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Photo ©: Sirotti

Brindabella Challenge - NE

ACT, Australia, December 2-4, 2005

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Event 2 - December 3: Mountain bike race, 55km

Hatton a cut above the rest as Barnes surprises in women's race

By Jeff Jones in Cotter Reserve

Brent Miller (l) and Dylan Cooper
Photo ©: Liam Tung
(Click for larger image) Brent Miller (l) and Dylan Cooper chat with commentator Ben Battisson at the prizegiving. Winner Peter Hatton had to leave early to ride that afternoon's road races.

With over two and half minutes to second placed Dylan Cooper, and much bigger margins to the top five, 22 year-old Sydneysider Peter Hatton (Clarence St Cyclery) won the 55 km Brindabella Challenge mountain bike race. Hatton crossed the finish line in Cotter Reserve with plenty of time to savour his win as he completed the hilly but fast course in around two hours and twenty minutes.

The heavy rain that had plagued the organisers yesterday held off today, although it was cool and windy out on the course. "Yeah that was a good race," Hatton told Cyclingnews after crossing the line. "It was tough out there. I think because of all the rain, all the trails and surfaces were real boggy. Dylan was the same - he felt like he had a flat tyre all day and I thought my brakes were rubbing - it was just really slow. It got really cold too. I didn't want to slow down and cool down any more."

Riding on his brand new, twice-ridden Trek Top Fuel, Hatton was pleased with his time, saying that dry conditions would have made it even faster but adding, "The good thing was that on the descents the corners were really grippy."

Hatton is off to the USA to ride on the road for the Jittery Joe's team next season, which means mountain biking may take a back seat. "This is my last summer of being on the mountain bike I think," he said. "It will be secondary after this, but I'll always feel like a mountain biker." On his ambitions, he was unsure. "See what happens. Hopefully get over to Europe or something like that would be great. I don't know whether I'll enjoy being a pro yet. We'll see."

Impromptu bike wash
Photo ©: Liam Tung
(Click for larger image) Impromptu bike wash

Second placed Dylan Cooper had plenty to spare over third place getter Brent Miller, and described the race. "Pete was driving it from the start. We had a lot of dudes hanging on that we knew wouldn't be there at the end, so he was just smashing it and caused a lot of splits in the bunch. So it was Pete and Brent (Miller) for a while, then I was with another dude for just the first bit, then I ended up on my own for the rest of it, so it looked like Pete dropped Brent pretty early as well and was on his own."

Cooper was a little surprised by a 60cm deep creek crossing near the end. "I went into it and I thought I'd better go into it at speed so I don't get swept off. I ended up submerged in the water. You had to lift your bike out, otherwise it just got waterlogged. You ended up soaked, but at least it cleaned our bikes, which was good," he chuckled.

Not so lucky was one of the pre-race favourites, Shaun Lewis, who punctured with around 3 km to go, lost his tube, and ended up running to the finish, still well inside the top 20. "I punctured before the last creek crossing," he explained. "I got the tube off the rim and I went to grab a spare and the bag was open. The tube had dropped on the course somewhere..."

Things didn't go completely smoothly for the men, as the leaders went off course very early on and had to bush-bash to get back onto the trail. It may have added a bit of distance, but Peter Hatton took it all in his stride.

Rosemary Barnes
Photo ©: Liam Tung
(Click for larger image) Rosemary Barnes made a storming comeback to MTB racing after an 11-year break to win the women's category.

Rosemary Barnes was the best of the female riders, completing the course in a sub-three hour time to head home Niki Fisher. Barnes was a little surprised, but very happy with her effort that saw her claim the $500 first prize. She dropped Fisher after 10 km, and did the rest of the race on her own.

"I was trying to stay together so we could work together and make it easy for us, but there was nowhere to draft for the first half of the course really," said Barnes, who started several minutes behind the men. As such, she caught plenty of the 260 starters to finish in the top 20 overall.

"It was good because I didn't know the course much and so there were plenty of people to follow the whole way round and people to talk to. It was pretty freezing in bits. You were all wet, and then you were going down pretty fast hills and my toes are still numb. That river crossing at the end wasn't much fun."

