Geelong Mountain Bike Club hosted their annual You Yangs Yowie event on Saturday, and turned on a spectacular day for it. In store was a choice of 1, 2 or 3 laps of the 33km course that absorbed plenty of lactic climbing and no shortage of technical descents. The trails have been superbly developed during the recent closure of the You Yangs, and there were plenty in attendance to enjoy it.

I sat on the start line with 80 or so others waiting for the 66km race to begin. We were given plenty of warnings about rocky descents and technical climbs. The mass start took off for the first 5 or 6 km of fire trail. I found myself pacing alongside an older, wiser MTB guru, Kerry Ryan. We worked together to bridge from wheel to wheel as many fast starters off the gun began to labour on the steady climb. By the time we reached the first section of single track there was no concern of bunching to get into the trail, the long, steepening climb had sorted everyone into some kind of order.

The next 10km took in the Stockyards area, with some tough climbs to pick the way up through downhill runs and then some potentially troublesome runs downhill that were more suited to a setup with a lazier head angle than the regular XC bike. It was all achievable with the right line and execution.

One of the fastest and most flowing downhill runs of the You Yangs was tackled in the uphill direction. Looking forward there were some good opportunities to catch anybody starting to feel the steep pinches. Once over the ridge which feeds the starts of all the downhill runs, the trail flowed in and out of one more valley before hitting the rocky descent into the Kurrajong side of the park. The trail became flatter and more silty. Following a couple of other riders was a good chance to spot some techniques through the fast, lightly bermed track. The race distances are started at staggered times, the 99km race started 90 minutes before the 66km and the 33km another 90 minutes after that. With 8 or 9km left of the first lap I was passed by the two leaders of the 99km race nearing the end of their 2nd lap, so I jumped on their wheels picking up my pace to the timing point to start my second lap and grab my new bottles I had waiting.




The 33km race had only started 7 or 8 minutes before I crossed the timing point and midway through the initial fire road climb of my second lap I started picking up some of that categories slower riders. With more traffic at varying speeds on each part of the track, the climbs became a new race to the top to get in front of any other riders for a clear shot at the descents that followed. The climbs across rock garden sections of the technical side of the park put the skills to the test once again demanding a combination of good momentum across the best possible route. All were ridable but a certain test to any legs that were feeling thrashed. Through the bottom section of the trickier downhill runs the rider in front, Kim McCormack demonstrated an over-the-bars maneouvre that dropped her into a pit of rocks. It looked nasty, and she mentioned it hurt... but insisted she was ok, so I gave her a hand with her bike and set off for the final 25km or so. Once back on the Kurrajong side I teamed up with Todd Cutbert, spending the final 10 or 12km working together to the finish line.

An excellent event that ran very smoothly with the staggered starting times of the categories. I saw the Yowie!! He scared the shit out of me near the tail end of my first lap!!