2013 UNE 12 Hours in the Piney 23/3

Post date: Mar 24, 2013 1:10:48 AM

What and event! UNE 12 Hours in the Piney has come and gone. Saturday March 23 saw an epic mountain biking event on the trails of the Armidale State Forest, otherwise known as “The Piney”. The new race transition area, located at the council-owned Charleston Willows grounds, was alive with an electric atmosphere that had all competitors and supporters raving.

The Red Bull Wings Team was there. The girls were kept busy as they gave away their products to anyone and everyone. Norco Bikes and Merida Bikes had stalls and heaps of demo bikes that many people tested. There were heaps of give-aways with Merida shirts and Shotz nutrition top of the list.

The canteen was popular with the fantastic food from staff and parents from Drummond Memorial Public School doing a great job. Altitude Coffee had their van set up and kept the riders going. A real bonus this year was having Greg Manttan from Altitude Bikes on site with his bike workshop. He was kept very busy.

The transition area was bounded by two big green blow-up arches. One from major sponsor UNE and the other from Merida. The transition area was filled with nerves as the various riders waited for their teammates to come in. Then it was their turn to hit the track.

As the event unfolded, a few surprises appeared on the track. At the top of Snakes and Ladders a musical duo were performing, entertaining the riders as they went past. Later, at the very top of the rocky hill, two bag pipers were playing.

As night fell the action continued. Riders donned lights and continued to hit the trails. It was quite spectacular to see the bright lights meandering over the countryside. Some of the younger NEMTB members set 500 multi-coloured glow sticks in the pine trees at the entry to big dog’s den. More than 1 rider turned their lights off for a while to gaze at this magical sight!

Finally 10 pm came and the race was over.

The 13 km track was well received by the riders with its variety of styles. There’s plenty of rocks and roots. But at the same time there are fast and flowy sections where riders can really pick up speed. Add to this the many structures, both wooden and rock, that need to be negotiated. After 12 hours most riders has aching bodies and smiles on their faces.

In the end there were 202 riders that competed. This is the 3^rd year that New England Mountain Bikers (NEMTB) has run this event and it continues to grow.

Results

The winner in the Solo Male division was Jason English with 16 laps of the 13 km course. Some of the teams also completed 16 laps, but Jason completed his in a quicker time to take overall bragging rights. This victory was expected as Jason is the current World Solo 24 Hour Champion. Sean Bekkers was 2^nd (14 laps) with Anthony Bamford 3^rd (11 laps).

The Solo Female winner was Catherine Wood (12 laps) from Deidre Tully (9 laps) and Joanne Tulk (6).

The winner of the 40+ Solo men was Jamie Vogel (13 laps) from Mark Wood (12 laps) and Bill Perrottet (11 laps).

The Male Pairs was hotly contested with the top 3 teams completing 16 laps. The winning team was “Red Rocket” from “Captain Amazing and the Kundy Kid” and “No Name”. The Male 40+ Pairs was won by “AAA Downunder” (15 laps) from “Boo Boo and Yogi”. The Mixed Pairs was won by “Bullrouts” from “Muzza and son get it done”. Both teams completed 12 laps.

The Male Team-of-4 category was won by “Caos” (15 laps) with the Mixed team-of-4 taken out by “Team Sorering” (15 laps). The Male 40+ fours had two hot teams completing 16 laps with “Jacks” just pipping “Taree Tip Riders” for the win.

Finally there were two junior races. The full lap race over 8 hours was taken out by “Hammerheads” (10 laps) from “Cropdusters” (9 laps) and “Smash” (9 laps). The short kids race was a success with all the riders being named winners.

Full results can be found on the below.

These results have been collated to reflect categories that needed to be combined based on numbers. Attached below are pdf files containing the raw results by category as per the recording package. Thank you all for your patience and consideration of the timing team as well as to all those who volunteered to help out in the timing tent. Cheers Michael.