The 23 year-old said that she "used to race mountain bikes when I was 11, then I stopped because there were no other girls doing it. I had a pink, steel Repco - a girl's bike. And then I started road pretty seriously when I was an under 17. Then I got sick so I stopped, and I've been at Uni for the last five years. Now I haven't been sick and I haven't been at Uni so I'm riding a lot faster!"

Next time he'll have
Photo ©: Liam Tung
(Click for larger image) Next time he'll have mudguards and a bandana!

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Liam Tung/Cyclingnews.com

  • Why yes I do realise I am completely covered in mud, thankyou.
  • Impromptu bike wash
  • Did we mention it was muddy?
  • Next time he'll have mudguards and a bandana!
  • A vast crowd didn't turn out for the finish, but the 260 riders who were having fun in the mud and wet didn't seem to care much.
  • Bike wash - the finish area had a handy stream - a raging torrent thanks to the previous night's rain - where riders got the mud off after the race.
  • MTB race newbie Greg McNevin looked pretty chipper after finishing his first ever race. Greg works for Cyclingnews' sister publication Image and Data Manager and seems keen to do it again!
  • Brent Miller (l) and Dylan Cooper chat with commentator Ben Battisson at the prizegiving. Winner Peter Hatton had to leave early to ride that afternoon's road races.
  • Rosemary Barnes made a storming comeback to MTB racing after an 11-year break to win the women's category.

Images by Gerard Knapp/Cyclingnews.com

Results

Open Men
 
1 Peter Hatton (Clarence Street Cyclery)                             2.16.47
2 Dylan Cooper (conceptis.com.au, Mal Adjusted)                         2.35
3 Brent Miller (WTB, FOXSHOX, SANTA CRUZ)                               9.46
4 Ben Mather                                                           15.50
5 James Devonshire                                                     23.32
6 Ryan Gormly                                                          26.05
7 Brad Glennan                                                         26.20
8 Nathan Rickerby                                                      27.43
9 Nathan Haas                                                          28.57
10 Shaun Lewis (Scott Bikes, Flight Centre)                            30.02
11 Angus Harding                                                       30.59
12 Matthew Jeffrey                                                     33.27
13 Edward Hood                                                         36.21
14 Roelof Burger                                                       39.46
15 David Wood (bikeman)                                                43.27
16 Michael Hernan                                                      46.25
17 Peter Wilson                                                        49.25
18 Ross MacKay                                                       1.01.02
19 John Power (Andrew Platt Memorial Trust)                          1.02.49
20 Andrew Adams                                                      1.02.59
21 Ian Mongan                                                        1.05.00
22 Damon Goerke                                                      1.06.13
23 Daniel Wilkins                                                    1.13.50
24 Nicholas Lee                                                      1.13.53
25 Wesley Pendlebury                                                 1.16.14
26 Anthony Stevenson                                                 1.17.33
27 Will Fargher                                                      1.19.30
28 Paul Floro                                                        1.22.19
29 Aaron Warren                                                      1.24.00
30 Nic Scott                                                         1.24.08
31 Ian Meyn                                                          1.25.11
32 Chris Wild                                                        1.26.28
33 Toby Corlette                                                     1.29.34
34 Laurie Mock (On The Rink)                                         1.34.10
35 Paul Murray                                                       1.34.23
36 David Provan                                                      1.36.11
37 Stuart Lindenmayer                                                1.40.24
38 James Lamb                                                        1.40.28
39 Ian Howson                                                        1.44.13
40 Kieran Butler                                                     1.45.29
41 Simon McInerney                                                   1.45.33
42 Craig Lindenmayer (www.the-riotact.com)                           1.49.14
43 Danny Currall                                                     1.49.30
44 Matthew Holohan                                                   1.55.14
45 Gregory McNevin (cyclingnews.com)                                 2.14.53
46 Tyler Penfold                                                     2.36.19
47 Joel Barkley                                                      2.36.20
48 Trent Taylor (ADF)                                                2.51.28
49 Anthony Smith                                                     3.14.26
50 Dane Evans                                                        3.28.56
51 Mark Eigendorp (Sun Microsystems)                                 3.56.18
52 Murdoch McGregor                                                  4.04.32
53 Chris Williams                                                    4.04.35
DNF Dale Percival                                                          
DNF John Stevenson (cyclingnews.com)                                       
DNF Matthew Job                                                            
DNF Paul Smith                                                             
DNS Walled Basyoni                                                         
DNS Julien Colomer                                                         
DNS Ben Fargher                                                            
DNS Jason Greer                                                            
DNS James Lechte                                                           
DNS Rob Preston (Ultimax Socks)                                            
DNS Alex Ramsey                                                            
DNS Stuart Richardson (richardson-o'rourke)                                
 
