Singletrack Mind Series

The Chocolate Wrapper - 2012 SRAM Singletrack Mind Series Round 4 Event Report

Dear Singletracker

Wasn't that kinda different! Welby was the third new venue for 2012 and again it looks like it was a winner! We hope you loved the variety, challenge and outright toughness of the course and also appreciated the ease of access from Sydney/Wollongong/Canberra and proximity to good food and accommodation options ... that said, we had a luke warm pizza dinner and slept in the Choccy Foot van, so we hope the conditions were slightly more luxurious for you!

With a strong field entered the racing was, as ever, super close and exciting right to the end. You can find the race report here and there's already a stack of blogs about the race all collected here.

Again our fantastic sponsors supported the event with displays and services from SRAM Neutral Service, Giant, Hammer Nutrition, Zerofive Custom Sportswear, Mountain Biking Australia magazine, Muc-Off, Jimmy Jack Wines and Cycology, all showing their fine wares or fixing bikes. We are stoked to have such awesome support at the events and exclusively the Welby round was chosen by SRAM Australia to be the first public showing of their brand new XX1 groupset! The Olympic gold medal winning 11-speed technology certainly had riders interested along with the Rise 60 carbon wheels, XO Trail twin piston brakes and Reverb dropper post with internal hose routing! Plenty of bling to get the gear freaks drooling!

The exclusives didn't stop there as Giant brought along a range of their 2013 bikes. They'd only been unveiled two days earlier at an exclusive launch in Sydney and on race day Singletrack Mind competitors were invited to test ride the bikes. Needless to say, the new XTC, Anthem and Trance demo bikes proved to be very, very popular!

Possibly just as popular was race mascot Gumby! He must have been spreading the word about how much fun these events are as his horse Pokey joined us for Round 4! They want everyone to have a "super swell time" while racing and did a great demonstration about passing etiquette, posed for photos with just about everyone, and quite possibly freaked out a few kids!

Speaking of the little ones, the kids race was again full of giggles, tears, crashes and triumph! While the hotly contested Kenda Quoits competition was surprisingly gripping ... for a game that consists of a tyre and a stick! Ah, the simple pleasures ...

Congratulations to all the category winners and place getters for their awesome efforts on such a tough course, walking away with over $13,000 in cash and prizes from our fantastic sponsors SRAM, Avid, RockShox, Truvativ, Serfas, Giant, Cycology, Hammer Nutrition, Jimmy Jack wine, Aussie Butt Cream, Kenda, Frameskin, Mountain Biking Australia magazine, Keep It Together and Muc-Off! Congratulations also to Craig Kramer who walked away with a $1500 voucher from Giant, and to Daniel Braid who went home with the very blingy SRAM RISE 40 wheelset worth $750.

Results, Photos & Reports

Preliminary results, including Female & Male 20 fastest laps, are up on the website. Please take a look and let us know if anything is incorrect! Series Points will be updated in the next few days.

Event photographer and lensman extraordinaire Dave Bateman took some fantastic shots – check them out in the Gallery. There are also a bunch of great shots from vollie Josh Nicholson including loads of the kids' race, so if your child was competing make sure you check these out!

Thank You

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who assisted in the successful running of the event:

• Southern Highlands Cycle Club – A huge thank you to our host club and massive props for developing Welby into what it is now. A special thank you to the wonderful Meg Patey and course director Brenden Den for all their hard work, making the day and the course so great.

• Riders - thanks for helping create the fun and positive vibe that these events are known for. We’re totally stoked that you guys are doing your best to obey Rule # 34!

• Good Samaritans – Thanks to everyone who stopped to offer assistance to other riders due to injury or mechanicals.

• Dave Bateman – our Series photographer who always delivers outstanding images.

• Steve Martin for his fantastic, live-to-the-web, transponder timing service, ably assisted by SHCC members

• St John Ambulance – The volunteers of the St John Ambulance give up their weekends so that you can have a safe and enjoyable time. Thanks for your tireless work and enthusiasm!

• Volunteers – We couldn't have done this without our wonderful volunteers! You’re all awesome! Thanks to Jason, Addie, Kelly, Gumby, Pokey and, last but not least, Josh, our Serial super-vollie who we’d be lost without. You guys rock!

• Peter and Simona from Snax on Trax had the coffee and food cranking from early and kept you and us fueled all day with a variety of tasty treats. The ginger and cinnamon cupcakes were a real highlight!

• Water - Thanks to Aquamann Irrigation for suppling us a tonne of water! They're good guys who ride, so see them for any of your water, irrigation or garden needs.

Lost and Found

Most of the lost property we got actually made its way back its owners during the race but if you lost some gear at the race we might just have it here – let us know what you’re missing. 

Putting our best foot forward …

The next round is set to be a huge one as bonus points are on offer for Round 5 at the Central Tablelands village of Rydal near Lithgow. The twisty track is being extended and buffed in preparation of another 8 hours of Singletrack bliss. Rydal Showground is our event centre providing dust-free facilities, proper toilets, tap water and even hot showers! Check out the event info here.

That's it for our event wrap the "Chocolate Wrapper"! Look forward to seeing you at Rydal next month.

Cheers

Joe & Fi