Round they go

Volume 48, No. 12, July 13, 2006

BALANCE: FLTLT Glenda Preston takes a corner during the 24-Hour Mountain Bike Championships at Kowen Forest near Canberra. Photo by LAC Andrew Broadhead

SERGEANT Mick Rand from FACDU and FLTLT Glenda Preston from 2SQN have been crowned the 2006 Air Force Endurance Mountain Bike Champions.

Their new titles are a result of conquering the gruelling Australian 24-Hour Mountain Bike Championships at Kowen Forest near Canberra on October 7-8.

Air Force also battled valiantly in a tight struggle before the mantle of champion Service team went to Navy, with Army third.

The largest mountain bike race in the world attracted more than 3,000 competitors who pedalled about 11,867 laps or 241,000km (six laps of the planet and some dust, as one rider put it).

The aim is to complete the most laps of a 20km course within 24 hours.

Many competitors race as members of various-sized teams in a relay format, continuing through the night. This takes its toll on riders and machines, often resulting in competitors having to dig deep to find that little bit more to keep going as the course gets rougher and the night gets colder.

The 24-hour event again doubled as the Defence Mountain Biking Endurance Championships. More than 100 Defence staff, military and civilian, registered to challenge for the title of overall Defence and Service champions.

Several contenders were ruled out before the event due to late injury or illness but a strong field still took to the dusty, bumpy track on October 7. The following 24 hours resulted in several casualties because of fatigue and the soft, dusty soil.

As night fell, the solo riders settled in for a long and challenging night while teams decided who would be riding, who would be sleeping and how the exchange system would work.

Sunday dawned on a collection of sore, tired and dusty riders. The track had broken down even further over night with the passage of many thousands of bikes.

In the final countdown, there was some frantic activity as teams in the running for podium spots tried to complete the greatest number of laps. Some teams crossed the line and despatched another rider with minutes to spare before the race was officially over, hoping that extra lap was enough for them to beat the competition.

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