Tamworth’s Mick Sherwood was the best of the solo men’s riders in Saturday’s UNE 12 Hours in the Piney.
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More than 200 cyclists hit the pine forest and spun their wheels into the event and again it was locals who impressed.
Under 19 Australian cross country champion Katherine Hosking rode in the teams category and recorded the fastest female lap time of the day.
Katherine competed in Fasterthanu? alongside David Cook, Paul Whitford and Jack Feltham and took out the teams trophy, two laps ahead of the next best team.
Hot on her heels in lap times was younger sister Isabella, whose Spokin Hot Babes team with Alison Billings, Isabella Hosking, Alex King and Lucy Cook won the female teams category.
Michael Harris recorded the fastest lap time of the day and with his team, The Three Spuds, were far too classy in the men’s teams.
Harris joined Angus Apps and Andrew Whitehill to finish with 17 laps, one ahead of runners up Woodsey’s Wheels.
"They ended up being a team of three because they originally had Holly Harris in there as well,” New England Mountain Bikers president Peter Hosking said.
"The pace they were going, they put an extra three laps in compared to the solos so that gives them an idea of how fast they really do go.”
Sherwood won the men’s race on 14 laps and 11 minutes faster than Sydney’s Simon De Pomeroy.
"[It was a] Very strong ride, he has a very strong road background and I guess the slightly less technical course would have suited him,” Hosking said.
"He did well to punch that out.”
Queensland’s Rebecca Stone was the speediest solo female biker who finished one lap quicker than Samantha Phillips.
Peter Selkrig won the solo male 40+, crossing the finish line one lap better than David Lyons.
The junior teams had less time on the track than the seniors but it was the Northern Inland Academy of Sport athletes who dominated the placings with first, second, fourth and seventh.
Hosking said while riders were happy to speed around the course, the best part of the event was the social atmosphere on offer.
"The track was in great condition,” he said.
"Everyone was really happy, we got a lot of positive feedback.
"We still managed to get a bit under 30 riders from Queensland.
"It is meant to be a very social event so that is what we saw.
"It was a great day, there were lots of smiles [and] we got a lot of feedback.
"We had Altitude Coffee Roasters make coffee shots and they got a freebie out on the track.
“That got a lot of popular praise.”