2014 Subaru Australian National Observed Trials Championships “Best Nationals ever!”

Andrew-Dickey

The 2014 Subaru National MTB Championships was held over the long weekend 7^th – 10^th March in the beautiful Victorian town of Bright. The first thing that was apparent upon arrival at the event was the amazing Observed Trials course right in the centre of the event village. MTBA, The Alpine Cycling Club, and local volunteers had clearly been hard at work in the weeks leading up to the event to create a truly world class Trials course. The “sections” had to be created from scratch, as there was no suitable terrain in the area to utilise for the Observed Trials component of the Nationals. The course included logs, concrete pipes, earthmoving tyres, and apple crates, in clever configurations to provide a challenging and fun course for the competitors, and spectacular entertainment for onlookers.

Nathan-Mummery

For those of you not familiar with Trials, the aim of the game is to make it through each section of terrain without putting a foot down. Each time a rider touches the ground or obstacle with their foot, they are given a penalty point (“dab”). The rider at the end of the day with the fewest points wins. No practice runs are allowed, only inspection of the sections on foot – so you see a lot of clambering over obstacles and discussion of lines prior to the event. The riders attempt each section one at a time, with careful “observation” by the course judges (hence the name – Observed Trials!).

joe-brewer

In the Elite grade, which his split into two divisions – 20” and 26”, 2014 saw a clean-sweep of Victorian riders taking home the trophies. In fact the same riders were on the podium in 20” as in 26” – albeit in a different order! Nathan Mummery, who finished 16^th at the 2013 World Championships in South Africa, took home the Bronze medal in 20”, and Silver in 26”. Joe Brewer (2009 8^th place, Canberra World Championships) dominated in the 20”, taking a clear victory. In 26” however Joe made a couple of crucial errors in Qualification, which could not be recovered from – even with a totally “clean” (no penalties) Final, placing 3^rd. Multiple time Australian Champion and Youtube sensation Andrew Dickey took 2^nd in 20”, and the Gold medal in the prestigious 26” division after a nail biting finish which saw Andrew almost over the handlebars on the last obstacle on the day – which would have cost him the championship!

Janine Jungfels

In the Women’s division, multiple Australian Champion, World Cup Gold medallist and Bronze medallist in the 2013 World Championships, Janine Jungfels (Qld) once again took the honours, having competed in the Expert class and finishing in 2^nd place (against the men!). Janine is already in preparation for her World Cup and World Champs campaign and we wish her the best of luck in Europe this year!

Andrew-Dickey

Course designer, MTBA Observed Trials Rep, and Australia’s largest importer of Trials bikes, Owen Gwilliam was delighted with the event, “This new 3 day schedule, and qualification then final format, which we borrowed from the UCI World Cup events has proven to be a huge success! Trials has a limited following here in Australia, especially when compared with Spain and France – where it is a well known and popular discipline, yet we have some truly world class riders, which is awesome. To have run an event on par with a World Cup in terms of sections and format is an achievement I am really proud of. I’d like to thank MTBA, the Alpine Cycling Club, and the volunteers who made it all happen – and most of all the riders who attended – without them we’d have nothing!”

For information on getting started in Observed Trials, competition calendars and results – check out www.biketrials.com.au