MOUNTAIN BIKING
By TOM HAYES
THE Falls Creek Mountain Bike Championships completed their series with Rounds 7 and 8 at Haunted Hills MTB Park recently.
The event was originally scheduled to be raced on a private venue at the back of Mount Baw Baw, but they were unable to get permits secured in time.
Rohin Adams from Big Hill Events, who organised the series, was stoked to get the permits for the event from Latrobe City Council on such short notice.
Gippsland MTB President, Dom Keating was working with Big Hill Events on short notice to ensure the competition went ahead.
“They only approached us like a month prior to it. They had it organised for another venue, but they struggled with permits,” he said.
“I’ve been trying to organise events with him (Adams) for the last couple of years.”
The Haunted Hills MTB Park opened Stage 1 back in December 2021, but only recently opened Stage 2 in late October last year, hosting a Halloween event. This was the first time the Haunted Hills MTB Park hosted an event in this series.
Haunted Hills MTB Park is one of seven different parks that Gippsland MTB manage.
Competing in the Cross Country Olympic (XCO) format, about 95 entrants took to the course on Saturday, with about 75 entering on Sunday. People came from far and wide from all over Victoria to complete the series.
The Falls Creek Mountain Bike Championship began with Rounds 1 and 2 in Avoca back in November last year. The series made its way to Buxton in Round 3, Eildon in Round 4, before Falls Creek hosted to start off 2024 in Rounds 5 and 6.
There are various categories that race on at a certain time, to ensure everyone rides a smooth race with little interruptions.
Juniors compete in Under 13s, U15s, U17s and U19s Men and Women classes, with additional adult age groups including 18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 60-plus. There is also a class for e-bikes and finally a class above all, is the Elite Men and Women.
The current XCO format usually uses a course that runs between four and six kilometres, lapping the trail. Each class is given a certain number of laps to do. The trail used at Haunted Hills MTB Park was a 6.5-kilometre course.
“It’s similar to what they do in the Olympics, they just do a short course, but they do multiple laps. So depending on which age group you’re in determines how many laps you do,” Keating said.
Out of all 19 classes that ran, one rider stood taller than most – Traralgon’s Melvey Podmore.
Podmore, 15, won his Under 17 Men’s class on both the Saturday and Sunday (February 17/18), all but confirming his U17s series win.
It completes a magnificent return to the sport for Podmore, who had to endure six months of rehabilitation in 2023, after a horrifying incident at the National Downhill competition in February last year, which saw him airlifted to the Sydney Westmead Children’s Hospital.
He eased himself back into training in August last year.
On top of state competition duties, Podmore also recently competed at the National Series XCO on the Gold Coast, where he currently sits in third place in his age group.
Podmore has a number of goals we hopes to achieve, including stepping on the podium at the National XCO series, to larger goals like being selected in the AusCycling XCO European Camp in 2025 and competing at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
Podmore could not race and compete at the level he is without the high level of support from Danny Dilger from Gippy Cycles in Traralgon.
“All reports back from the competitors was really positive, it was a tough course. Everyone was happy with all of the trails at Haunted Hills,” Keating said.
As it was the final round of the series, presentation for the whole series were made on the Sunday, which was the cherry on top for the event.
Much comes down to the hard-working volunteers from Gippsland MTB who maintain the trails.
The Gippsland MTB will be hosting many events this year across a number of their sites in Gippsland, including an Enduro event in Erica and a Shifty 50 event in Blores Hill.
Find out more on their Instagram @gippslandmtb
To see more about the Big Hill Events series or sign up for upcoming events, check out their Facebook @bighillevents
