Rocky Trail Entertainment is one of Australia’s major private cycling events organisers and we are proud of our vibrant community of #rockytrailracers! We have organised more than 250 events in NSW and the ACT across a wide variety of disciplines, including cross-country lap races, MTB marathons and downhill races. With the Superflow races Rocky Trail launched a unique racing concept based on the popular enduro-formats overseas in Australia.
Rocky Trail establishes regional schools mountain bike event on the Gold Coast
Founded by Juliane and Martin Wisata 2008, Rocky Trail HQ is currently based on the NSW Central Coast and our Queensland division is headed up by Jo Parker and Bob Morris, who joined the business in 2018. Both are very experienced event managers and enthusiastic cyclists.
Rocky Trail’s first event in Queensland will be the Gold Coast Schools Mountain Bike Comp in conjunction with Nerang State High School on Friday, 1st November at Nerang National Park.
“We are excited for Rocky Trail Entertainment to establish a regional schools event for us, which will develop our students’ mountain biking skills in a fun environment. This is about developing the sport on a grassroots level and with Rocky Trail we found a strong and very experienced events partner”, says Michael Cooper, the MTB Schools Coordinator for Nerang State High School. He explained that he had been liaising with regional schools that run mountain bike programs to participate in the event.
“Joining Rocky Trail Entertainment I immediately identified the potential for a strong junior development component in their events portfolio”, says Rocky Trail’s Jo Parker, former World Cup MTB Events Manager and active club committee member across various sports. “Based on the Gold Coast I have been working also in the Education Queensland system and this is how the connection to the local school established. From there our event plans started forming quickly. To bolt on the Fox Superflow event on the Sunday was a logical extension – the trails at Nerang will be a great launching platform for Rocky Trail in Queensland”, she added.
Jo Parker, who also acts as a Community Engagement Officer for the “Chicks Who Ride Bikes” advocacy group, also indicated that this regional schools event will be developed into a model that can be rolled out to any region across the State and country.
Rocky Trail launches Fox Superflow in Queensland
The Fox Superflow in Queensland will launch with its main event on Sunday, 3rd November. Established in 2012, the Fox Superflow races have become a series of events across NSW and the ACT, which have been taking the Australian Rocky Trail gravity community by storm. They were ideal for those who are keen to take on an endurance challenge of a different kind, explains Jo Parker.
“I have been involved with the Rocky Trail team for some time now, also in previous roles in the cycling industry and one of the reasons why I joined the team was the fact that it has been clear they really listen to rider feedback and adapt accordingly. They have been running events for over a decade and have established a professional reputation of keeping things serious enough, casual enough, clockwork enough, and fun”, Parker explained. She added that the Fox Superflow in particular offered an event format where riders could leave as much space as they liked in between fellow racers before attacking each trail and this “No start order, no worries” characteristic was what had made these gravity events so popular over the years.
Bob Morris selected the Nerang National Park for the Fox Superflow launch in Queensland.
“I have been travelling with the Fox Superflow across NSW and the ACT for almost two years now and instantly saw the potential for it in Queensland”, the Event Manager said. “These events are accessible for a wide variety of mountain bikers who love that sense of excitement and the adrenaline surge of hitting a race stage, yet still enjoy the social aspect of spending all day out on the trails with the mates or family”, he added.
Morris explained that the Gold Coast MTB Club had been a great supporter in the event planning process and that the trails were ideal for this type of racing. “Rocky Trail picks trails for the Fox Superflow that give the riders that ‘super flowy’ feeling! Each timed section demands different skill sets of the riders – from tricky sections around rocks and tight corners to flowy berms and quick stints that needed pedal power and endurance”, he explained.
About the racing experience Morris said, “These events are unique Australia-wide in that we can offer an awesome day out to a wide range of riders – from elite to amateur racers to families, couples and groups of friends riding together. Rocky Trail refined a very flexible timing system so our events don’t require any start orders and riders can pick the sequence in which to complete the timed race stages themselves. That way, riders of different categories can spend all day riding and racing together.”
Rocky Trail has already confirmed that the crew was working on a whole line-up of more ‘super-flowy’ events in Queensland coming up in 2020!
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