The Huxster MTB relay for 2023 saw 45 of our CSKI students ready to race the day after they had competed in an energy sapping school Athletics Day. The conditions out at McLeans Island for our riders were between hellish and baloney. If you were there, by crikey didn’t that wind pick up?
The changeover time for our race meant that traffic came to a standstill outside the McLeans Island Golf Course. Year 5/6 races concluded and parking spots became rarer than unicorns in balldress gowns. Not to be deterred, our team acquired numbers and lap timing chips then took a moment to applaud the amazing parent group who made getting them to this race possible.
The hole shot for the first lap is really important and savvy riders made their way to the start line before they were called upon. The Nor’wester made its presence felt as race instructions were delivered.
Soon after the riders departed we had a visit from the Park Rangers, advising that the weather was about to go from unpleasant to really bad. The race would need to be shortened ahead of extreme storm events arriving and so a 3 hour endurance race became a 90 minute slog. Despite this we had some incredible results from a field limited to 250 riders.
Jonty and Felix finished as our top placed boys team, coming 6th overall. Lusia and Amelie came 3rd place in the girls team event. Hazel and Charlie were a real force and won the mixed team event. The individual categories saw exponential growth in 2023. Lucas finished 2nd overall with special mentions to others in the CSKI squad dominating the field here; Theo, Fletcher and Ethan all got top 7 placings. Hannah obtained 3rd place in the girls category, with Renee and Peta all fighting to top 6 placings.
CSKI, with this reporters biased judgement, was the most successful school out there and continued a trend of winning major bling for the trophy room. Congratulations to all the riders who participated! Prize-giving finished as the rain came in sideways and the temperature dropped 10 degrees. It was a brilliant call to end the race early; trees were soon bending contortions that would make gymnasts grimace. Hopefully 2024 will bring better weather and at least as many medals!
