MOUNTAIN BIKING
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AS the driving force behind the inaugural Evocities MTB Series, Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson could not have been more pleased with how the local leg of the event ran on Sunday.
More than 100 riders were on the track outside Geurie during the Dubbo WD-40 300, presented by Cook and Cook Financial Services, and the praise for the trail came from nearly all involved.
Dickerson, who also took part in the event despite suffering fractured vertebrae when falling off a bike in April, said a lot of the credit went to the local Dubbo MTB club.
"From my perspective, organising the series is one thing but it then relies on the clubs to run the events," he said.
"When you're handing out this kind of money you can't take a casual attitude and here it's more serious so you've got some pressure to get it spot on and they nailed it, for a first-time event they did very well."
There was plenty of rain and near freezing temperatures in the week leading up to the race, leaving many of the organisers nervous the race would not even be able to run.
The local MTB club normally hosts local events with about 20 riders and club president Craig Arms was overjoyed with his organisation's efforts in hosting Sunday's high-class and highly anticipated race.
"We're ecstatic and so happy with how it's run, a great roll up with 110 riders," he said.
"The rain during the week ended up working in our favour, it was a bit wet in places but the track was bedded down really well so we couldn't be happier.
"This has been a great success, everyone is raving about the track and it's unique as it offers a bit of everything and you don't always get that.
"We hope it's put Dubbo on the mountain bike track.
"You don't normally think Dubbo when you think mountain bikes but maybe this will start changing that."
With some of the world's best riders in attendance, records were smashed all day but local competitors held their own.
Dubbo duo Paul Schroder and Simone Grounds starred on their way to finishing second in the mixed pairs event while the likes of Brett Robertson, Marty Tink and Tom Harvey also impressed.
While Dickerson was pleased to just be up on the bike again and racing for the first time since his fall, he admitted his own race was not all smooth sailing.
"I was pretty happy for most of it, at the end the lack of fitness showed a little but I was hoping to do five laps and at a pinch six and I was on track after four laps," he said.
"But I had a nice vomit five minutes into the fifth lap and had to pull over.
"I must have been carrying too much weight and after that I had no energy so it was a tough last lap."
The Evocities MTB Series now heads to Tamworth with the next leg to take place on August 8.