Mid-Winter Breakout pix'n'vid

The sun never quite managed to 'breakout' on Sunday but, when the forecast rain arrived just as the spot prize-giving concluded, we all felt as though we'd dodged a bullet!
The region has subsequently had a good lashing but what do we care... having collectively clocked up 12,000 kilometres over 6 hours, some of us have earned a little time off the saddle...

Here are some pics from the day, snapped by swampthing & Oliver Weber. Ask us real nice-like and copies can be arranged. If anybody else has some good pics to share, send them in.






Rex Smith studies the course map tries to figure out how to put the armband on...





while Mike Kirkwood flies past on his hand-built carbon frame.
  

















I'm not sure if either of these is real hair and I wasn't about to attempt a scalping to find out.

 

The young guns made up the bulk of the pointy end but it was seasoned veteran, Dean Fulton, who pulled out the fasted lap of the day, a full 1sec. ahead of Tom Filmer.

After the congestion of the first lap on the road section, the field quickly spread out.

The width of the MTB Park tracks & firebreaks meant passing was never an issue, especially with the great attitude that riders came with.

The mtb unicyclists - munis - had their own circuit: a little bit shorter but, using Swamp Monster and Sidewinder, a helluva lot harder!

Mike Padial (in front) racked up 11 laps in 5hrs38mins.

But it was the old master, Julian Daley, who piped him with 12 laps, cycling non-stop for 5hrs50mins.!










It was great to have a good choice of food available on the day, as well. Hot soup, mmmmmm...

And the odd banana never goes astray.

Insider tip for anyone feeling the chills next year:

That gorilla suit is the toastiest place to be!





 



The under-over bridge was back. After the bottleneck of the first lap, it always added an extra element of fun - especially when it signalled your lap was nearly  finished :P

So, all-in-all, a pretty good day that the Nelson MTB Club and the Park management team can feel well-pleased with.

Numbers nearly doubled from last year. At this rate, we may have to start looking at a cap in the near future.
Best start thinking about your team now.



And to wrap it up, here's a short video focusing on a little of the action...