The third race in the winter series of races was run on Sunday in magnificent conditions on the fast trails at the Armidale State Forest.  The mountain bikes sure were flying as conditions were perfect and dry.  The highlight was the number of new riders who participated and the number of juniors.   There were nearly 50 riders competing.  Riders were able to choose to ride the full 11 km black track or the smoother 6 km green track.

Here are the results for the riders who rode the black track.

The winner in the open men’s race was David Harris who completed his 3 laps of the black track in a time of 1 hour 36 min and 5 sec.  His first lap of 30:36 sets a new record for the black track!  Second was Peter Hosking (1:39:02) from president Ben Harris (1:41:51) and Steve Chapman (1:41:54).

Jo Benham won the open women’s race (3 laps in 1:56:02) from Shireen Brunckhorst and Nina Stone.

The under 19 male division was one of the closest fought races.  It was won by Michael Harris (3 laps in 1:54:01) from Sam Hutton (1:54:32) and Clarry Butcher (1:55:38).

The women’s under 19 race was won by Winona Rumble who continues to impress as she rode her 3 laps in a time of 2:15:20.

On the green track, the men’s race was won by Paul Cornall with Barb Hosking winning the women’s race from Jackie Munday.

There was loads of competition in the Under 15 male’s race with many riders lapping with similar times.  The eventual winner was Kyrill Ho who completed 4 laps of the green track in a time of 1:18:11.  This was just in front of Jack Feltham (1:18:15) with Kayne Gasbarri 3^rd (1:25:16) and Angus Gasbarri 4^th (1:25:17).

Katherine Hosking won the women’s under 15’s race (4 laps in 1:20:24) from her sister Bella Hosking.

The next Winter Series race will be on June 24^th at Robber’s Run, which is half way between Armidale and Guyra.  It is a special event with two segments: a hill climb and a super D decent timed as separate races.  Riders of all abilities and ages are welcome to attend.  Between now and then are three rides down the coast at Nambucca, Port Macquarie and Taree.  See the NEMTB website for more information www.nemtb.com.au.