AR World Championship 2005
HardTale - From the Far Corners of Oz
Stever Cooper / 08.11.2005
Team HardTale.com Mountain Designs are Australia’s only representatives this year, and the race is so close! (Just ‘across the ditch’).
These guys are sure to work their bums off to put this race on their favorite list and tick it off as completed, after injuries befalling team members in past outings at major AR races Matt, Anthony, Hugh and Emily are looking forward to the starter’s gun going off. They were at Southern Traverse last year, but had to withdraw due to frostbite and exposure ... they’ll be ready for the weather this time, but other new teams new to the West Coast weather should be warned!
The team spans the country with Anthony Michell coming out of Brisbane, Hugh Stodart and Emily Dirksen based in Sydney and Matt Bacon now based in FNQ (far north Queensland). For the other international teams this may not seem like a huge hurdle until you take a close look at a map, imagine 2 team members living in Northern Ireland, the 3rd in Sicily and the 4th in Jerusalem, lucky aussies don’t mind jumping in the car and going for a drive.
These guys come with a good background in AR, mountain biking and Multisport and were 12th in the last World Champs in Newfoundland. They’ll be after a top 10 place this time and if you’re allowed to put sails on the kayaks lookout, because as well as being bloody good MTB riders, Hugh is a sailor with World Championship experience.
If you are pushed to spot them out on the course, look for the little angry, follicly challenged man sporting a suntan from the Northern Hemisphere … that would be Matt. (He’s sure to have a soap box on the back of his bike as well.) All in all a great crew with a good sense of humor and they have a loyal support crew in the shape of Ma and Pa Bacon (Matt’s folks) and girlfriend Sarah.
Bring it home guys, but most importantly have a good race.
SleepMonsters
