Australian Mountain Bike Champs 2008

Ironic that the races are all named after cars –

“Be it the lungbusting challenge of Rav4 V6 Cross Country, elbow to elbow action of the Kluger XC Short Course or the HiLux 4X, the control and tooth-loosening danger of the Toyota trials”

4X is on Saturday not Friday. The schedule can be found here: http://mtbnationals.com.au/cms/uploads/events/natsschedule08.pdf

Have to agree with Kramer. The 4X last year was great for spectators. For those that have never seen it they have tunes pumping, tv cameras catching the action, racers flying down the track and through the air every 5 minutes or so – action-o-plenty is the name of the game.

The downhill is great also – practice and seeding races on Sunday, finals on Monday. Picture someone with little to no fear barrelling down the mountain at full pelt on machine that is a cross between a motocross bike without an engine and something from mad max. They throw themselves down rock gardens, get sideways around steep corners, and get insanely airborne over huge jumps and oftentimes very rough boulders.

This will give you a taste for the upcoming action that will be seen when Stromlo hosts the world cup round and the world championships in the near future.

I agree with Kramer there is more to mountain biking than just fat tyres. Since this is happening in our backyard I recommend checking it out. The Nationals will have World Champions and World Class athletes competing in 4 disciplines. 4X (Saturday), Downhill and Cross Country Short Track (both Monday) would be the highlights for me. The full event schedule can be accessed here.