The 2011 Xmas 5 Days in NSW finished with head to head racing using a loop format on Brush Creek above Glendale High School, with courses planned by NSW Junior squad member Kasimir Gregory.

With 2 competitors starting at the same time on each course, each competitor had three loops to complete with the third loop being common. The loop format made good use of the Brush Creek map utilising the area to great effect. The loop control on most, and possibly all of the courses, was a feature which some competitors found equally hard to see and sometimes find on all three visits to it.

So after 5 days of racing using 5 different formats the overall results were:

Mens A: Dave Shepherd (ACT) Womens A: Rachel Effeney (Qld)

Mens B: Oliver Crosato (Qld) Womens B: Vilde Kinneberg (Norway)

Mens C: Eoin Rothery (NSW) Womens C: MOrgan McIntyre (Qld)

Mens D: Greg Chatfield (Qld) Womens D: Val Hodson (NSW)

Mens E: Bob Gilbert (NSW) Womens E: Samantha Wallace (NSW)

Mens F: Lachlan McIntyre (Qld) Womens F: Judith Anderson (Great Britain)

Men/Women Novice: Ryan Gray (Qld)

In the “A” class men Dave Shepherd won 4 of the 5 days, with junior Lachlan Dow (also the runner-up) taking the other victory. Third place was taken by the canny veteran Greg Barbour who will be riding for New Zealand next week in the Aus v NZ MTBO Challenge “over the ditch.”   Rachel Effeney, who made her WOC debut in 2011, continued her good form in taking overall honours in the womens “A” with three victories along the way.  Tracy Marsh won one of the three races in which she competed.  Regular W40 placegetter Barbara Hill demonstrated great fitness and strategy to upstage her younger rivals to be runner-up to Rachel overall. This included a clear win in the mass start event on day 4.  Rounding out the top three was fellow veteran Jenny Enderby, who had represented Australia in her juniors years.

Day 5 individual results can be found here, Day 5 splits can be found here, and RouteGadget for the Day 5 courses found here.

Overall results for the 5 Days competition can be found here.

There were many people involved in the organisation of the 2011 Xmas 5 Days, and Nick Dent and his team of junior course planners are to be congratulated. They provided 5 great events which were enjoyed by all who competed. The idea to use 5 different formats made the week even more enjoyable.

Article – Paul Prudhoe, with some additions by Kay Haarsma.