Feature

Beemac beasts McKayos!

The third time is a charm up at Falls Creek for the McKayos race - bring on 2018 already!

AMB Magazine 07.10.2017

Third time’s a charm

The Mckayos gravity enduro race in Falls Creek could be seen as trying to emulate the grand races of Europe such as Mega Avalanche or Mountain of Hell. After the slushy snow of last year, it seemed doubtful that those lofty heights could be reached. It wasn’t that last year was bad, many people were incredibly amped after last year’s race. Riders unable to get over to Europe really felt they were a part of the big mountain enduro culture, even if there was some running involved. But this year was different, this year riders truly were a part of that culture.

After an epic snow season the 2017 edition was pushed back a few weeks, which would ultimately be a good problem to have. The deep snow meant Mount McKay, which Mckayos gets in name from, would not be used but an alternative start was chosen just above the Cloud Nine lift station. A race like this is very dependent on the weather gods delivering a good ‘freeze’ overnight to harden the snow.

Up we go!

I’m no skier so I don’t know what good skiing snow is, but from what I know, I doubt skiers would have liked the perfectly hardened snow that was on offer for the 2017 Mckayos. But mountain bikers definitely do!

The snow this year was epic. Somehow the icy hard snow gave grip to tyres and let riders tuck to max speed out the start gate and then hook into the first few corners at full gas! The sections through the Falls Creek village were just as fast with stairs and fast road sections thrown in. Then the real mountain biking started.

The finest Falls Creek singletrack took riders out of town and into the valley. Up to two metres of snow had to be dug out to uncover the ribbons of dirt beneath and every rider was incredibly grateful for it.

Snaking through corridors of snow the singletrack really added to the other sections to create the kind of race the organisers had aspired for. In the men’s elite, the race really started after the singletrack.

The top three came together on the fire road climb with Chris Panozzo and Ben Mcilroy being joined by Sebastian Jayne (Me). After the main climb, it was into a super-fast fire road descent with small climbs along the way. Positions changed into the first few corners of the descent as I attacked to the front and both Chris and Ben responded in kind with an epic inside move a moment later. Those positions would hold until the creek crossing where Chris took to the water and I took the bridge.

The creek crossings would play a big role!

Ben was already off, but with the water being so deep it slowed Chris enough for me to sneak in front. And that was how the top three was decided with the creek crossing playing a part to an extent.

Lisa Brydon beat Julia Boer down the hill be over 3 minutes, with Ebony Tanzen the 3rd elite woman over the line less than 2 minutes behind Julia. However it was Masters racer Rebecca Feltrin who was 3rd overall. Full results are on the next page.

Around the sausage sizzle after the race, the creek crossing would come up often, as well as the super-fast descent, epic single trail and amazing snow conditions. These conversations will no doubt continue for another year until the next one. Will the next be as good as this year’s? No one can tell, but if only one in three is as good as this year, it will be worth trying!