It was all smiles for the many CORC riders at rounds 1 & 2 of the 2017 MTBA National XCO Series in Orange
Through the weekend of the 7th and 8th of January members of CORC competed at the first two rounds of the MTBA National XCO Series in Orange, NSW. CORC as a club came away with the most medals having also entered the most riders in the event. It seemed there were CORC jerseys everywhere with members proudly supporting each other across the two days of racing.
The Orange MTB club put on two steep and flowing courses for us to race on which when paired with the heat made for tremendously good quality racing. The first course measured 4.7 kms whilst day two’s course was 6 kms both of which included many metres of climbing and a few techy sections. Numbers were strong and the Under 17 Men’s category had a whopping 44 riders to contest with each other making for close and exciting racing.
Many of the juniors showed more fatigue than their parents before racing round 2 on Sunday. Struggling to get out of bed with the realisation that you have to do it all over again was a new experience for many of the riders competing over the weekend, but the thought of a new trail won them over. In a lucky turn of events most racers coped fine with the back to back racing and felt better for it with a full weekend of racing. All in all, Orange put on quite a show that is going to be hard for Armidale, Bairnsdale, Toowoomba and Canungra to follow over the coming months.
From cheering on local favourites including Elites, Masters, Experts and Juniors, it was a fun weekend. Fortunately, one of CORC’s favourite MTB photographers (David B) must have known that CORC riders were going to feature heavily as even he travelled to Orange to take photos of the weekend. Link to his album (Round 1 Elite & Junior Men) can be found here.