Riders of all ages and abilities set-up a sea of gazebos at Ross Dam on Sunday for the annual HOTRock8 mountain bike relay race in a record turn-out.
With 342 riders, this eight-hour challenge was completed in teams (two, three or four people) or solo (ouch); but the result was the same — plenty of mud, smiles, punctures and fun.
Check out a few snaps from the day on our Facebook page. They show the transition area and the top of the dam wall where riders were coming and going for changeover. Beyond that, there was lots of great single track, challenging climbs, muddy creek crossings and nice twisty downhill sections.
For the first time this year, HOTRock8 had a Corporate Challenge, where colleagues teamed-up for the race – some who hadn’t got on a bike since school.
Event coordinator Stephen Anderson attributed much of the event’s success to the corporate initiative, which was a fantastic way for workplaces to get colleagues into mountain-biking and build some camaraderie through the blood, sweat and tears. There were teams from a wide variety of workplaces including JCU, Queensland Health, Pimlico High School, Queensland Police Service, Athletes Foot, Jayco Townsville; as well as teams from most of the local bike stores. TheGo entered a team too and there were plenty of laughs.
Another great aspect to witness was how family-friendly this event was. HOTRock8 kids coordinator Tim Hughes organised a junior ride first up where kids got on their bikes and tackled some obstacles in the transition area, including a car jump (very impressive). It was fantastic to see so many families having a great time cheering each other on and making the most of their Sunday.
Here is a link to the results.
This was my first mountain biking event, everyone was super nice. A huge thank you to the Rockwheelers Club and especially the My Massage team who helped us out in training.