Grindin Gearz is pleased to announce the first Easter Extravaganza will take place at picturesque Wolca Reserve over the Easter long weekend from April 2-4 2010.

This weekend is all about fun for everyone with several events reflecting this.

Events include:

SATURDAY APRIL 3, 3PM
ULTIMATE HILLCLIMB CHALLENGE

Place your bets, test your legs and skills against a short series of technical hillclimb sections. Easier climbs will act as qualifiers for progressively harder challenges. The final hillclimb challenge whilst already difficult, will have the added incentive of a stop watch to get you to the hotseat (lounge) atop the rise. Music and emcee will bellow down the hill to the fans relaxing in their utes and camp chairs below. This promises to be a top afternoon of fun for riders and spectators alike.

SATURDAY APRIL 3, 6PM
NIGHT PONY EXPRESS RELAY

Team up with a few riders of mixed ability and race lap for lap against each other on our new dirt dash circuit. The final format/length/distance of this event is still to be decided, but is aimed at involving all-comers on a simple, short circuit under lights.

SUNDAY APRIL 4, 9AM
3 HOUR POKER RIDE CHALLENGE

Whether you are a serious racer or beginners/novices, this event is the perfect leveller of skill and fitness. Our short 5.5km loop is a tough course, but is suited to most riders (including kids 14+), although a shorter, more junior/novice friendly 3km loop will be also available to ride. Ride as a solo or as pairs/teams. At the completion of each lap, riders need to collect a card from the start/finish area tables. Each lap gains 1 card. At the end of 3 hours, all riders put their best 5 card poker hand together. Best hand wins (as does the worst hand). The fastest of riders will complete 9-11 laps in this time which gives them an advantage, but certainly does not mean they will win the top prizes. An even shorter 3km loop will be available for youngsters and first-timers. It is guaranteed to be a great ride.

ALSO HAPPENING OVER THE EASTER BREAK:

- Social trail rides
- Gold Rush course open for practice
- Easter Egg hunt for the kids (Sunday morn)

Camping fees will be charged by North Burnett Regional Council as follows:
Cost would be $12/site/night (2 People) $3/additional person
This ensures the continued access to Wolca Reserve's fantastic facilities. These bookings can be made and fees paid whilst registering as a rider

REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT SYSTEMS WILL BE OPEN SOON - STAY TUNED!

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CAN YOU CONQUER THE MOUNTAIN IN 2010?

Again in 2010, Grindin Gearz is offering a packed weekend of fun and events from social rides to competitive events. Short course XC dirt crits and the premier 6hr endurance race will be sure to keep the racers happy, on what is described by many as the finest, most exciting and toughest MTB endurance track in this part of the country!! As well as racing we have added a 30km Countryside Cruise including a pub lunch will be a great way to wind down on Monday morning and share some more stories from the 6 Hour Gold Rush endurance race.

About the 6 HOUR GOLD RUSH ENDURANCE RACE
Anyone can take the challenge and enter the 6 Hour Gold Rush, from novice to expert. The aim is to complete as many laps as possible in the given time period as either solo competitors, or in relay teams of 2 or 3 riders. Team riders can do one lap then change over to the next team member or do multiple laps, it's entirely up to your team.

The Gold Rush course is designed to challenge all riders from novice to expert. The 11km circuit will take anywhere from 30-60 minutes to complete depending on your ability. The trail is a good mix of challenging climbs, open singletrack and fireroad to more technical singletrack and switchbacks.

What is the DIRT DASH Short Course XC?
As the name suggests, the Dirt Dash will be a fast and furious few minutes of bar to bar racing. The 1km course features a very short lung bursting rises, open flats, and a fast flowing descent with a few tight corners thrown in for good measure. Competitors will compete in an elimination format with short 3 minute breaks between rounds before lining up on the grid again. Prizes will be up for grabs for the fastest riders in each class plus awesome consolation prizes.

Why do the COUNTRYSIDE CRUISE?
The Countryside Cruise is the perfect way to top off a great weekend of racing. The ride features approximately 30kms of choice Bicentennial National Trail, Gold Mine relics of the 19th century & bat-riddled limestone tunnels. Top all of that off with a cold beverage and filling country pub lunch and it is sure not to be missed. Those who may be nursing sore legs from Sunday can rest assured knowing this ride is relatively flat. This is a great chance to share some stories from the weekend's races and see some more of the picturesque surrounds of Mount Perry township.

With the social Countryside Cruise and competitive Dirt Dash Short Course XC events open to all riders, the 2010 Mount Perry Gold Rush MTB Festival promises to have something for all riders.

