This past Saturday marked the beginning of the Dunedin Enduro Series, with the first race taking place at the Pineapple Track and Redwoods/Wakari Creek. A group of 58 racers was greeted by fantastic weather that promised a great day of riding ahead.
Shortly after registration and the race briefing, the pack departed from the car park for the first, and arguably most grueling, uphill of the day. A steady, steep climb up to the summit of Pineapple Track left many of the riders in the granny gear or dismounting completely to push their bikes to the top.
Following the arduous first climb the racers were treated with the first downhill stage of the day. The fast and flowy top section of Pineapple Track provided high speeds through straight shots of walking track and small sections of rock garden. The lower section of the track was dominated by muddier tracks, stairs, and bridges until meeting up with McGouns Road at the top of Redwoods.
After a short ride down McGouns, the second downhill stage took place down Weir Two, run in reverse. This stage was dominated by tight switchbacks, pushing riders to get as much speed as possible in the straightaways before being forced to get on the brakes into the tight corners and losing most of their speed.
After pouring out into Bottom Hub, riders embarked on the final climb that took them up a combination of Slytherin, Redwood Loop, McGoun's Extension, and McGouns Road to the peak of Skid Track.
The final downhill stage of the day took racers down the high-speed Skid Track, into Top Hub where they were directed down Holler Coaster for a tight and steep run to the final gate.
After the dust (and mud) settled, here were the top finishers for each division:
Overall:
1. Braedan Trompetter
2. Ethan Glover
3. Jake Paddon
Female
17-20: Phoebe Coers
21-29: Sam Hope
30-39: Mops Newell
Male
17-20: Jake Paddon
21-29: Braedan Trompetter
30-39: Jeremy Forlong
40-49: Rob Porteous
50-59: Ray Hope
You can check out the full list of results and times here.
A huge thank you to everyone who came out, Mountain Biking Otago for organizing the event, and Jemma Wells for some killer photos! We'll see you November 6th for the next Dunedin Enduro Series race at Signal Hill!