AMB 100
"While this wasn't the first time that the race had run, it was the first time this lap based marathon by Rocky Trail Entertainment was sponsored by Australian Mountain Bike magazine - and so the AMB 100 was born!
“While this wasn’t the first time that the race had run, it was the first time this lap based marathon by Rocky Trail Entertainment was sponsored by Australian Mountain Bike magazine – and so the AMB 100 was born!
If you haven’t ridden at Mt Stromlo, you might find it hard to understand the challenge that the race presents. While we all love riding single track, and the Mt Stromlo Forest Park is full of it, riding endless kilometres of singletrack, fast, can catch up with you. The descents are infamous, and anyone who has ridden there will have fond memories of Party Line, Pork Barrel, The Luge, Skyline, Double Dissolution… the list goes on. Yet there is a challenge for every reward, and Mt Stromlo, as the name suggests, has plenty of climbs.
Marathon racing, such as the AMB 100, is about challenging yourself. And with so many distances available to race thanks to a long lap (25km on the day, due to the extreme heat) that ranged from 1, 2, 3 or 5 laps – there really was something for everyone.
The 5 lap race, although not 100 miles, is a hard undertaking, and racers left at 5am, which allows for a dawn lap and hopefully a finish before the sun got too hot. Ed McDonald defended his title, with his third win, and was even home for lunch, such was his speed.
The men’s and women’s elite three lap race had stacked fields, and Jarrod Hughes was one of the many blue flashes in the field, but did happen to be the fastest rider out there in the Onyabike team clothing. The racing between Hughes, Lewis Cressy and Aaron Bashford shows how strong the men’s marathon fields are – with less than a minute separating the podium. Milly Brent lead the field, using her local knowledge on the technical descents to sneak away from second placed Naomi Hansen (Suabru-MarathonMTB.com) who had flown down from Noosa for the event. Lana Moy was 3rd, and although the women’s podium wasn’t as close as the men’s it was still competitive considering a National XCO race was held on the same weekend in Victoria.
The day was hot, but spirits were high and everyone we saw was happy to be there racing on the trails. We had plenty of Czech beer on hand that was in rapidly melting ice, so hopefully you came past the AMB tent to say G’day and pick up a drink. Hope to see you all at another event soon.”
Results can be found here
Photos Gallery can be found below courtesy Jason Dreggs
Mike Blewitt
Editor
Australian Mountain Bike magazine
