Ed McDonald takes the reign at Rocky Trail’s Crowne Plaza 100-Miler. 5th March 2011

Canberrra-local and singlespeed aficionado Ed McDonald claimed the Crowne Plaza 100-Miler title at Rocky Trail’s MTB Cruise event at Stromlo Forest Park this weekend on a course as he said, “that was just perfect for a singlespeed bike”.

Ahead of James Lamb from Gosford and the singlespeed legend Brett Bellchambers, also from the Capital City, Ed crossed the finish line after just over eight hours, with almost half an hour to spare until the cut off time set by organisers.

Dylan Cooper took out the 80km challenge in the Male Open category. The TREK Australia racer, who just returned to his hometown of Canberra beat the Rockstar Racing team riders Shaun Lewis and Craig Gordon.

“This was the best course ever set out at Stromlo!”, said a beaming Ed McDonald at the finish line. After the gruelling climb to the top of the Stromlo Observatory, the 16.8km endurance circuit rewarded riders with breathtakingly fast singletrails and gentle firetrail sections before hitting freshly restored berms and flowy descents.

Organisers Rocky Trail Entertainment had summoned mountain bikers to Stromlo Forest Park for an event that saw a wide range of riders hit the World Cup-level trails. Two different race tracks had been set out – a long endurance race circuit for 100-miler, 80km and 50km challenges, as well as a short cross country track for 30 and 10km riders.

The latter saw a lot of junior and rookie racers take on their personal challenges and their achievements were just as recognised by organisers as the ones of the endurance racers, with certificates, trophies and prizes and big cheers on the podium.

Crowne Plaza 100-miler titles stay in Canberra
Fourteen riders lined up at the start of the Crowne Plaza 100-Miler challenge at the MTB Cruise at 8am – seven of which would later have their names added to the list of elite riders who beat the challenge of riding 100 miles at Stromlo.

Of three racers in the master (40+) category, Luis Severino from Holder (ACT) claimed the title as the only one of his category to finish the 9 laps to be completed. After finishing the 100-miler last year as the only female contestant, Bec Parkes from Kingston (ACT) was the only one to face the challenge again, however, this year stopped racing after 5 laps and more than 80km.

Of the ten elite male open racers, six crossed the finish line with 9 laps under their belt. Last year’s male open winner Brett Bellchambers came in third this year, again on a singlespeed bike.

He praised his fellow contestants and Ed McDonald in particular and said that this was a racer that had set his mark on the Australian MTB and singlespeed racing scene and was going to be “one to watch out for this year”.

Second in the Crowne Plaza 100-miler epic was James Lamb from Gosford and the Crocodile Trophy endurance racer credited his good form to his achievement of riding for 1200km over 10 days late last year.

Said Lamb with a cheeky grin at the finish line, “I can’t believe I actually achieved two of my racing goals at one event: riding more laps on the same track than Gordo and beating Brett Bellchambers!”

Dylan Cooper returns to Canberra and secures 80km Cruise title
Craig “Gordo” Gordon, 24H MTB Solo World Champion in 2006, again took on the 80km challenge at the MTB Cruise with Rockstar Racing team mate and last year’s winner, Shaun Lewis.

After last year’s photo finish where Canberra-local Shaun Lewis claimed the title by millimetres against Gordon, the entire event centre was preparing for another tight race between the two.

Everyone kept their eyes on the crest past the finish line and the pair emerged together, wheel on wheel from their first lap – and fourteen seconds behind Dylan Cooper who just started racing with Trek Australia and returned from Trek team racing in Japan to finish his first race of the 2011 season on top of the podium.

“I knew that Craig Gordon and Shaun Lewis were fast marathon racers, so I stayed close behind them on the Stromlo climb. I took a chance and overtook them right there and was able to ahead for the remainder of the race – on the flowy downhill sections I could increase the gap on every lap and maintained a comfy pace”, said Dylan Cooper of his race strategy, which brought him a lead of more than 10 minutes to claim the first place in the 80km Open Male challenge.

After five laps around the MTB Cruise endurance circuit, Shaun Lewis crossed the finish line in second place, again before Gordon, who suffered from a crash in an earlier lap and came in with a 5 minute gap, still in third.

Emma Bussell from Helensburgh took out the 80km Female Open title ahead of Lana Moy from Collaroy in NSW and Kirsty Cummin from Swinger Hill (ACT).

“I am looking forward to racing again on home-turf”, said Cooper of the riding season ahead. Whilst he enjoyed longer marathon-style races, he really likes laps races like the MTB Cruise around Stromlo.

“Because you can really suss out a track and find your ideal lines and get faster, every lap”, he added.

The next cross-country race on Rocky Trail’s events calendar might then be just for him – the SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix will kick of the popular 4-hour and 8-hour endurance racing series at the new trails at The Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan, in Sydney on 26 March 2011.

Photos supplied Courtesy of Rocky Trail Entertainment and credit to Damien Breach.