Once again a Victorian Trail network played host to the first round of National mountain bike racing. The venue, Mount Taylor. Located a short drive from Bairnsdale in the East Gippsland shire, this usually quiet little spot had been transformed into a MTB mecca. Despite missing big names Troy Brosnan, Conner Fearon, Sam Hill and the well know Crimmins brothers, the atmosphere on race day was a good one. The first chance for riders to see where they sit in the pack after the off season, catch up with old mates and have a good time ripping up some trails together. 

With seeding and racing all happening on Sunday, the competitors had friday afternoon, all of Saturday and a couple of hours sunday morning to practice and get their race lines dialed in. Or cut in as seemed to be the case on the top half of the track where some serious ruts had started to form. 

Sunday brought with it a bit of a stormy weather system, which dropped the temps making race conditions a little more comfortable. Seeding started out at midday with all racers putting down the first official timed run for the weekend and the competition was tough. In the Elite mens the top two riders, Jack Moir and Graeme Mudd, finished their runs only a second apart with Moir being the first rider to crack the 4 minute mark. Sarah Booth lay down the fastest time for the Elite women's and Remy Morton, sporting his fresh Santa Cruz as part of Team Lusty, set the quickest time in the junior mens ahead of fellow world cup racer Jackson Frew. 

Racing followed suit as far as the final results were concerned however in all categories riders bettered their times making sure the winners stayed on point and pushed hard to remain at the top. Stand outs go to Joshua Button and Liam Pannazo, in Elite mens, who both respectively shaved 10 seconds off their seeding times to put them into third and forth for the day. Danielle Beecroft took second spot on the women's podium with Tegan Molloy claiming third only .2 of a second back in the wake of a decent off during practice on saturday. The junior mens podium third spot was filled by Josh clark, who managed to save a huge moment in the cabbage patch section of the trail. 

A great start to the nationals series with plenty to look forward to in the coming rounds.