Starters: 57
Classified: 53
 
Open Women
1 Rosemary Barnes                                                    2.49.20
2 Niki Fisher (Trek Australia, Swelldesign Group, Assos, ACTAS,        12.51
3 Belinda Allison                                                      19.12
4 Row Fry                                                              22.49
5 Jacqui Clynes                                                        31.10
6 Tania Churchill                                                      43.29
7 Danielle Winslow                                                     44.35
8 Kim Willocks                                                       1.00.05
9 Jo Allison (ACTAS)                                                 1.06.05
10 Michelle Aitken                                                   1.07.43
11 Fleur Grose                                                       1.18.55
12 Megan Dimozantos                                                  1.23.16
13 Kim Kelleher (Flight Centre, Scott)                               1.30.16
14 Philippa Rostan (Sun Microsystems)                                1.31.34
15 Karen Edwards                                                     1.49.21
16 Amanda Beale                                                      2.34.23
DNF Diana Dickenson                                                        
DNF Emma Ringer                                                            
DNS Grace Elson                                                            
DNS Mary Fien                                                              
DNS Kristy Scrymgeour (cyclingnews.com)                                    
DNS Selina Stoute                                                          
 
Starters: 18
Classified: 16
 
Veteran Men
 
1 Struan Lamont                                                      2.32.30
2 Timothy Bateman                                                       4.10
3 John Paul                                                             6.56
4 Stephen Richardson                                                    6.59
5 Kevin Moore                                                           8.52
6 Doug McLean (lonsdale st cyclery)                                    10.06
7 Scott Nolan                                                          11.04
8 Stewart Ward (The Bike Shed Braddon)                                 18.19
9 Rod Hall                                                             20.42
10 Liam O’Dea (Burwood Cycleworld)                                     21.36
11 Brad Hawthorne                                                      25.14
12 John Hardwick                                                       26.44
13 Scotty Preston (team quon)                                          27.49
14 Jeff Howell                                                         29.46
15 Tom Knight                                                          31.03
16 Wayne Cotton                                                        31.45
17 Ben Crabb                                                           34.38
18 Adam McGrath                                                        35.59
19 Michael Doalman                                                     36.37
20 Nick Zarifeh                                                        38.53
21 Duane Toohey (WWW.DIYMTB.COM.AU,                                    42.30
22 Richard Barratt                                                     45.52
23 Hieu Nguyen                                                         47.16
24 Andrew Hislop                                                       52.33
25 Chris Buxton                                                        53.38
26 Peter Cranney                                                       54.00
27 Guy Pardon                                                          56.02
28 Justen Simpson (I wish)                                             57.39
29 Morgan Small                                                        59.33
30 Jason Baldwin                                                     1.02.21
31 Mark Woolley                                                      1.02.44
32 Justin Barrie (Design Managers Australia)                         1.04.44
33 Tim Wightman                                                      1.04.50
34 Geoff Nash                                                        1.05.39
35 Matt Murtagh                                                      1.08.35
36 Mark Page                                                         1.10.14
37 Matt Lemm                                                         1.15.57
38 Troy Fortune                                                      1.18.13
39 Steve Gibbs                                                       1.18.41
40 Sean Scott                                                        1.18.44
41 Paul Kelly                                                        1.18.47
42 Roger van Hilst (Essential Data + Voice)                          1.19.14
43 Chris Schulz                                                      1.19.26
44 Robert Stodart                                                    1.21.11
45 David Garland                                                     1.21.41
46 Paul Davis                                                        1.21.57
47 Shay Wahrlich                                                     1.25.11
