English and McCabe reign at JetBlack 12hr
Jason English and Charlie McCabe claimed the 2016 race wins at Mowbray Park Farm on the weekend, held in Picton where 250 mountain bikers from all over NSW and the ACT assembled for a gruelling 12 hours of racing across on the lush grounds of the picturesque farm.
The JetBlack 12 hours had a break in the spring rains last weekend, and riders flooded to Mowbray Park Farm to sample the trails, atmosphere – and of course go elbow to elbow for some action packed racing.
Not only did Jason English, the 24 Hour Solo World Champion from Port Macquarie, complete 32 laps in 11:28:06 hours, but he also raced into the top ten overall among all competing teams as a solo racer. As such, Jason English added a seventh JetBlack 12 Hour title to his collection.
"This is one of my staple races of the year", English said. "I had great support by my crew this weekend, the Pivot 429 bike rolled perfectly and I kept up the energy food and hydration to fend off the strong competition out there." Sam Moffitt came in second place with a gap of just under an hour to English and on 32 laps as well; fellow Canberran endurance race Aaron Thompson finished in third with 30 laps in 11:51:56 hours.
The trails at Mowbray Park Farm are open to visitors of the farm only and many of the race participants stayed in the farm houses on-site. The trails were in great condition, considering the wet weather leading up to the event said Race Director Martin Wisata from events promoter Rocky Trail Entertainment, who have been running this event since 2009. "The trails here lend themselves well to such a long endurance race as riders do get a few flat sections to recover across the paddocks. It's still a challenging course with a fair bit of climbing though", he added.
The race atmosphere was very social with the teams of four the biggest category and a good number of junior riders at the start. Again, the Rocky Trail crew proofed that they like to shake things up – for the first time they challenged the riders to a "mega avalanche-style" mass race start. All riders were released down a meadow towards the entry into a narrow singletrail and onto the race track.
Elite Female title defended
Charlie McCabe from the Central Coast added a second JetBlack 12 Hour win to her racing achievements. The 30-year old school teacher from Wamberal clocked in 23 laps in 11:43:07 hours, this year racing under a new sponsor with the MacArthur Design and Drafting Team.
"Nothing beats a race weekend away with good friends! It was a super mud fest, thick gluey mud, slippery mud, wet mud and more mud. I took out first in elite female whilst my partner Max [Richardson] got 5th in elite male. We both gave it everything we had and are now one step closer to the National 24 solo event in October [in Canberra]", said an excited McCabe.
In second place was Leah Childs from Wingello with 21 laps in 11:35:21 hours and in her first 12-hour endurance event, Claudia Fiess from the Northern Beaches raced onto the third place with a gap of about 40 minutes to Childs.
The JetBlack 12 Hour was Rocky Trail's final cross-country racing event for 2016. Two more gravity events will finalise the season with the RedAss Downhill Enduro Series finale in Lithgow mid-October as well as the Fox Rollercoaster Superflow Championships at Ourimbah MTB Park in Wyong on 20 November. With a venue yet to be confirmed the first cross-country event in 2017 will be the JetBlack 24 Hour event mid-February.
For detailed results and event information visit www.rockytrailentertainment.
