Martin Shields
Local riders Hayley Oakes and Darcy Harris have achieved excellent results at the 2019 Mountain Bike Australia (MTB) national championships and Oceania MTB championships at Bright, Victoria, last week.
Held over seven days, the world, Olympic, and national champions mixed it with riders from across Australia in downhill, cross-country, and trials events where some races had as many as 50 riders competing.
Northern Rivers Dirty Wheels Mountain Bike Club riders Hayley Oakes and Darcy Harris have had an outstanding weekend and look like champions in the making.
In the national championship Hayley took out the gold medal in both the XCO (longer course) and the XCC (short course) cross-country, while Darcy won Sliver in the XCO and gold in the XCC.
Both competitors rode in the U/17 year class. Darcy is still 15 years old and Haley had her 15th birthday at the weekend.
The Oceania championships hosted athletes from across the region including Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tahiti.
Haley topped off her fantastic week of racing with another gold in the Oceania U/17.
Two local businesses support these athletes and without their help it would be next to impossible to rank as high as they do at Australian national level. The Bicycle Emporium in Ballina supports Haley, and Harris Cycle Company (no relation) looks after Darcy.
The event is a display of just how popular mountain biking is becoming and just how competitive Australia is in the MTB world.