JetBlack MTB Team pronounce Ourimbah... Awesome!
Round 4 of the Rockytrail Entertainment Grand Prix Series returned to the Central Coast on the weekend, with support from the Central Coast Council.
Round 4 of the Rockytrail Entertainment Grand Prix Series returned to the Central Coast on the weekend, with support from the Central Coast Council. Despite the deluge of rain the previous week, the course just refused to die and was in impeccable condition despite some dampness, but Martin from Rockytrail worked his magic to make sure the track was in tip-top condition. And you all know what a damp course means in places?…. Yup.. Hero Dirt!
The JetBlack MTB Racing team members who made the journey to this iconic track were greeted with temperatures well in to the low digits, but the mercury soon started to be on the incline once the sun rose above the tree line.
You could feel the air of great camaraderie between everyone on the track, and passing on the tight singletrack was made easy with awesome communication between all riders. JetBlack MTB Racing was once again represented on the podium on several occasions in both the 4hr and 7hr formats, with the familiar fluoro making its mark on the top step.
There were some thrills, some spills (well, a LOT of spills!) plenty of smiles and at the end of the day, an awesome day racing mountain bikes. The bad news of the day, and it’s quite a serious matter, was that there was NO coffee van! He’d only gone and double booked himself, which meant no lovely, warm caffeine hit was to be had by anyone.
Race results are right below, just click the appropriate link and it’ll take you straight to them!
Personally, I was happy to throw my leg over the ever reliable Pivot LES Single Speed again. After taking a bit of a hiatus due to work and overseas family paying a visit to God’s Country, she felt good. Choosing the 4 hour solo option instead of my normal 7hr was the call of the day, and it was just what I needed to get my ‘mojo’ back and get the focus back on for the upcoming 24hr Solo Nationals in October. I really enjoyed the race, and despite a few run ins with a couple of those ‘Jumping-out-at-ya’ trees, and an extremely laughable incident on the last lap involving eventual 4hr Female winner, Meg Gillmer, and a tasty Allen’s Snake (Don’t ask! Haha), the choccies were still to be had in the end, just nipping out fellow JetBlack SSer, and all round nice guy, Rod Watts
Race day blogs from JetBlack Team members
Michael Crummy - 4hr Elite Male
I was super keen to return to Ourimbah in 2016 for another round of Rocky Trail’s Grand Prix. The 2015 event had seen a good effort be rewarded with a podium and I was frothing to do it again. Being part of the JetBlack MTB Racing team is incredibly motivating and from the start whistle I could see team mates up ahead, team mates I wanted to follow into the single-track. I slipped onto the back wheel of Grant Shaw for the starting portion of trail, Grant was riding in a team of three for the 7hr.
After passing Grant I set about catching the next group in front coming across an unusual event, all-round shredder Kramer having an issue on a short down-hill section. I was surprised to catch a couple of seasoned endurance riders, which gave me the inkling I was riding to hard. But it was so fun to ride at this pace I just pushed on, crossing my fingers it was sustainable for the 4hrs.
Ourimbah is a trail-riders dream trail with sweeping and short punchy climbs followed by fun rough descents, many of which seem un-proportionally long. Rocky in sections, loamy in others, Ourimbah is a bonanza of mountain biking goodness.
When team mate Tom Morwood came whooping up behind me, my spirits lifted, just as I could feel an onset of some fatigue. A few friendly words really helps out when all focus is on tearing up the trail. Same went for team mate Simon Ballard, except this time all my biscuits were spent and I was about to start digging. It is hard to see your team ride away.
Jason Hewitt – 7hr Elite Male
Sitting here almost 24hrs after the race I’m thinking that all the wrong parts are hurting. My legs are fine but my shoulders, chest and my right little toe are killing me. Unfortunately after my second frame failure for the season I found myself riding an old steel Voodoo frame that I had hanging in the shed ready to be built up as a single speed for some fun over summer. This frame with its old skool 29er geo, 72* HT angle 450mm stays and 120mm HT which put the bar height somewhere up in the clouds, was never meant to be ridden for no more than a couple hours and definitely not raced for 7hrs on a course like Ourimbah. I had also only had one ride on it on the smooth trails of singleton before the race so for the first few hours I wasted so much energy trying to get the thing to turn without running wide and stop pinging off rocks that by the time I worked it out the race was gone.
Lining up at the start next to Alex Kooijman the first few pedal strokes went well then within 20m of the start I was stopped as a rider dropped in off the side of the fire trail and our bars locked together. Unfortunately to stop me going down in front of the angry pack I had to unclip and come to a brief stop before setting off again watching Alex ride off about 20 riders in front as we hit the singletrack. The first lap went by without too much issue but I got caught following wheels with a few others as we had a rider that was slow on single track but sped up where there were passing opportunities. Thankfully they pulled over at the end of the lap. Once I had a clear track it was time to start the chase to try get back with Alex. This was where all the trouble started as not being used to the bike I was running wide on fast corners, losing the front wheel in slow corners and generally having a real hard time riding at any reasonable pace. After rolling down the drop on what felt like my front wheel, running wide and smashing my right foot into a rock and then again to have my front wheel drop of a rock onto a root and pitching me over the bars I finished my next 2 laps not in a very good state mentally. Then, on the 4th lap losing the front end turning in too early trying to compensate for the handling issues and going down hard again on my right side it was time to cruise and just limit the damage.
At this stage I was very surprised to find out I was in 4th overall despite my issues so I just rode to keep the bike on the track and try not to take any risks. I was also getting a headache as I hadn’t been eating or drinking like I should’ve. With a bit over an hour to go I came in ready to stop racing as negative thoughts were really hitting me but after a quick chat with Pete Selkrig who gave me some panadol for the headache I headed back out for another 3 laps. It was about halfway through the first of these laps that everything clicked and I was riding well for the first time all race, no running wide and I got some flow going through sections that I was struggling with earlier. It was going that well that my last lap was almost 6 minutes quicker than the one that I came in ready to quit.
I ended up limiting the damage for the overall with 5th place as Garry James came past in the last hour. I thought he was lapping me but he had had brake issues earlier on and was coming back through the field. I managed to win my age category which has pretty much got that sewn up for the series with 3 wins and a 2nd. As for the GC, Alex managed to claw back 30 points on me so the final round at Mount Annan will be a great race between us. Bring it on!
Malachi Covington – 4hr Junior Male
This race was great but hard in some points. The first lap was very cold for a starting lap and I went very well getting a feel for how harsh and rough the course was. The last section off the course going to the transition area and finish line was very technical having a steep ascent through Short Meadows, with a couple of rock gardens and tree roots making it a very tough climb. Another section that was very tough was ‘The Drop off’. It was tall and steep descent but chose to ride the B-line which is unfortunately called ‘The Chicken Run’ – There’s no shame though, as there were grown men and women opting for this line. After my fifth and final lap my arms were hurting so much after 4hrs of riding by myself, especially since I just had vaccinations the day before and being a road cyclist transitioning to mountain biking it was very hard on my upper body. Overall I came third in the under 18’s 4hr Male solo, and with still only being 12, this result felt great. It was a really great, and enjoyable race and I can’t wait till the next round at Mount Annan!
The series will cap in July at Mt Annan. Set in the beautiful surroundings of the Botanical Gardens, it’s a challenging, techy course, with its fair share of pinchy climbs and awesome man made burms and table tops.