48 Tim McAlister                                                     1.25.43
49 David Keith                                                       1.25.49
50 Nick Foster                                                       1.26.40
51 Olaf Ruhen                                                        1.27.00
52 Paul Beasley                                                      1.29.33
53 Martin Arnold                                                     1.33.17
54 Aaron Constable (BodyGO Pilates and Fitness, City Bike Depot)     1.35.26
55 Stuart Bouveng                                                    1.36.57
56 William Brown                                                     1.41.06
57 Stuart Wills                                                      1.41.08
58 David Turnbull (Essential Data + Voice)                           1.45.37
59 Russell Hatton (Miles 4 Murray)                                   1.45.40
60 Rodney Miller                                                     1.47.29
61 Arran Pearson                                                     1.52.37
62 Martin Monaghan                                                   1.53.02
63 Christopher Nelson                                                1.53.05
64 Micheal Free (Miles 4 Murray)                                     1.53.42
65 Brian Farrelly                                                    1.53.54
66 Andrew Fife (Miles 4 Murray)                                      2.00.52
67 David Lloyd                                                       2.02.17
68 Allen Davis                                                       2.10.38
69 Mark Pountley (www.rustycranks.com)                               2.10.40
70 Jim Butler                                                        2.11.24
71 Shane Gill                                                        2.12.25
72 Stuart Christopherson                                             2.15.54
73 Shane Williams                                                    2.16.08
74 Dean Jones                                                        2.16.43
75 Matthew Free (Miles 4 Murray)                                     2.18.27
76 Jason Bird                                                        2.20.15
77 Brad Osborn                                                       2.29.05
78 David Garsztka                                                    2.36.33
79 Paul Cuthbert (Are you kidding?)                                  2.37.50
80 Troy McGregor (Sun Microsystems)                                  2.47.25
81 Bruce Swiegers                                                    2.58.28
82 Aj Edwards                                                        3.13.35
83 Brett Sainsbury                                                   3.32.45
84 Richard Prideaux (Sun Microsystems, Saddleworld)                  3.34.03
85 Sasha Pesic                                                       3.38.56
86 Ric Wood (Sun Microsystems)                                       3.39.32
DNF Tony Johnston                                                          
DNF Ricky Fuller (Sun Microsystems)                                        
DNS Stu Adams (gateshead cycles)                                           
DNS Chris Branch                                                           
DNS Jason Chan                                                             
DNS Simon De Lorm                                                          
DNS Dominic Dos Remedios                                                   
DNS Neil Gardener                                                          
DNS Pete Grove (Sun Microsystems)                                          
DNS Scott James                                                            
DNS Steve Peddle                                                           
DNS Simon Pollard                                                          
DNS Deon Revet                                                             
DNS Andrew Richards                                                        
DNS John Uren                                                              
DNS Darryl Walker                                                          
 
Starters: 88
Classified: 86
 
Veteran Women
 
1 Janine Ridsdale                                                    3.13.42
2 Christelle van Niekerk                                               33.23
3 Bec Parkes                                                           40.21
4 Bridget Gilmour-Walsh                                                42.17
5 Amanda Cleife                                                      1.23.55
6 Louise Glasgow                                                     1.38.14
7 Rhonda Kwong                                                       2.12.25
8 Catherine Eadie                                                    2.56.18
9 Katrina Milbourne                                                  2.56.20
DNF Samantha Fuller                                                        
DNS Kim Cook                                                               
DNS Carol Hartley                                                          
DNS Zephanie Jordan                                                        
DNS Freya Scollay (Alstar, Vicious Lights, City Bike Depot, BodyGO         
 
