Port to Port starts with a bang!

Mountain bike events come and go, and when the organisers of the Cape to Cape said they were setting up a sister event in the east there was a mix of joyous rapture and head scratching. NSW and the East Coast can get a bit low on events, especially now. But could the same success be replicated in the east?

After last year, I think the answer is a resounding yes. Any gremlins with course design had been squashed, and finishing the four days in a diverse mix of terrain was very satisfying. But there was more change afoot, as the 2018 route has a number of tweaks.

Stage 1: Audrey Wilkinson Winery | 45.3km – 1236m

Look at those numbers – that's a fair bit of climbing! From the early morning sunshine of Audrey Wilkinson Winery, the race would head up and out of the valley. But that wasn't going to be before the general chit chat, coffee guzzling, portaloo door slamming and suspension checking that happens before any mountain bike event.

With the elite riders slotted into the start chute, questions were asked. Who could win? Could Brendan Johnston defend his 2017 title? Could Kathryn McInerney defend hers? Were we really going all the way up there? Do I need a jacket?

When the race rolled out and the neutral car pulled off, the thing that was apparent was Michael Potter's talent. Having signed to a road team for 2018, he's got some big races on the horizon, including the road World Championships in Austria. He even admitted that his last time on his mountain bike was the World Championships in Cairns!

"That first climb was pretty tough, the bunch definitiely blew to bits up there with Potter and Tasman Nankervis really put the power down," said Cam Ivory after the race.

"I think I was with them for maybe three-quarters of the climb and then I watched them ride away from me. Brendan Johnston had dropped off and Mick Harris was with me."

The climb was causing chaos! At the same time, Holly Harris rode away solo, working her way well inside the top 30 overall.

Potter and Nankervis entered the singletrack together, riding the lump moto trails fast enough for Potter to earn himself the KOM on that seciton. Not bad for his first ride on a mountain bike for a while.

"I caught the first two in the singletrack thankfully," said Ivory post race. The singletrack was narrow, steep, off camber, dusty, rutted and in general – a whole lot of fun. It punished small mistakes as the trail amplified any error, but for the most part when you had the right line and good speed it was just awesome! Maybe not so much if you were in a big group, and there certainly was some traffic further back. Sections of the trail were mixed with fire trail, before we pointed back downhill quite often on what we had climbed up.

"By the final 5km Trekky (Johnston) was back with us," said Ivory after the race. They came into the winery together, facing a steep sealed road to the finish. "I hit out at the bottom, backing myself coming into the short uphill finish." As he has the XCE, XCO and XCM national titles at the moment, it's a fair decision to back himself!

Ivory won the stage with Potter 2nd and Nankervis 3rd. Johnston was in 4th then it was a bout a minute gap to the next riders. Find the full results here.

Holly Harris took off on the start climb, working to put a big gap into her rivals. "I really liked the climb so I thought I'd try to get a bit ahead there. Then I just sort of hung on," Holly confided.

"It got a bit sketchy out in the singletrack and everyone sort of exploded. So I rode my own pace. Then I broke my wheel and I was a bit cautious as I've been having so many mechanicals lately. It was fine in the end, I was just being a drama queen!"

It was just a broken spoke, and in the 2nd half of the race Holly was still flying uphill but descending like a feather, to nurse her bike home to the stage win and about a 6 minute lead over Jessica Simpson, with Kathryn McInerney in 3rd.

"I wasn't expecting it so I'm really happy," said Harris. And the trails?

"The trails were like backyard trails that you ride at home. Loose and raw! I couldn't wipe the smile off my face I just loved it!"

And that's what a lot of people thought. The singletrack was far from groomed, but if you were riding well it was a blast. Tired and frustrated? Well then you might have got a bit grumpy.

Tomorrow we head to Mt Sugarloaf and climb above Killingsworth before taking in the classic trails there. The riding and racing should be great – we can't wait to see how it unfolds.