Mountain Bike Relay 2010

By CPL Chris Turkington

Royal New Zealand Air Force Base Ohakea saw 65 personnel turn out for the annual three-hour Mountain Bike Relay, held at nearby Santoft Forest, on 10 March 2010.

This year’s track had been changed and offered the riders a chance to test their skills on some good down hills, with a couple of small jumps to boot. The horn sounded and the competitors were off and racing—for three hours.

Individual Women’s Category

Leading Aircraftman Damelza Cook—the only individual woman to enter this year—tore up the track, posting an impressive 17 laps.

Individual Men’s Category

Flight Lieutenant Matt Ranger and Mr Mike Gildea battled it out, with Mr Gildea managing to beat FLTLT Ranger by only a matter of seconds.

Teams of Two Category

Again, it was only a couple of minutes separating the two teams, with the ‘old dogs’—Flight Sergeant Chris Jowsey and FLTLT Derek Miller—beating out the ‘young bucks’—Aircraftman Sam Baker and LAC Hamish Park—by a slim margin.

Teams of Three Category

This was a hotly contested event, with 16 teams fighting it out for ultimate glory. After a lot of blood, sweat and tears, the team of LAC Scotty Brightwell, and ACs Tom Poole and James Mossman reigned supreme, clocking up a mammoth 28 laps.

A big thank you to our helpers, and sponsors—Pedal Pushers and the Ohakea Hot Shots Canteen. Without your assistance, we wouldn’t be able to get our events off the ground.

Well done to all the competitors for 2010—there where some excellent efforts out there!

Results

Image Gallery - Issue 114