Mountain challenge for ADF bike riders

COASTING ALONG: SMNATA Brent McKenzie coasts downhill in the Mont 24 hour Mountain Bike Challenge in Canberra. Photo: LSPH Kel Hockey

By LSPH Kelvin Hockey

From Seaman to Captain, Navy’s mountain bike riders gathered in Canberra last month for the seventh annual Mont 24 Hour race.

The event is part of the Mont Australian 24 hour MTB (Mountain Bike) Championships, held annually in the ACT’s Kowen Forest. It is the largest 24 hour MTB event in the world, with 2,445 riders riding as solo riders or in teams of between 2 and 10 riders. These teams may be female, male or mixed.

The Defence MTB Endurance Championships are held as part of the Mont Race, with 26 Navy personnel participating in the event, including a 6-person team, named Fluid, from HMAS Albatross and a total of 97 ADF personnel competing overall.

The race began at 12pm on the Saturday and riders were stopped from commencing new laps after 12pm the following day.

One member of Fluid, SMN Brent McKenzie, a 32-year-old Aviation Technician Avionics Sailor from 816 Squadron, showed great riding endurance on course with his fast lap times.
SMN McKenzie said his first lap went pretty well, as the track was “well worn in by then” and finished the lap just before dusk on the first day, clocking a time of 1 hour and 7 minutes (17 km/ph average).

The course was 19 kilometres long, with steep hill climbing, technical single track and, due to recent torrential rain, some very boggy track conditions. With a second downpour during the race on the Saturday night, those parts of the course almost became a quagmire.

Because of this, on his second lap at about 11pm on Saturday night, things got a bit tougher for SMN McKenzie.
“When I started off, there was a light drizzle, but by the time I hit the first check point on course (about 8 km), it was raining pretty heavily and the course went to muck.

‘My front derailleur and chain rings were so full of mud I couldn’t change gears, so I was stuck pedalling in the big chain ring.’
– SMN Brent McKenzie

SMN McKenzie still posted a lap time of 1 hour and 28 minutes, averaging a speed of 13 km/ph. His third and final lap, which he rode on the Sunday morning, was completed in 1 hour, 9 minutes.

At the other end of the riding spectrum, Australia’s Olympic riders and National Champions were regularly laying down 49 minute laps for the men and 1 hour 2 minutes for the women.

Twenty four hours later, Fluid crossed the line in 61st place in the Men’s Sixes category. LCDR Kate Miller took home the title of the ADF Women’s Endurance Champion, a lap clear of FLTLT Glenda Preston and MAJ Fleur Keough. LS Darren Smith came second in the ADF Male Endurance competition, one lap behind Army’s Matt Jeffery.

All ADF personnel who competed or helped in some way should be congratulated on a fine effort all round. Particular thanks go to PO Mezz Slavik who organised the Navy corporate team entries.

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