Round two of the Mo-vember tour of Australia congregated at Glenorchy in Tasmania to find who had the best moustache. Sorry I meant Round 2 of the National Mountain Bike Series for 2006 / 2007. If you removed the bikes from the scene you may just have thought that it was some kind of Mo-vember get together! Riders from all disciplines were sporting various styles of the classic moustache. The most popular among the downhillers had to be the Chopper look with Moshie arguably supporting the best mo of the weekend.

 

 

My mate Mitch and I missed the first day of downhill practice as we only flew in Friday night due to work commitments. However on arrival we were informed that the track was a lot of fun to ride with some really cool sections. First run Saturday confirmed this with a track that gave a mix of everything. The top had a series of tight bermed corners mixed in with off camber straights, lots of loose rocks and a decent sized drop. By midway it was starting to open up with some faster sections that had riders pinning rough straights with trees closing in on either side. Then it was through the rock garden to a full on balls out section that had riders hitting a road gap and keeping the brakes off over an off-camber rooty, rough straight that lead into a fast left. Once out of the trees a series of jumps and berms lead riders to the finish.

 

The track also had some weird sections that had many riders stumped as to why they were included. The left into an uphill rock garden was the main cause of complaint. Then there was the uphill section before the main rockgarden which many riders were struggling to even make to the top. I know these sections really separate the men from the boys as this is where the good riders can make up a lot of time. However most competitors felt these sections broke up the flow of the track too much.

 

 

After downhill practice on Saturday the afternoons proceedings were dominated by mountaincross. The track was definitely well designed by Glen Jacobs with passing opportunities for the entire length of the course. This often lead to impressive passing moves being produced out of nowhere.

 

A good crowd was on hand to watch some very close exciting racing. To keep the atmosphere alive all were informed and entertained by the commentary/comedy duo of Jacobs and Robbie. It looks like the years of talking crap have paid off with these guys as they did a great job and made the event feel very professional.

 

The women’s event was taken out by the unstoppable Caroline Buchanan. However second place Sarsha Huntington is gaining speed every race.

 

The true athlete of the weekend has to go to Rick James (real name Franzolini). He went down in the sport men final finishing fourth. He then proceeded to down three Bundy Bears while watching the remaining racing. Out of nowhere an announcement was made that the final had to be re-run. Once the three broken spokes from the crash were bent out of the way the resulting performance lead to a podium position with a 3rd place. He was quoted saying afterwards, “I must admit I didn’t feel 100%, I was struggling to even keep my balance in the gate”.

 

The elite men gave some of the most impressive riding and passing of the day with Alex Lloyd definitely looking the favourite. Although as it is with Mountaincross the favourite doesn’t always take the win. The men’s final saw Adam Nicholson, Alex Lloyd, Terry Scarr and Chris Panozzo line up in the gate. As expected Lloyd powered out of the gate ahead of the rest of the field. However all the riders bunched up on the second straight where Nicholson and Scarr then got the upper hand and took charge of the race. Coming into the final corner Panozzo was trailing in last place but produced a move that had proved a winner earlier in the day by taking the inside line. This allowed him to quickly pass Lloyd and put pressure on the front two riders. In the end it just wasn’t enough with Terry Scarr taking the win with Nicholson second and Panozzo third.

 

 

Sunday morning saw the final downhill practice before racing commenced. One thing was obvious from the session, the dry and dusty conditions plus the hundreds of riders was causing the track to change significantly. Holes were getting deeper, more rocks were being exposed and those trusty lines that proved a winner over the past few days now disappeared somewhere off the track.

 

There were no real surprises in qualifying with Amiel Cavalier 1st, Rick Boyer 2nd and Adam Dossetor 3rd. Old man Ryan Lennox showed that he’s still able to mix it with the young guys qualifying 4th. I thought it would be better to drive myself into the ground than actually ride down the track and didn’t make it through qualifying. This gave me a chance to watch the elites and juniors come down the hill. Something I haven’t seen for a while now and was interested to see.

 

The junior finals showed that overseas experience pays off with Joel Bain taking the win by four seconds from William Rischbieth in second with James Maltman rounding out the podium. The juniors are always interesting to watch as they don’t seem to have any fear. These boys were hitting the fast, rough, rooty, off-camber straight at the bottom of the track faster than most of the elites and managed to do it while holding some crazy drifts.

 

Elite women was taken out by the unstoppable Tracy Hannah with Clair Whiteman second and Julia Martin third.

 

To the elite finals and the tough track conditions claimed a couple of the top guys with both Lennox and Dossie going down. Adam Smithson shaved nine seconds off his qualifier to move into third behind Amiel and Ricky. Dave West moved up one position from qualifying to claim fourth and Ben Cory came home in fifth after only having his new Foes for two weeks.

 

And that was it, the racing was finished and it was time to go back to the real world. However before that happened it was time for everyone to celebrate. Robbie and Josh were showing off their latest Clict videozine at a club in Hobart. It was awesome to see everyone stay around for the festivities and by all accounts it was a great way to end the weekend. Although the trip home the next day was rather painful. Hangovers and planes don’t mix together very well. Bring on Round 3!

 

Big thanks to Santa Cruz, ForTheRiders and Farkin.net for making the trip possible.

 

All photo's have been supplied by Tony Ross. Check out his site here.