Tampines Mountain Bike Park hosted the Dirt Traction 12 hour Night MTB Marathon. The race started at 5pm and ended 12hrs later at 5am. Having at least 2hrs of daylight provided all riders with a last minute look at the course before it got dark and although the course was not technical it was good to refresh the memory. However, with ground water seeping to the surface from a day of rain the back end of the course turned into a mud fest and challenged even the most technically proficient riders.
Team Cannasia-Cannondale had a number of riders entered right across all the race categories. We even had a few of the Roadies sneak out for some off-road action. The team had its hopes pinned on the two men’s duo teams and two of the solo riders. Unfortunately a botch up at the start of the race with track marking sent the lead riders, including 3 or 4 Cannasia riders, the wrong way and in turn put them way behind their competitors. This ensured a long night ahead. As 5am rolled around Cannasia had recovered and managed to get on the podium again. Our solo rider Shahrin Bin Amir rode brilliantly to come home first in the Open Mens Solo, the two Mens Duo Teams came in 2nd and 3rd and the biggest surprise was the Mixed Quad finishing 1st.
In the main image above, the “Red Mist” had descended on Tim Wilkins after the initial race start botch up. No. 75 Shahrin Bin Amir settled into his rhythm early on.
Gabi’s facial expression is priceless! Lower right.
