Tough trails keep riders on their toes

Cyclists were greeted by blazing sunshine at last weekend’s Down South MTB Festival.

More than 400 participants competed in the two-day event on the trails around the Dunsborough and Districts Country Club.

Dunsborough Cycle Club president Richard Renn said the feedback from some of the State’s top riders was very positive.

“They were overwhelmed by the quality of the trails that now exist around the country club, ” he said.

“We got so many compliments about the work that’s been done in the last 12 months.”

Perth’s David Nairn was fastest over nine laps in Saturday’s three-hour endurance race with a time of 3hr 14min. 17sec.

Tuart Hill’s Claire Garcia was fastest female over seven laps with a time of 3:03:56.

In Sunday’s 28km team relay challenge Bikesheds Perth Crew were the fastest with 1:30:15.

Perth rider Jordan Prochyra was the fastest male in the 1km sprint with 1:46.1, while Forest Grove’s Ingrid Fuhrmann was the fastest female with 2:14.9.

Gelorup’s Leon Doret managed to cycle 49.75m in the log challenge and Caversham’s Stefanie Van Amerongen completed 25.25m to win the women’s category.

“The weather was unusually fantastic following the rain and storms of previous years, ” Renn said.

“We set out to involve as many people as possible — not just serious riders — and we achieved that.

“We’ve made a three-year commitment to the City of Busselton and we’re looking to grow it to 1000 riders in that time.”

The festival got the thumbs up from many competitors, such as under-19s’ male national cross country mountain bike champion Reece Tucknott.

“I found the course to be deceptively challenging whilst still being lots of fun, ” he said.

“It had lots of variety in terms of trail features and dirt type.”

Under-17s female national cross country mountain bike champion Sarah Tucknott said she liked the “challenging rock features that kept you on your toes each lap”.

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