We hope to see you all there.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Registration
Saturday June 12, 12-4pm
Sunday June 13, 630-8am

Course Orientation & Practice
DIRT DASH COURSE (1km) - Saturday June 12 - 12-4pm
GOLD RUSH COURSE (11km)
Saturday June 12 - 12-4pm
Sunday June 13 - 6:30-8am

Racing
DIRT DASH Saturday June 12
Briefing & Racing: 4:30pm

6 HOUR GOLD RUSH Sunday June 13
Briefing: 9:00-9:10am
Start 9:30am
Kids Gold Rush 8:00am

Countryside Cruise - 25kms to lunch stop, then 6km return to Wolca
Monday June 14 - Departs Wolca Reserve 9:00am
Ride will arrive at pub for lunch by 11am.
Don't miss out on this. The BBQ lunch will be worth the ride, not to mention the scenery.

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Monday's Countryside Cruise was a real hit with participants. Here is the obligatory social ride group shot in front of some recently collapsed gold mine structure along the BNT.

Below: Proof there is light at the end of a tunnel, all of 192m away. No bats this year to add to the spooky experience.

After a top lunch at the Mount Perry Grand Hotel, I spent all of Monday afternoon and Tuesday packing up around Wolca Reserve and the track and finally made it home late last night. Thank you to the 220 riders that made 2009's Gold Rush the biggest and best yet.

Congratulations to all who came to Mount Perry and conquered the Gold Rush. A total of 11,300km (1056 laps) were ridden around the course and we saw some of the closest racing I have ever seen in the country with only seconds separating the podium across some categories.

In the premier solo elite mens field, we watched 3 riders swap the lead lap after lap for the first 5 hours. With an hour of racing remaining, 40 seconds separated Andrew Mallett, Andrew Fellows and Toby Boylan. It was truly inspirational to watch these guys test one another's resolve for the last hour. Mallett faultered and could only manage 3rd place. At the 5hr 44min mark Fellows led Boylan through transition by only 100 metres to start their 11th lap. Fellows showed his experience and class to ride away from Boylan with a 4 minute neat win finishing 11 laps (118km) in 6 hours 18 minutes. Mallett rolled in a further 9 minutes behind Boylan after being resigned to the fact 2009 would again be the one that got away.

In the solo womens, Naomi Hansen led from start to finish showing her true class. It was a dominant performance that had Hansen very close to lapping Gina Costly in 2nd before pulling up at 5hrs58mins with 9 laps (96km)completed. Costly managed to start her 9th lap just prior to the Hansen finishing, ending to with a credible 9 laps beside her name. Yoko Okuda rode a stellar race pushing herself and Costly, but finished exhausted with 8 laps on the board.

Meg Carigan was in a class of her own in the 40+ solo womens, riding a superb race to complete 9 laps in a time that would have seen her finish 2nd in the open solo womens. Jayne Ryeland and Carrie Prior filled the podium with a respectable 7 laps each.

Almost 30 men battled it out in the 40+ category with Al Wallace being pushed the entire 6 hours by Michael Norman. In the end they would finish separated by only 1min20secs with 10 laps (107km) each. Nick Mills rounded out the top 3 a further 4 minutes behind in a solid ride.

The Hell Cats win in the womens pairs allowed for bragging rights for Annick Mills getting to stand two steps higher on the podium than husband Nick. She paired with Helena Oloman and they completed 8 solid laps between them within the alloted time.

Mixed Pairs saw the husband and wife team of Les and Sharon Heap (Team Heap) lead from start to finish completing a total of 10 laps (107km). Team Heap were pushed hard all day by the NRG All Stars, also 10 laps, and MTBDirt Generation X with 9 laps.

By far the most exciting category was the men's pairs. With 30 pairs lining up including some quality state series racers, it was bound to be action packed. After 5 hours (10 laps) of racing, it seemed the lead team had changed every lap with as many as 6 pairs sharing turns at the front. Unfortunately crashes, mechanicals and flat tyres riddled some competitive pairs which left 7 teams fighting for 3 podium spots. In the end only 3 pairs snuck out for a 12th lap before the 6 hour mark. Redback Cycles rider Rooster Lucas snatched the win away from Team Stuc after he demoralished his competition on the first climb of the last lap. Both Lucas and Clint Pearce (Stuc) suffered rear punctures on the last lap, finishing on their rims and looking over their shoulders for the fast finishing youngster, Aaron Benson (Teebaa). The final margin, Redback Cycles 1st, 1min21secs ahead of Stuc and only 2 seconds further back to Teebaa in third.

Nine social teams also fought long and hard in the triples category with seasoned campaigners The Rogue Agents fighting off a consistant Pro-Am Avanti Plus team sporting a 2 generations of Duhs boys. The final winning margin was just over 2 minutes. Rockhampton's Dundabirds scored themselves some great goodies filling the 3rd spot on the podium with 9 laps.

All results and lap times have been posted under the "Results" tab. Including results from Saturday evening's Dirt Dash. Some awesome racing was witnessed and the event is sure to return in 2010 with the winners in each category as follows:
Men Elite: Dave Whitney
Women: Sharon Heap
Men Sport: Russell Davies
Junior: Byron Davies

Check out all of the results and a link to Astrovisual's event photos on our RESULTS page.

Thank you to all who helped and participated for making the 2009 Gold Rush an event to remember.

Mike @ Grindin Gearz