A Decade of Odysseys
In 2016, the Otway Odyssey notched up its 10th anniversary. In the world of mountain bike racing where events come and go as quickly as new hub standards, that is a massive feat alone. The fact that over 1,200 competitors saddled up for this years event held in Forrest, VIC, makes this milestone all the more impressive.
So what is it that keeps riders coming back for more at the Odyssey? And more importantly, what’s attracting new riders to the sport to come and take on the challenge?
Fabulous Forrest
For me, it’s simple really. First and foremost, I love the trails around Forrest, and I love the town itself. Located 3 hours drive West of Melbourne just off the Great Ocean Road, Forrest is a small ex-forestry community situated amongst the lush rainforest backdrop of The Otways. For those based in the city, it’s the perfect weekend getaway. There’s a brewery, cafes, great restaurants, heaps of accommodation options and loads and loads of rippin’ singletrack to explore.
You wouldn’t know during a visit to Forrest today, but the town hasn’t always been a mountain biking mecca. Some years ago, the town went through a tumultuous period following the closure and exit of the timber harvesting industry. Like many small towns that have been abandoned by big industry, the economic future for Forrest was looking pretty bleak.
Just over a decade ago though, the now legendary World Trail crew undertook their biggest and most ambitious project at the time. This comprehensive plan involved repurposing old trails, and developing a new sustainable network of singletrack that would create over 60km of dedicated mountain bike trails around the Forest area. With two separate riding zones situated on either side of town and linked up by an off-road bike path, the new trails lured in mountain bikers from all over the country. With some of the best riding on offer in the state, Forrest was given a new lease on life.
Nowadays you’ll find a whole host of B&B’s and rental properties that have sprung up to accommodate the flocking tourists, while The Corner Store café offers bike rental, repairs and trail grub for the many riders rolling through town. There’s the brilliant Forrest brewery that’s ready to provide post-ride hydration, and within the broader Otways region, there are some highly regarded culinary gems to help satisfy the foodies too.
But as beautiful as Forrest is, and as flowy as its singletrack may be, you still need a whole lot more than that to create a successful event. Racking up the 10th edition of the race in 2016, event management company Rapid Ascent have got some serious experience running mountain bike events. And over the past decade since the very first Odyssey, they’ve gotten very, very good at it.
A Festival Of Bikes
One of the most distinctive aspects of the Otway Odyssey is the vibrant event village. Setup on the Forrest Football Ground, the village feels less like a race zone, and more like a festival. There are food vans, sausage sizzles, ice cream trucks and bicycle-powered smoothie makers. After my 50km race, I took up the offer to enjoy the ideal nutritional recovery of a banana smoothie, which was kindly (and exhaustingly) crafted by a young fella called Hamish. Then I threw down a wicked veggie burrito made by a colourful Californian bloke called Ritchie, who also makes banging fresh salsa.
Because I’m an athlete though, I still required more post-race hydration. Luckily, the Forrest Brewery was there to help. The gang had their beautiful Airstream camp trailer setup to pour beers from, and also new for this year, there was a shipping container café complete with industrial light fittings and bearded baristas.
With music pumping through the football ground’s speakers all day long and riders perusing the various racks of demo bikes and show product, it was easy to forget that there was some hard and fast bike racing going on.
Throughout the day though, commentators would remind the crowd on the progress of the Elite field out on course. As those riders passed through transition, cheers went up amongst the spectators to help push the riders along as they tried to chase down their competitors. Adding to the excitement, features like the online live timing made the event doubly thrilling for spectators to follow the pointy end of the field on their smart phones. It also meant family members or friends who weren’t able to make it to Forrest, were also able to join in on the excitement by streaming the race as it unfolded.
As usual, there was also a huge shwag of prizes on offer for competitors across all age groups and all categories. On top of the random spot prizes, a fantastic initiative for the 2016 edition of the Giant Odyssey was a new incentive to bring back riders who had competed in the previous year’s race. If you could beat your time from 2015, you’d go into the draw to win a brand new mountain bike – how cool is that!
Of course you don’t necessarily need all of that to have an exciting bike race, but the combination of the vibrant event village, a great course and a slick timing system certainly makes the Odyssey a very well-run event. Throw in that sublime Forrest singletrack and the beautiful Otways rainforest, and it’s no wonder why the Odyssey is crossing off its 10th successive year.
The Racing
The Giant Odyssey is well known as being one of the toughest mountain bike marathons in Australia, and as such, it continues to attract an impressive lineup of elite riders. However, the fact that it also caters for novice and junior riders by providing a range of distance options to suit all abilities is a large part of its ongoing success. New for the 2016 Otway Odyssey was a 30km course option, which was designed to attract novice riders and developing juniors. For those who weren’t quite up to competing in the 50km category, the ‘Giant Rookie’ proved to be a roaring success, with many riders competing in their very first mountain bike race. Darian Murnane was first across the line in the Men’s category. “It’s a great concept, my 13 year old son is doing it too and he’s super excited – it’s a great way for him to be involved,” said Murnane.
