The G-FLOW decider presented by Lake Macquarie City Council was one to remember! The 2023 series was contested over a total of 6 days, approx 30 minutes of time staged racing that included parts of the famous Monkey downhill trail.
A sold-out event with many riders traveling far and wide to be a part of what some are saying “the best 3 weekends of their lives!” A great summary of the final round was stated by the round 3 winner Archie Gibson (may add he is U17’s) “Had an awesome time, stages were amazing, and love how HMBA in part made some of the stages feel like you were racing at international EDR level”.
Saturday weather was prime, little crisp feel in the air for the morning and midday practice sessions. However, you could cut the air with a knife when it closed into the Pro Stage start time of 2.30pm. As riders prepared for the King G stage, so did the crowd. The huge, noisy crowd positioned themselves on the Monkey downhill to watch some of the best riders in the nation tackle the technical corners and of course encouraged them as they sped past! One thing for sure, the crowd woke the wildlife surrounding Awaba MTB park on Saturday afternoon. Competitors were raring to tackle the newly updated Monkey Downhill in now famous King G Stage! With a large crowd in place, they knew they had to risk it, racing was fierce and aggressive! Once they completed, they were eager to recoup, study where they could have gone faster and where they can make up time in day 2 across Sunday’s 3 stages.
KING G Men’s top 5; (analogue)
1st: Ben Bullenaslin
2nd: Harper Nelmes
3rd: Archie Gibson
KING G Women’s top 5: (analogue)
1st Leighsa Cox
2nd Bess Murray
3rd Olivia Hicks
As the dust settled during the evening we woke to a cool morning with clouds brewing overhead. Being an endurance race some competitors were a little sore and stiff but were on an all-time high from yesterday’s activities.
Drift Bikes were kept busy Sunday morning assisting those who had mechanicals the day prior, eager to get them going for the day 2.
Sunday, Mark Nelmes the race director had been dreaming of setting up trails that gave the competitors that Euro Enduro feeling. All 3 stages were challenging, high speeds going down which lead the hairs on the back of the neck stand up, switchback corners that were sure to burn the legs and some uphill sprints that your heart was asking for a transplant.
The competitor’s speeds were fast. With a crowd on hand no competitor wanted to disappoint. All competitors gave everything! Stoke was all time high, times were close across categories. Just seeing the smiles at the end of the event makes it all worth the worthwhile. HMBA GFLOW/GRAVITY is the best fun you could have on two wheels, some may say it is better than Lego!
All in all, Awaba’s final round GFLOW/GRAVITY Enduro was a huge success, sold out event with amazing help from volunteers and sponsors. Big Thanks to Lake Macquarie Council, Burger Urge, Wearelusty, Breakaway Cycles, Bay Bike Co, Drift Bikes, Crofto, SPC Photograghy and NSW forests.
2023 GFLOW CHAMPIONS
OPEN MEN’s
1st:Ben Bullenaslin
2nd: Bailey Thomas
3rd: Hayden Vanderdrift
OPEN WOMEN’S
1st Samantha Cole
2nd: Laura Renshaw
3rd: Emily Norquay
SPORT MEN’S
1st Andrew Conventry
2nd James Clark
3rd Stephen Blinkmore
SPORT WOMEN’S
1st Bess Murray
2nd: Georgia Marjoribanks
U17’s MEN
1st Owen Lane
2nd Owen Cox
3rd Archie Gibson
U17’s WOMEN
1st Cadence Campbell
U15’s MEN
1st Harper Nelmes
2nd Darby Lubjic
3rd Oscar Berry
U15’s WOMEN
1st Olivia Hicks
U13’s MEN
1st Taj Thornton
2nd Kealan Glover
3rd Link Turnbull
E-BIKE MEN
1st Regan Pickles
2nd Matt Glover
3rd Anthony Scarr
E-BIKE WOMEN
1st: Tegan Glover
2nd: Browyn Harcurt
3rd: Emma Stevenson
MASTER’S MEN
1st Ganin Vanderdrift
2nd Ryan Sneddon
3rd Waz Turnbull
MASTER’S WOMEN
1st Leighsa Cox
2nd Natalie Fackler
3rd Kuba McCormack
GRAND MASTERS MEN
1st Tony Edwards
2nd Ray Gregory
3rd Greg Allen
GRAND MASTERS WOMEN
1st Karmell Macdonald
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