The National Gravity Enduro Champs were run and won in late October this year. It was a long wait for the Red Hill Riders MTB Club on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula, whose quest to hold Nationals was pushed back for two consecutive years due to COVID-19 and border restrictions. Last year, Green Valley’s Mountain Bike Park in NSW hosted the event, but many big names were unable to attend due to fluctuating travel and isolation rules. However, this year was all in, with over 500 riders attending the event. Many of the top favourites had just returned from racing the EWS and World Cups overseas; this included U21 guns Ryan Gilchrist and Elise Empey, and Elite riders Hayden Stead, Zoe Cuthbert and Ellie Smith. These names were just the tip of the iceberg however, with stacked fields across all categories.
After a hot and humid practice day on Friday, Saturday hosted the Pro Stage which would count towards the overall times on Sunday. It was a fast and furious stage, beginning with a treacherous fire-road descent which caught many riders out, then into a short uphill sprint before heading down rocky straights and root-ridden corners. Chris Panozzo was the surprise performance of the day, taking the fastest overall Pro Stage time, just 8 month after breaking his neck at Cannonball Festival. How good.
Sunday brought another 6 stages across 35km of riding with 1200m of climbing. But in an unfortunate twist which would have devastating effects on the results, AusCycling had severely miscalculated the liaison times for the day. Typically, enduro liaisons allow enough time for riders to regroup, refuel, and recover before heading full-pelt into the next stage. However, many Elites were left riding threshold efforts between stages, while the vast majority of Masters riders were disqualified after not making the time cuts.
As many will agree, this detracted from the spirit of enduro and the quality to which the riders could tackle the descents. To add insult to injury, AusCycling had also prohibited any water stations bar one before the final stage. For many riders – especially juniors – the day was a nutritional disaster.
