The Inverell Mountain Bike Club ran another successful 'Copeton 6 Hour' mountain bike event out at Copeton Dam last Sunday and riders from Armidale were out in force.
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This was the tenth time the event had been staged.
"The event was a great success and very well supported by our local competitors and visitors from Armidale, Uralla, Tamworth, Narrabri, Toowoomba and Kempsey," said club publicity officer Michelle Rees.
"The ride started from the Reflections Holiday park kiosk area at 9am and this year we had two tracks - an 11km seniors track and a 4km junior track.The junior's were able to do the little loop so there was something for everyone."
Mrs Rees said a group of 32 competitors from The Armidale School made up of six adults and 24 students boosted the junior numbers considerably.
On the 11km track, there was a six-hour event for individuals, pairs and teams, and a three-hour individual event while on the 4km track, there was a three hour event for under 17 years individual, pairs and teams.
"Some people like to iron man the race by themselves while some enjoy a rest between laps with a team, the decision was theirs," Mrs Rees said.
"This is always a fantastic event and camping was available at the Reflections Holiday Park so some made a weekend of it and some just stayed for the ride."
Owing to COVID-19 restrictions entries had to be completed online before 5pm on the Saturday but Mrs Rees said this did not seem to effect entry numbers.
"Due to COVID-19 restrictions there are no entries accepted on the day," she said.
"However we had about double the numbers who competed last year and it was the best turn out we have had for a while.
"A lot of bike events had to be cancelled earlier in the year due to COVID-19 so I think people were just excited to be able to ride again.
"We had good entries in all our categories both junior and senior."
People were just really excited to be able to ride again
- Michelle Rees
Emily Wooster and Katherine Hosking from Armidale took out the six hour female pairs category while Remy Taylor and Riley Simmons from TAS won the six hour e -bike challenge.
Armidale competitors were also strong in the three hour events with Glen Charlton winning the adult solo event and two TAS teams winning junior events.
Luca Williams and Archibald Pengilley won the 13-16 aged pairs and Baxter Williams, Andrew Hardin and Patrick White won the under 13's team category.
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Once again the winner of the 'Male 6 Hour Solo' was Alwyn Miller who completed an incredible 11 laps of the 11km track in the six hours.
"It is the fourth time Alwyn has taken out the win in the 10 years the event has been running. It was a great competition between Alwyn and second place getter Michael Sherwood who also competed 11 laps," said Mrs Rees.
"Local riders Jodi and Brad Newman took out first place in the mixed pairs category and Peter Horwood and Zac Sunderland took out the male pairs category. "
Mrs Rees said all the riders commented on the track and highly recommended it.
"There is a now designated trail head and track map at the Copeton Kiosk, the tracks are clearly marked and are open all year round to enjoy," she said.
"The Copeton track is a great complement to our track in Inverell on the Bundarra Road."
Winners of the 2020 Copeton 6 Hour
Male 6Hr Solo - Alwyn Miller Inverell
6Hr Mixed pairs - Jodi and Brad Newman from Inverell
6Hr Male pairs - Peter Horwood and Zac Sunderland from Inverell
6Hr Female pairs - Emily Wooster & Katherine Hosking both from Armidale
6Hr Teams 3 or 4 - Steven Roberts, Justin Roberts, Lachie Butters all from Tamworth
6Hr Ebike - Remy Taylor & Riley Simmons TAS Armidale
3Hr Solo - Glen Charlton Armidale
3Hr Junior 4Km loop
Pairs Under 13 - Jack Barwick & Benjamin Shaw both from Tamworth
Pairs 13-16Yrs - Luca Williams & Archibald Pengilley both from TAS Armidale
Under 13 Team 3 or 4 - Baxter Williams, Andrew Hardin & Patrick White all from TAS Armidale