Harris River Estate and Rays Trail Mountain Bike Track in Collie played host to the second last round of the State Cross Country Mountain Bike series on Sunday, July 8.
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Blessed with incredibly good weather on the day, and a track well prepared by the Collie Mountain Bike Club, riders enjoyed an epic day of mountain bike racing action locally.
With state level riders travelling from as far away as Albany, Kalgoorlie and Karratha to take part making for excellent racing during the day. The elite racing was won by previous series winner Jon Greg in the male category and Tracey Chapman in the female category, both Perth riders.
A lot of preparation was done by Collie Mountain Bike club members prior to race day clearing and manicuring the Rays Trail Cross Country Mountain Bike course about five kilometres north of Collie, adjacent to the Harris River Estate Winery.
The course layout changes from year to year for the race and 2018 saw the exclusion of the technical ‘Dog Leg’ section. This allowed the course to use more of the faster sections of the trail and increase the distance to 6kms a lap, including 1km of trails on the Harris River Estate Winery.
The riders could be seen for most of the 1km they rode on the estate from the winery building balcony, making it one of the favourite locations for spectators on the day.
The Collie round of the series is the only location where spectators are able to watch such a large part of the race as it unfolds lap after lap, and makes for a day of great atmosphere and drama.
The elite riders raced a full six laps of the circuit, with lower grades racing multiple laps and being cheered on by the spectators and supporters each time they passed through the winery grounds.
There were some fantastic technical trail features the riders had to tackle each lap, including ‘Dave and Darren’s log ride’, the ‘Tickle Me Pink’ Rock Drop, the ‘Woodheap’, ‘Xylophone Bridge’ and the toughest climb on the course – the ‘Grassy Knoll’. Each one aimed at testing a riders ability and technical prowess, and linked together by some fantastic twisty and undulating single track trail.
It was encouraging to see a large number of juniors riding and racing on the day, including over 40 under 9’s and under 13’s taking part.
Many of these were local Collie kids mixing it with the visiting riders. Some of the juniors riding were also part of the Collie Senior High School Anzac Tour teen who were raising money with a sausage sizzle on the day for their Anzac trip to the Western front in Europe in 2019.
The day was a great success with over 160 riders taking part on the day, and plenty of spectators coming along to support the participants.
The Collie Mountain Bike Club would like to thank all it’s volunteers, sponsors, the competitors, spectators and supporters, plus the Collie Senior High School Anzac students and the Harris River Estate Winery for a great day.