2003 Australian Mountainbike Championships and 2003 Oceania Mountainbike Championships
It was with regret that we learnt earlier this week of the back-burning that had to take place over the mountainbike courses at Mt Beauty. The important issue of course is that the town has been spared from the bushfires.
As a result of this situation the CA Board has accepted the following recommendation from the Mountainbike Commission and supported by MTBA.
1. The 2003 Australian Mountainbike Championships have been postponed to later in the year. A date at the end of October or early November will be confirmed shortly. The venue for these titles will remain at Mt Beauty
2. The 2003 Oceania Championships will proceed to be staged on the same dates of 21, 22 and 23 February but will be relocated to the alternate venue of Eildon in regional Victoria. The Championships will be hosted by the Fat Tyre Flyers Mtb Club (FTF) who are in the process of affiliation to CycleSport Victoria. The FTF have also received significant support from the local community and Council in accommodating this event.
The Oceania Championships will be conducted in the categories of:
· Elite Men, Elite Women & U19 Men, in both Cross-Country and Downhill.
There will be additional support events conducted on the day to cater for other participants who were expecting competition on this weekend – especially those who have made long distance travel arrangements. Support events will be covered on the same licensing and permit basis as the current national series events. However, the Oceania Championships will be restricted to UCI affiliated licence-holders only.
The Flat Tyre Flyers are well advanced in arranging accommodation and other infrastructure details and specific information in this regard will be available very early next week. This information will be available on the CA, FTF and MTBA websites as it comes to hand.
We thank you for your understanding and cooperation with this difficult situation and look forward to your support in ensuring the successful transition to these amended arrangements.
Thanks also to the CA MTB Commission, MTBA, Flat Tyre Flyers and CycleSport Victoria for their cooperation and efforts in facilitating this challenge over the past two days.
Graham Fredericks
Chief