Canberra speedster Andy Blair turned up the heat on local riders to capture the Frosty Feet MTB Enduro title at Tathra on the weekend.
Blair continued his love affair with the south coast trails winning the 3hr Enduro by a comfortable 18 minutes from fellow Canberran Ryan Gormly, with Pambula’s Toby Stewart third.
Under sunny skies the trio completed 10 laps of the Doolagharl singletrack – or 67.5km – in the allotted three hours – with Blair notching up the fastest lap time of 17minutes.06 seconds over the 6.75km circuit.
The win was Blair’s second three hour victory, after winning a similar event staged at the Bermagui Mountain Bike Park earlier in the year.
“I like rough and rocky trails, so the tracks on the south coast suit me,” said 32-year-old Blair. “Compared to Canberra they are raw, a bit looser and I find it a bit more exciting to race on.”
Blair, a former international World Cup racer, also took time during the race to encourage the younger riders like Stewart .
“It was awesome to race a few laps early with the young fellers and teach them about race craft and give them some encouragement.”
Blair was not the only rider to shine in the event – which attracted a field of 63.
Encouragingly there were over 30 local riders, many racing for the first time, along with riders from Melbourne, Orbost, Bateman’s Bay, Cooma and Canberra.
In a fitting result for Father’s Day, the father and son combination of David and Andrew Hall of Brogo won the men’s open pairs, ahead of Tathra dads Chris Korvin and Ross Levido.
Bega’s Bob Britten and Rob Gordjin placed second and third in the men’s over 45s.
The Junior Pairs was won by the local combination of Roly Stewart and Charlie Todd, and the High School Triples was secured by Ryan Crowley, Jed Lambie and Lewis McCartney.
Whilst not scoring a podium finish, Bermagui’s Joshua Humphries was the second highest placed local in the highly competitive open men’s field. He placed sixth overall completing nine laps in the three hours.
Eden’s Jo Clark was the best placed local female in fourth in the open women’s division, one lap behind winner Libby Adamson (8 laps).
In the children’s races – Tathra’s Curtis Woodley grabbed victory in the 1km showdown from Nimmity Ford and Jorja Robbers. Bega’s Sebastian Weber was victorious in the 3km event.
For results click here - Overall Results and Lap Times.
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Posted by Jane Corben - Monday, September 05, 2011
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