Can we entice you into our DIRTY 10-YEAR AFFAIR ? - The 2014 Camelbak Highland Fling
Can we entice you into our dirty 10-year affair on 8 & 9 November 2014?
LESS THAN ONE MONTH TO GO!
CAN WE ENTICE YOU INTO OUR DIRTY 10-YEAR AFFAIR ON 8 & 9 NOVEMBER 2014?
There’s less than one month to go until the tenth running of the CamelBak Highland Fling – one of Australia’s largest and most challenging mountain bike marathons; plus this year the fourth and final race in the inaugural Maverick Marathon Series.
As always, the competition to take line honors in The Fling will be fierce with some of Australia’s best riders taking to the start line. Swell-Specialized rider Shaun Lewis will be defending his Maverick Series leader’s jersey whilst hoping to be first over the line, something he has not managed as yet in the Series. While three consecutive second places has been enough to keep him in the lead, he is keen to finish the Series with a win. But we’re sure teammate Andy Blair will be out to make his tenth Fling, his first Fling win.
In the female race, Naomi Hansen will be fired up, needing to stay ahead of Cristy Henderson to hang onto her Maverick Series leader jersey. While they fight it out for the Series, we’re sure there’s a few other women in the field, including 2013 Full Fling winner Peta Mullens, returning to defend her title, who’ll be hoping to take the win and not let the Maverick Series competitors have all the podium glory on the day.
Outside of the elite field there’ll be plenty of race action across the categories, and from the main field of weekend warriors who return annually to challenge themselves against their previous years results.
Speaking of weekend warriors, one great story shared this week was from Dale Klemke who will be riding his 10th Fling in 2014…on the same bike he rode in the first Fling (a 2003 Elsworth Truth). He did assure us it has been through a few iterations (he’s changed the brakes) but that he couldn’t really bring himself ride anything else to celebrate ten years of Flinging. This is such an achievement; to not only ride and finish every Fling, but to do them all on the same bike. Legend!
The Fling is also more than just one race. It’s a whole weekend of mountain bike love.
Competitors can ease into racing with the Rolloff World Championship – the only race where regular riders really do stand a chance to beat the best-of-the-best. How do you win this prestigious world title? Simply push-off, tuck-in, and be the rider who rolls the furthest…no pedaling allowed!
From one extreme to the other, the second race of the weekend will see riders push themselves to the limit with the fast and furious Ravensworth Bundanoon Dash. This 6km loop has a record of less than 10 minutes! If you do the math and think that’s not too bad, keep in mind the Dash finishes up a 400m long hill with an average gradient of 12% – and some sections well over 25%.
The CamelBak Highland Fling Headline Sponsor CamelBak, along with our other sponsors Specialized, Ground Effect, Shimano, GU, Schwalbe and Magellan will all be showcasing their latest bike bling and Fling special offers across the weekend. And of course riders can look forward to great prizes like a bike from Specialized and an incredible Vietnam by Bike tour from our latest sponsor, World Expeditions, plus many others throughout the day too.
Registration into the CamelBak Highland Fling is open until Monday 3 November 2014. ENTER HERE
Images and text : Wild Horizons
