With more than 2,000 entries by 890 #rockytrailracers the 2018 Fox Superflow, sealed by Stan’s Series was concluded at Awaba MTB Park on 11 November. It was the biggest season since Rocky Trail’s inception of this unique event concept, which has been based on the European and North American enduro formats.
Launched in 2012, the Rocky Trail crew had made a very conscious decision to open up this type of racing to a wide variety of mountain bike riders says Juliane Wisata, “After launching enduro-style events with the then so-called ‘Rollercoaster’ in NSW and the ACT, we kept adapting it to the Australian terrain and riding styles and now have a successful series of events that for the first time has overtaken our cross-country events in popularity.”
The unique aspect of Rocky Trail’s Fox Superflow races is that the riders complete a set of timed race tracks without any start orders or cut-off times and in any order they want. “This is the most time and staff-intense racing format that we run and the most stressful with multiple race tracks live at the same time, however, we love that it allows so many different types of riders spend all day out together and that’s what this is all about.”
Wisata also explained that the Fox Superflow, sealed by Stan’s events were as much a fun day out as a proper racing challenge with generally close to 800-1,000 vertical meters across 30-40 kilometers of neutral riding and racing.
First Superflow at Awaba MTB Park
For the first time Rocky Trail had brought a Fox Superflow event to Awaba MTB Park. Managing Director Martin Wisata admitted that the race tracks chosen from the currently existing trail network were not all perfect for this gravity event, however, that he had wanted to make a point of hosting a race here. “The Hunter Mountain Bike Association is one of the most active clubs in NSW. They have big expansion plans or this park and we want to show our support by bringing this event here, which will be a huge driver for a particular focus on building enduro-style trails. I have no doubt that next year we’ll be spoilt for choice here”, he said.
The Rocky Trail community had his back and the Awaba event had a more than 200 rider strong field.
Junior categories growing
The biggest categories in the Fox Superflow series in 2018 were the junior categories with up to 30-40 riders in the U15 and U17 classifications in each race and one hundred in each for the series. A big growth in the even younger U13’s was stood out with 39 racers in the series as well. At the same time a noticeable spike in the masters explains the countless groups of parents and their kids heading out onto the trails at each Fox Superflow.
“The heckling, the challenging, the amicable banter among these riders is just refreshing and wonderful”, said Wisata. At the same time the way these events are run also allowed groups of friends and couples across different categories spend all time together on their bikes. “We have spent and continue to spend a lot of time fine-tuning our race and timing set-ups with the main goal to keep the event as flexible as possible, we want the riders to be in control of their race runs”, Wisata explained.
More than once in the series it was a junior who took out the day’s line honours and this was also the case at Awaba: the U17’s racer Ezra Weatherill from Maitland took out the overall win in 10:59.5 ahead of Michal Kafka (Veterans 30+ winner) and Ben McDonald (Elite Men’s winner). Oliver Arcus (U19’s winner) came in fourth overall ahead of Shane Gillett (Elite runner up).
Blake Nielsen and Cassie Voysey are Elite series winners 2018
In the 2018 series it was Blake Nielsen from Blaxland who took out the series ahead of Jack Dalton from Newcastle and Shane Gillett from the Central Coast. Nielsen claimed two race wins and is a gravity racing icon in NSW and said that he was excited about the series win, “I really like this style of racing and Rocky Trail delivered an amazing diversity of trails across the series.”
In the women’s it was the up and coming young racer Cassie Voysey from Engadine who consistently performed in a competitive field of riders. Sara Mills from Sydney’s North came in second ahead of Lauren Mackertich.
Series winners in the other categories are:
- Junior U13 Male: Alex Lord, Sydney NSW
- Junior U15 Male: Taj Pollard, Avalon Beach NSW
- Junior U17 Male: Jack Herpich, Miranda NSW
- Junior U19 Male: Mitch Benham, Waramanga ACT
- Expert Male: Jason Capenecas, Wongawilli NSW
- Veterans 30+ Male: Kyle Butler, Calwell ACT
- Master 40+ Male: Daniel Segeri, Flynn ACT
- SuperMaster 50+ Male: Dave Mann, Kirrawee NSW
- Hardtail Male: Michael Crummy, Tamworth NSW
- Junior U13 Female: Abbey Kuiper, Jamberoo NSW
- Junior U15 Female: Connor Mielke, Engadine NSW
- Junior U17 Female: Emily O’Brien, Canberra ACT
- Expert Female: Givanna Putri, Sydney NSW
- Veterans 30+ Female: Tash Walter, Canberra ACT
- Master 40+ Female: Kathryn Cox, Canberra ACT
- SuperMaster (50+) Female: Sue Thompson, Gymea Bay NSW
- e-Bike: Tony Robson, Hurlstone Park NSW
The Fox Superflow, sealed by Stan’s Series will return in 2019 with six races and a Championship event.
- 31. March 2019 Thredbo / NSW
- 28. April 2019 TBC
- 2. June 2019 Stromlo / ACT
- 30. June 2019 Awaba MTB Park / NSW
- Championships 21. July 2019 TBC
- 1. September 2019 Ourimbah MTB Park / NSW
- 17. November 2019 Green Valleys MTB Park / NSW
Photo Highlight Reel Awaba
All photos: OuterImage.com.au
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Thank you to our Rocky Trail Crew
A big shout-out to our amazing crew – thank you for always having our backs!
Photos: Outer Image Collective
Crew dressed by: owayo
With thanks to:
and all our 2018 Supporters!
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