No change of reign on the Elite top steps of the JetBlack 12 Hour race as school teachers Jason English and Charlie McCabe claim the 2016 race wins at Mowbray Park Farm. For the first time the iconic event was 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 overall line honours went to the Quantum Racing Team with 37 laps on the 7.5km course.
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. We kept monitoring the trail conditions throughout the race and made slight amendments to the course and fixed up sections that were getting too muddy – we had a great marshalling crew out there”, 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.
“We had to go around some very muddy and wet sections and let the riders choose a direct line towards the entry to the section of singletrail that was dry on the high side of the paddock”, explained Wisata. “We had the idea when setting up the track and it gave the race start an exciting twist”, he concluded.
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 by Jason Moxham who runs Fizo Cycling, supporting Jason English as well.
“While wrenching and racing, I was also looking after our team, which also kept me busy. Thankfully the day went smoothly. [..] The biggest thanks goes to our team of dedicated, hard working, awesome riders”, said a content team manager Moxham. Four category first places including English and McCabe as well as a third and fifth place round up a successful weekend for the 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.com
Link: JetBlack 12 Hour Results Portal
Link: JetBlack 12 Hour race pics by Outer Image Collective
Photos: OuterImageCollective
Photos may be used online only for coverage of the this media release with image credits. To obtain more extensive usage rights, contact OuterImageCollective.
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