.40 26 Gerard Corbett 8 22.45.57 27 Paul Wesener 5 4.52.40 28 Rod Field 4 2.33.05 29 John Flynn 1 1.08.10 Solo women 1 Wendy Jones 18 23.11.21 2 Tanya Britton 14 23.09.57 3 Tamyka Bell 12 22.53.46 2 Open 1 Vicious Power 44 24.15.39 2 Sprocket Rockets 36 24.09.32 3 TC's Wanna2b's 30 24.03.58 4 MTB Dirt "What The" 29 24.02.52 5 Insert Witty Team Name Here 23 24.01.47 6 Green Ham & Eggs 20 22.59.00 7 Entropic 16 23.25.38 8 MTB Dirt Samples 10 21.50.40 9 Nite Rider 1 3.28.08 Buff 2 Women 1 Hard & Soft 14 23.51.56 4 Open 1 Race Elements 50 24.16.49 2 Fat Bastards 49 24.25.06 3 Anaconda A Team 45 23.58.28 4 Cycle City Spinners 44 24.18.16 5 NRG 43 23.58.30 6 Redback Cycles 42 24.06.02 7 Bicycle Riders 41 24.29.19 8 Anaconda B Team 40 23.28.47 9 Slippery Roots 40 24.11.16 10 Team FBR (Fat Boy Racing) 40 24.23.00 11 Wrinkles 39 24.09.37 12 Still Entropic 39 24.33.49 13 MTB Dirt Knuckleheads 38 24.00.03 14 The 4 Discycles 36 24.00.41 15 2 + 2 36 24.17.53 16 Team Liquid Chicken 36 24.41.21 17 MTB Dirt De Castella's 35 23.51.30 18 Team Discovery Channel 34 24.00.21 19 Lights Out 33 24.02.24 20 The Hairy Goats 28 23.39.03 21 Rawhides 28 24.10.17 22 Team Mud, Sweat & Gears 27 21.41.03 23 Chuckleheads 27 24.12.46 24 Saddle Sore 22 23.02.43 25 Trycycles 21 22.56.57 4 Women 1 TC's Girls 41 24.13.13 2 NRG Girls 37 23.57.39 4 Mixed 1 Very Last Minute 42 24.11.43 2 Three Feeneys & A Phanny 41 24.07.20 3 Little Red Engine 38 24.27.01 4 Netti Corpnet XC Racing 33 22.29.40 5 Anaconda Dirt Virgins 29 22.59.07 6 Midnight Maniacs 29 23.47.17 7 Mayhem 2 29 23.47.55 8 Super Shakti 25 24.21.23 9 Team Virgin 16 23.46.18 10 Little Red Caboose 16 24.11.46 6 Open 1 Dirty Mongrels 51 24.08.10 2 MTB Dirt Astrovisual 49 24.21.33 3 Merida/Stem Chewen Roadies 47 24.09.34 4 Team Raceface 46 24.05.58 5 Crazy Nomads 44 24.00.08 6 Once Were Couriers 44 24.25.10 7 TC's Top Cats 44 24.33.50 8 MTB Dirt Ventana 43 24.12.47 9 Mountain Roosters 43 24.30.21 10 The Muppets 42 24.14.16 11 MTB Dirt Crocs 42 24.16.51 12 MTB Dirt Unconfirmeds 39 24.25.59 13 The Ring Busters 39 24.41.51 14 Dirt Slaves 1 38 24.09.40 15 MTB DIRTy Rotten Scoundrels 38 24.41.03 16 Daggs Inc 37 24.00.05 17 Team Sram 37 24.00.06 18 Bushrangers # 2 37 24.10.19 19 Dirt Slaves 2 37 24.24.05 20 Westside Rollers 35 23.27.18 21 NDC 34 24.32.49 22 NRG Stringers 32 23.11.13 23 TC's Battlers 32 24.14.30 24 Slick Nobbies 31 24.05.07 25 BBQ Bunch 29 24.31.28 26 Team Goldilocks 27 22.01.27 27 MTB Dirt Team Tortoise 24 24.19.50 28 MTB Dirt Jesus Pirates 20 22.26.09 29 The "A" Team 13 23.56.02 6 Women 1 Wenches With Wrenches 34 24.07.24 6 Mixed 1 Blackstone Express 44 24.06.00 2 Nerang Mountain Bike Centre 42 24.03.56 3 MTB Dirt Digglers 39 24.31.13 4 Chainsaw Jugglers & Friends 37 24.04.10 5 Mayhem 34 23.52.39 6 MTB Dirt Megasaurarse 33 24.24.35 7 MTB Dirt Fall Over 31 23.01.59 8 Broke Back Mountain Bikers 30 23.50.38 9 Cyclescene 18 14.02.06 10 National Hire 11 22.03.36 6 Junior 1 US Coastal 24 23.13.42
