One of the major mountain bike races in the region was held by the New England Mountain Bikers (NEMTB) on Sunday. The race, called Attitude at Altitude, is our local leg of the competitive Mid North Coast series. In this series riders from all over the north east of NSW compete in 7 races over winter. Races have been held in Coffs Harbour, Grafton, Kempsey, Port Macquarie, Nambucca and Taree. The Armidale race is the final race and the cash was handed out to the series winners after this race.
80 riders made the journey to the Armidale Pine Forest and raced in perfect conditions. The 11 km track was fast with all wet areas gone and the whole track cleared with blowers. NEMTB members have been hard at work preparing for this big event.
Local riders really showed the coasties how it was done. There were some great results. David Harris (3 laps in 1:25:58) won the 40 – 49 male section with Peter Hosking (3 laps 1:27:43) second. David was the winner of the whole series. Greg Manttan rode a fantastic race to win the 19 – 29 age males completing his 3 laps in 1 hour 28 mins. The under 19 division was dominated by Armidale riders with Ben Brunckhorst (3 laps in 1:30:15) winning the male division and Holly Harris (3 laps in 1:37:15) winning the girls. Holly won her division for the series. Katherine Hosking (2 laps in 1:40:08) came second in the u15 girls with her sister Bella Hosking (2 laps in 1:54:38 third. Bella was slowed down with a flat tyre near the finish line. Michael Harris (2 laps in 1:13:35) was 4th in the boys under 15’s. He was the winner of the whole series in that age division.
Nina Stone rode three laps for the first time and came second in the 19-29 female division. Her time was 2 hours 26 mins. Stephen Chapman rode strongly in the men’s 30 – 39 division and placed third (3 laps 1:28:21). He was followed by Peter Harris and Ben Harris. Peter won the battle of the brothers this time.
Some other local riders picked up places in the series. This includes Peter Platts and Lisa Harris.
The next race for NEMTB is next Sunday, September 25 with a Winter Series club race being held at Fat Tyre Farm. This great series of tracks is half way between Armidale and Guyra. Check out the website for more information www.nemtb.com.au.
