Chicks In the Sticks Race Summary
What a colourful event! There were feathers, tutus, even some strange looking he/shes! Many ladies got into the spirit of the event, including the GoGIRLs (the pink ladies) and dressed up for the occasion. Once we had cheered on the Little chicks in the Sticks, the chicken nuggets and the Chick-a-dees, we assembles for the mass start!
After the race briefing of important points such as “track right’ means stay to the left whilst the person overtakes you on the right (not go right),“stopping” well we can work that one out but remember not to block anyone’s path. A down arrow means a steep descent and more arrows means it’s even steeper with a dismount area! That had some of the roadies worried, who were thinking I thought this was just a ride for fun. Other women were thinking, it’s slower to walk may as well ride! Good on you Helen, that’s the spirit!
Fun it was, but far from a walk in the park.
The GoGIRLs, with laps of Ferny forest, Parklands and some longer rides under their belts thought they were well prepared. The race started and it was go go go! The Karingal track was purposefully built for enduro events like this one. It’s ridden anticlockwise with 80% single track with just enough fire road to over take, before the more challenging technical parts such as, Bathtub, Gorilla and Phantom. Added to that, the creek crossings of Borneo and Badger, makes for a very interesting loop.
It was soon apparent that all levels of ability were catered for. The “Have a Crackers” were happy to ride around and see how many laps they could do, the “Double Yolkers” were having a crack in teams of two, the “Chicken Runners’ were looking for a podium finish and the “Queens of the Coop” showed that the old chooks could still run a respectable race. But whatever their group it was great to see good camaraderie, patience and wholesome fun.
A big thank you to the organisers and volunteers of the Rats Cycle Club and everyone who helped for all your hard work in creating an awesome fun event, “Chicks in the Sticks”. A huge congrats go to all GoGIRLS particularly Sonja Wilson with her incredible 7 laps in the Free Range section, (your outfit had all the roosters a bit excited), Deb Kelly with her podium finish, she’s definitely a Queen of the Coop, Helen Findley who is relatively new to MTBing with her smashing effort of 5 laps. Clare Burns and Tania Marks unfortunately had mechanicals but handled the frustrations with class. Clare still finishing an admirable 4th in the Queen of the Coop with me in 6th (last time I looked but that’s another story). Apparently, there is no time for a quick wee stop and a bite to eat in a 3 hr race he he! We will all be back more determined next year (with Goo), hopefully with a whole lot more GoGIRLs.