The 30km race option sat in between the 10km ‘Pioneer’ and the 50km ‘Shorty’ race options, though it was the 50km category that saw the biggest turnout on the day, with over 500 competitors saddling up at the start line.
It was tight racing at the head of the race, with Jack Lamshed finishing first, ahead of Warren Faneco in 2nd and Matt Ligtermoet in 3rd. “There were 5 of us in the lead pack and then I broke away in the climb on the last loop. After finishing 3rd twice previously it was good to get the win today. The trails were beautiful and clean, it was a good race and a really nice day out,” said 50km winner Jack Lamshed.
Karen Hill was the clear winner in the women’s 50km, finishing more than 20 minutes ahead of Belinda Hadden and Margaret Clark. “It was a good short, hard race. The trails were really good, I always love coming down here and Track 15 is one of my favourite trails so that was a really fun way to finish today,” said Karen Kill, women’s 50km winner.
In the premier 100km Giant Odyssey event, Chris Hamilton worked with team mate Tasman Nankervis, who finished 2nd overall, to push Jongewaard to his limit and the 20-year-olds proved too strong in the hills on the final loop of the race to take lead position and secure the top 2 steps on the podium.
“For these marathon races you need to play it pretty smart and being able to work with Tasman was good”, said Hamilton. “We pushed on the first King of the Mountain climb to test the field and felt we were in pretty good form. Chris was ahead going into the last big climb but Tasman was helping to set a good tempo and then we hit Chris about half way up and managed to pull away from him. Tasman and I were pretty evenly managed but I just had a little more than him there at the end,” said overall winner Chris Hamilton.
Adrian Jackson, who won the event in 2010, finished in 3rd with Jongewaard 4th and Paul van der Ploeg rounding out the top 5 men. “From the start I knew Chris and Tasman were strong and were going to push me but I didn’t give it up, I gave it everything I had but the boys were just a lot stronger on the climbs. It’s never really about coming here to win; it’s about enjoying the trails and the atmosphere and I certainly did that,” said Chris Jongewaard.
In the women’s category Peta Mullens finished 13 minutes ahead of second placed Renata Bucher who won the event in 2013, with Jodie Willett in 3rd, Rebecca Locke 4th and 10-time Giant Odyssey rider Jessica Douglas rounding out the top 5 women. “I’ve been bridesmaid here two years in a row by very small margins. This year I tested the others on the early climbs and at 3 hours I still felt really good so I just tempo’d up the climb to try to break the record on the timed descent. I’ve got a good endurance base behind me and I love the Giant Odyssey and it’s really good to be back and to win again, especially for the 10th edition. This really is a mountain biker’s marathon with all the sick single track out there but it also caters for everyone with the 50 and the 30km events so I hope everyone had as good a day as me,” said female winner and new record holder Peta Mullens.
The Wrap
With the 10th Otway Odyssey done and dusted, it goes without saying that this successful event will be back again next year for competitors to put themselves to the test. With more and more new riders flocking to the event, the Giant Odyssey stands as a fantastic opportunity for folks to get their first taste of mountain bike racing, all while being able to enjoy what is one of the best mountain bike festivals around.
For full results and competitor photos refer to www.GiantOdyssey.com.au
Photos: Matt Hull
OVERALL RESULTS
Giant Odyssey 100km
Top 5 Male
1. Chris Hamilton 4:18.20
2. Tasman Nankervis 4:18.32
3. Adrian Jackson 4:22.18
4. Chris Jongewaard 4:23.54
5. Paul van der Ploeg 4:25.29
Top 5 Female
1. Peta Mullens 5:06.14
2. Renata Bucher 5:19.40
3. Jodie Willett 5:24.29
4. Rebecca Locke 5:33.30
5. Jessica Douglas 5:35.58
Giant Shorty 50km
Male 1. Jack Lamshed 2:13.38
2. Warren Faneco 2:17.52
3. Matt Ligtermoet 2:18.33
Top 3 Female
1. Karen Hill 2:27.41
2. Belinda Hadden 2:50.40
3. Margaret Clark 2:51.24
Giant Rookie 30km
Top 3 Male
1. Darian Murnane 1:25.45
2. Ron Thomas 1:27.00
3. Adam Vesey 1:27.26
Top 3 Female
1. Natalie Saunders 1:45.35
2. Laura White 1:56.32
3. Lucinda Rourke 2:02.02
Giant Pioneer 10km
Overall Junior Winners
1. Otto Crawford 0:28.21
2. Oli Bailey 0:28.35
3. Calum Moir 0:30.11
Handcyclists
Overall Winner: Michael Forbes 0:48.37
