King’s MTB Classic

By John Hardwick | 15 December 2016

You won’t find too many schools with a full-fledged MTB course on site, but Kings School at Parramatta does and recently they held the 4^th Annual Kings MTB Classic.

Far from being exclusive, this event is open to students from other schools and this year it attracted over 170 riders. The event followed a multi-lap XC format over a two-hour period with both solo and teams options available. The track offers a good mix of easier flowing trails as well as some technical challenges and plenty of twists and turns.

Over twenty different schools took part in the 2016 race, with Thomas Hassall Anglican College taking out the overall title for the second year. Teacher Amelia Howe said that mountain biking is a popular, growing sport around Sydney. “We usually get around twenty kids signing up for mountain bike racing every term,” she said. “We like the King’s event because it’s one of the harder tracks around.”

Thomas Hassall student Iona Reynolds won the U19 Female Solo category, completing seven laps of the circuit. “I like how this sport is a team competition,” she said. “It’s just awesome getting to travel around NSW competing on all the different tracks, and the King’s track is a good mix of easy and challenging sections.”