Several riders from Mount Gambier converged on Adelaide last weekend to compete in the 2024 AusCycling Gravity Enduro SA State Championships.
Mount Gambier’s Justin De Jong competed in the Elite Men category with Shane De Jong racing in the E-Bike Men category at Eagle Mountain Bike Park.
In the junior ranks Finn Mitchell competed in the Under 17s and finished 14th as well as Brock Bishop who raced but did not finish due to a bike breakdown.
The De Jongs headed to Adelaide on Friday night and had their practice on the track on Saturday while trying to compete with the rough weather conditions including plenty of rain and wind.
The brothers arrived early to the track on Sunday to get a good feel for the conditions and began racing at 10am.
Justin De Jong raced six stages in his category and finished sixth out of 20 racers.
De Jong said he was surprised with his result and did not expect to finish as high as he did.
“It was a bit unexpected, I was probably aiming for a little lower so I surprised myself a little because these tracks are a lot more pedally than the ones back at home, we do not really have the elevation like they do at Eagle Mountain,” he said.
Racing in the E-Bike category, Shane De Jong had a solid weekend as he finished third and raced seven stages.
The seventh stage is known as the power stage which happens in the E-Bike category where the riders do a climb to finish the day.
Shane De Jong was in good company in his category, finishing just 90 seconds behind world champion rider Troy Brosnan, a nine-time medallist in the world championships and Australian representative.
Justin De Jong said there was a noticeable difference between the tracks at Eagle Mountain and Mount Gambier, with the Adelaide tracks flatter which means riders need to pedal a lot more on rockier tracks.
“We are pretty much riding in an old abandoned quarry which is what Eagle Mountain Park used to be, so it’s very different to the nice soil we get here in Mount Gambier,” he said.
