Local mountain biking rising star Holly Harris has tasted success, placing first at the U19 XCO (Cross Country Olympic format) in Perth on Saturday, November 19.
The race is the first of four in the National Series and is highly technical, with Holly coming off on the first lap. She managed to regain her composure to claim victory.
This is a remarkable feat, considering Holly is just 16 and was competing with girls who are older than her. She finished her three laps of the 5.5km course in 1 hour 13 mins 11 sec. She was 3 minutes in front of second place.
The course was very tough, with rock gardens, drop offs and chutes. The climbs were steep and long.
Holly’s dad (and coach) David Harris also travelled to Perth and came 5th in the Masters, with some stiff competition. As he had never been placed in a national event, he had to start at the back of the pack. This caused some traffic issues during the initial climbs which are his forte. Dave also came off on one of the tricky rock garden sections. Dave finished his four laps in a time on 1 hr 26 min 12 sec.
On Sunday, both Holly and Dave completed in the XCE (Cross country elimination format) and both came 2nd in each of their classes.
