THREE Bathurst mountain bike riders put it all on the line as they battled the testing terrain and competed in the 2018 Mountain Bike Cross Country (XCO) NSW State Championships in Orange on Sunday.
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Lake Canobolas Mountain Bike Park hosted the Cross Country Olympic (XCO) rounds featuring a range of races held on a 5.6 kilometre circuit.
Bathurst cyclist Laura Renshaw claimed a podium finish in the Women’s Masters 1/2 (30-39 age group) with a third placing in a time of one hour, four minutes and 35 seconds. The top three were engaged in a close battle, separated by only four minutes.
Overall, Renshaw finished 16th position in the women’s category. Renshaw rallied back after a poor first lap of the course, coming back from 21st after lap one to 16th by the end.
Fellow Bathurst rider Toireasa Gallagher also performed well with a fifth placing in the Women’s Master’s 1/2 and in 19th overall for the women’s category.
Given its grueling nature it was normal to see riders get tired as the event went on and it looked as if the same would happen to Gallagher.
She had dropped down to 27th position heading into the final lap, but powered home climbing back up to 19th position.
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In the Men’s Elite category Craig Hutton finished in 12th place and 22nd overall. Hutton said that it wasn’t the result he was after but enjoyed his time out on the course.
“It wasn’t really the result I was chasing but I am overall happy,” Hutton said.
“We had a new sponsor for the event, so I was trying to get the win for them as well, but it just wasn’t our day.
“Overall it was a really well-run event and was good fun.”
Whilst the ride did not go his way, Hutton was incredibly consistent across the five laps he completed on the course, with each lap within 22 seconds of his first attempt, with a final time of one hour, 32 minutes and 39 seconds at the end of his five laps of the course.
Hutton excels not just on the mountain bike but also on the road. He is currently preparing to make the switch for upcoming events in the new year as part of the GPM Stulz, his Australian NRS cycling team.
“We have the Nationals coming up in January, so basically I am doing all the preparation to switch from the mountain bike to the road bike,” Hutton said.
The 2018 Mountain Bike Cross Country NSW State Championship is not the first major championship in Orange with the town hosting the Nationals Series the two years prior. This year’s event was successful, attracting 128 riders.
Overall, Charlotte Cluver, Brent Rees, Nick Chisholm and Eddie Willis all claimed first positions in their respective men’s and women’s categories.