The Tathra MTB Club is ramping up efforts ahead of the Winter Warmers series and Tathra Enduro bike rides.
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The club will host a second-round cross country three-hour endurance ride along the Bundadung tracks in Tathra after hosting a meet at Mandeni last month.
Race organiser Justin Roscoe said the circuit was about a 10km loop on the lower side of the tracks “to limit the amount of climb riders have to do”.
The ride is both social and competitive, Roscoe said a unique feature of mountain biking was people could form competitive little groups no matter where they sat in the race order.
“You see the really elite guys battling for line honours, but even in the middle and back of the pack you get little clusters of riders trying to outdo each other,” Roscoe said.
It’s a friendly event and you compete solo or enter as a team combination to share the load and teams can be men, women or mixed.
“You can go lap-by-lap, or some people choose to share it in other ways, like riding the first half and the second rider brings it home, that’s entirely up to you,” Roscoe said.
“All our club races are about fun.”
The tracks are in great condition and Roscoe said the weather was largely ideal for an afternoon ride.
“Tathra gets that afternoon breeze to keep you a bit cooler, but it’s not too hot, March is really ideal – it’s beautiful for a ride,” he said.
There is also three classes so there’s no need to match it with the club’s best on the day.
Riders can enter in the Open (competitive) class, the sport section or the masters division for over 40s riders.
“We’ve tried to switch up the way we run the races a little bit, holding them in blocks,” Roscoe said.
“So this is the second round and then our focus will shift to the Winter Warmers series and the Enduro which is the June long weekend.”
He said the club was also ramping up efforts to ensure its rising young stars could continue their efforts nationally.
Charlie Todd is currently holding the lead in the under 17s national titles, while Toby Stewart was matching it with ‘professional riders’ in his class.
“Toby isn’t a sponsored rider and he’s getting top 10 results in the Elites against professionals, that is a massive effort,” Roscoe said.
Entry for next weekend’s ride is simple, just head along to the Tathra Beach Country Club from 2pm for registrations with the race to run at 3pm.
“We’ll have a barbecue and unwind after the race, it’s just a $5 race entry and you’ll need an MTBA licence, but you can sign up on the day.”