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You are here: Home / Features / National Championships Course Preview – Armidale

February 24, 2018 By MarathonMTB Leave a Comment

National Championships Course Preview – Armidale

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

The Australian XCO season reaches its climax this weekend with National Championship racing at Armidale’s fast and rocky University of New England course. MarathonMTB.com got between the tape early to bring you a preview of what’s in store for riders vying for the green and gold.

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

The start of the XCO course

The course begins with a fairly standard, flat, out and back start loop on mown grass before heading up a small pinch and into narrower trails.

 

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

Climbing into the forest

After crossing a causeway, the trail begins a fun, steady climb around bermed corners, soon turning into a nice bit of forest, where the climbing continues, with a few small rock and root features to keep things interesting.

After four minutes or so, riders hit the first descent of the day, a loose, fast, bermed section in the forest on dry, skatey rock, with a few roots and one set of close-together-trees thrown in.

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

The first descent is fun and fast

Then things really get challenging. Riders emerge from the trees to face a lot of A/B-line choices on the techy step-ups that begin the second climb of the day. There are a couple of tough A-lines over slippery rocks that will challenge everyone when tackled at race pace, and could cause some traffic in the larger fields.

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

The second climb presents a lot of line choices

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

One of the challenging step-up climbs with an awkward lead-in

There’s another short-ish, fun descent with some rocky features and slidey berms, before another techy climb over roots and rock features.

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

Back to the fun stuff

This takes riders to max heartrate in time for ‘The Spine’. While altered since last year, and definitely easier to ride, maintaining momentum over its uneven corners is key to getting through the A-line fast.

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

The Spine has some tricky corners

 

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

The Spine may be easier, but it’s still a challenge to ride it smooth

Then, after a short pinch climb, it’s all fun and games again, with perhaps the best descent of the day around high-banked berms and over some super doubles, before riders cross the feedzone and head into the dim pine forest for a fast, flat, and furious pedal through this piece of old-school singletrack, with a few good passing lines thrown in.

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

The pine forest section is pure old school

From here it’s back on, with a tricky little bit of descending over some jagged rocks that may well claim a few sidewalls, and into the next A/B-line combination, a techy heft over a big rock face, or a slow, laborious B-line option.

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

It’s steeper than it looks

At the top, once again hitting top heartrate, riders need to reset fast, slam the dropper, and settle in for Mars Attacks, an intimidating, six-foot concave roll down with a fun B-line for those who are still a little shaky from the climb.

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

And this one’s WAY bigger than it looks. Mars Attacks is the most intimidating feature on the track

From here it’s more superbly-built berms and a short stint of grassy trail before the Poplars, a very tight, dark, tricky and slightly slippery section that requires intense concentration.

XCO Champs Armidale MarathonMTB mountain bike

The twisty Poplars demands intense concentration

And that’s about it! Riders negotiate a few more twists and turns, pass back through the feedzone, then hit the start finish. Age group riders are on course today, with the Elite fields hitting the trails tomorrow.

Live results are available via raceresult.com

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: armidale, Australia, MTB, National champs, UNE, XCO

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