Well, the crew from the ‘…OF…’ MTB event series ran their first event of 2008 and all involved are happy to say that the day could not have run more smoothly….

With the initial date postponed due to impossible rains, there was speculation at to whether or not the event would go ahead, with much lower than expected numbers signing up for the day. By the last week though numbers had hit the minimum mark and all was good for what was hoped would be a fun day; though on the day several entered teams were a no show, making the event more ‘intimate’ than expected; no one seemed to mind in the least.

Starting at 8….but really 8.30am, as people we so relaxed no one overly seemed in a rush to get going, the enduro was held in perfect weather on a course direction that people did not expect. Though shortened due to rain the previous week, the overall smiles that came back on each lap showed that once again HMBA club president and course setting legend, Lenny Allen, got it right again.

An early crash by Scott Taylor of ‘Bug Puddle of…’ gave the on site medico’s something to do, though after another few laps Scott decided that a trip to the hospital might be in order as the cut, once cleaned out, was bigger than it seemed! Happy to say though that Scott came back after far too long in emergency and continued to do some more laps.

This ‘…OF…’ event saw the debut of several innovative enduro race features that panned out to be a huge success. The first being the ‘handicap’ system, whereby every team races against every other regardless of size, with a handicap applied according to team size. This meant that a six person team raced against a solo rider, and true to form, the solo riders beat many of the larger teams on lap count! Also introduced was the ‘Ride with your mate’ system, allowing every member of a team to ride at the same time and have every lap count. By all accounts this was by far the most popular feature of the day, as it added a special element of fun to each lap. It also saw more riders at base camp than usual, which is alway great for atmosphere. Both these features are now fixtures of the ‘…OF…’ series.

Overall the event ended as it started, with smiles all round and an atmosphere of fun and games that most say are unique to the ‘…OF…’ events, though this race seems to have had more than usual!

Highlights of the day were:

• Brad Jefferies from ‘Team Lenny’ doing several laps on his Unicycle.
• The girls from team Me and De riding what seemed like non stop without raising a sweat and smiling the whole way through.
• Solo rider ‘Three Ninja’ bashing off 21 laps in preparation for next weeks Solo 24hr Champs.
• The combined teams ‘Big Puddle of…’ (seemingly) drinking more than they rode and fitting in a pub run!
• The bribes from teams’ “Big Puddle of…’ for the lap counters! (bribery is now an official feature of future events).
• Kamikaze/QC Racing for 1. Riding the course on a fixie and 2. doing laps with the 11 y/o Q on a BMX.
• The look on rider’s faces when they brought treasure back in and got cash in return.
• A really quick, to the point, awards ceremony.

Our thanks to HMBA for doing the hard yards building and setting a great track as well as to B-Rad, for arranging the trophies once again. Also, Jason Taylor was out on track with a camera (first two images above are his handiwork). To see more click here.

$900 in cash was handed out as prizes between placing and the treasure hunt and final ranking were as follows:

Overall places (Apologies to Second and Third for the engravings. Second and Third Overall were an on the day decision!!):

• Overall First: Rider number 1: Three Ninja
• Overall Second: Rider #48 from the Yea, yea, yea’s.
• Overall Thrird: Rider #62 Killing(worth) is my business and business is good.

Handicap placings:

• Handicap adjusted First: Team Fossil Fuel
• Handicap adjusted Second: Giant Geese
• Handicap adjusted Third: The Yea, yea, yeas.

Individual Rider Laps:

#1: 21
#2: 7
#3: 5
#4:6
#8: 18
#9:13
#10: 10
#11: 10
#12: 12
#13: 10
#14: 10
#15: 10
#16: 11
#17: 3
#19: 9
#20: 6
#21: 9
#22: 4
#24: 9
#43: 15
#47: 18
#48: 19
#49: 10
#50: 10
#51: 14
#52: 13
#53: 8
#54: 9
#56: 13
#57: 15
#58: 10
#59: 9
#60: 11
#61: 8
#62: 18
#63: 14
#64: 11
#65: 4
#66: 1
#67: 5
#68: 9

Bring on May’s 12 Hours …OF… Darkness.