Starters: 10
Classified: 9
 
Masters Men
 
1 Graeme Allbon (Greengrocer, Endura, Black Duck Racing Team)        2.28.47
2 Rodney Hart                                                          18.43
3 Gary Scheld                                                          23.49
4 Ben Geier                                                            26.42
5 Peter Hansen                                                         26.45
6 John Collie                                                          27.38
7 Zelko Gashparac                                                      29.14
8 Con Toparis (greengrocer)                                            29.34
9 Simon Tilley                                                         37.16
10 John Russell                                                        38.14
11 Adrian Levins                                                       41.27
12 Kevin Miller                                                        45.26
13 John Henderson                                                      48.57
14 Dave McAlpin                                                        51.41
15 Andrew Rutty                                                        53.03
16 Neil Dall                                                           53.48
17 David McCook                                                        54.42
18 Peter Jalowenko (Aerospace Concepts)                              1.00.03
19 Eddie Bosch                                                       1.01.02
20 David Thomas (My Wife)                                            1.01.14
21 Michael Law Smith                                                 1.07.12
22 Graham Bothma                                                     1.09.09
23 Glynn Wright                                                      1.09.16
24 Miles Morrison                                                    1.13.47
25 Peter Taylor                                                      1.14.04
26 Rod Williams                                                      1.15.30
27 Matt Madin                                                        1.16.20
28 Rob Marlow                                                        1.20.36
29 Peter Solly                                                       1.21.39
30 Gareth Davies                                                     1.23.52
31 Greg Scott                                                        1.23.55
32 Allan Westnidge                                                   1.24.19
33 Scott McAlister                                                   1.26.18
34 Ian Platts                                                        1.26.59
35 Tony Nairn                                                        1.29.52
36 Mike Aylott                                                       1.30.42
37 Paul Currall                                                      1.34.38
38 Andrew Stephenson (My wife)                                       1.37.34
39 Kim Ritman                                                        1.39.23
40 Steven Barry                                                      1.39.49
41 Simon Nott                                                        1.40.25
42 Brendan Cranney                                                   1.42.56
43 Peter Vickery                                                     1.43.25
44 Andrew Dorman                                                     1.45.50
45 Gavin Tomlinson                                                   1.48.31
46 Brian Evans                                                       1.55.39
47 Philip Cherry                                                     1.56.17
48 Paul McGurk                                                       2.04.02
49 John Clements                                                     2.10.02
50 Mark Wallace                                                      2.13.33
51 Neil Sewter                                                       2.15.51
52 Paul McKie                                                        2.21.28
53 Michael Carr                                                      2.29.55
54 Andrew Lloyd                                                      2.40.24
55 Andrew Brookfield                                                 2.43.37
56 Matthew King                                                      2.57.03
57 Ross Lane                                                         3.11.18
58 Martin Lott                                                       3.35.20
59 Murray Campbell                                                   3.42.46
DNS Andrew Cassie (www.adfcc.asn.au, www.hendrycycles.com.au)              
DNS John Fredericks                                                        
DNS Adam Herbst (Ventana USA)                                              
DNS Mark Jameson                                                           
DNS Barry McNeil                                                           
DNS Geoff Purtill                                                          
DNS Andrew Robertson                                                       
DNS Stephen Stinton                                                        
DNS Simon Wells                                                            
DNS Tony Williams                                                          
DNS Mark Young (My wife :-))                                               
 
Starters: 59
Classified: 59
 
Masters Women
 
1 Anne Broadbent                                                     3.25.33
2 Tracey Angove                                                         5.59
3 Sandy Magennis                                                       12.06
4 Wendy Stevenson                                                      20.29
5 Bev Anderson-Tranter                                                 30.59
6 Peggy Douglass                                                       37.07
7 Tara Sutherland (TheWiggles, BHP and Exon)                           44.21
8 Jenny Firman                                                       1.15.55
9 Tracey Jobson                                                      1.27.17
10 Sharon Oleskevich                                                 1.53.02
 
Starters: 10
Classified: 10
 
Super Masters Men
 
1 Tony Watson                                                        3.29.01
2 John Hewitt                                                           1.50
3 John White                                                            5.26
4 Dave McGregor                                                         8.48
5 Jim Buda                                                             22.31
6 Chris Edmond                                                         24.42
7 Walter van Hilst                                                     34.46
8 Philip Winkworth                                                     35.49
9 Jack Spahr                                                           42.54
10 Wayne Hall                                                          56.32
11 Stephen Way                                                       1.09.49
12 Geoff Sims                                                        1.15.51
13 Mark Walker                                                       1.52.28
14 Michael Janek                                                     1.53.55
15 Graham Bell                                                       2.07.18
16 Brian Holder                                                      2.11.01
17 Raymond Taylor                                                    2.20.16
DNF Gregory Bacon                                                          
 
Starters: 18
Classified: 17
 
Super Masters Women
 
1 Adair Ferguson                                                      3.20.21
2 Jean Douglass                                                         42.20
 
Starters: 2
Classified: 2

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