Mount Gambier’s Crater Lakes precinct was transformed into a downhill playground for the final leg of the Inside Line Mountain Bike Club’s final round of the series.
More than 230 riders from across South Australia and Victoria converged on the precinct’s tracks across the weekend to race across a series of classes.
Adelaide’s Sam Walsh won the Elite class and looks set to leapfrog other competitors to take out the series once the final race points have been counted.
However local Callum Morrison was the success story of the day, after deciding the night before the elite final to purchase a bike and ride the course, despite not riding extensively for the previous two years.
Mount Gambier Mountain Bike Club president Shane de Jong said it was a thrill to see Morrison ride so well on the Madzos course, which evolved over the weekend due to the heavy traffic and warm weather conditions.
“It was great to see Callum Morrison, who decided Saturday night to buy one of the other bloke’s bikes and give it a crack,” he said.
“He has not really ridden much in the last couple of years and to come in second was great.”
Local riders competed across the categories, with de Jong placing 16th in the elite category, his brother Justin 8th and Shannon Smith 12th.
Ben Walker took out the sport race, with Sam Madzia 5th, Kurtis Galpin 6th, Cameron Barry 8th and Haiden Smith in 10th place.
Deegan Watson finished 19th in Under 15, Ben Kilsby was third in the Veterans class and Alistair Scott finished 11th in the masters category.
De Jong said while the warm weather attracted plenty of spectators, it made for challenging riding conditions.
“The last two years it has absolutely bucketed down on the Sunday … so it was a big relief to see the forecast was looking good.
“But the nice weather meant the track deteriorated quite a bit, that’s what happens when you get a track that usually has 20 people on it each weekend seeing more than 200 riders doing multiple runs.
“It was good to see it develop and become more challenging as the weekend went on, the riders had to adapt to keep up with the conditions.”
De Jong said the weather attracted a lot of spectators, who normally would not see such quality racing.
“It was so amazing to see so many cars in town with bikes on the back,” he said.
“It was a good weekend of racing, it was a pretty easy track compared to some others, but there was plenty of competition.”
