Riders go on an odyssey in Forrest

BRENDAN Johnston claimed his first Otway Odyssey MTB Marathon in his debut at the event, held in Forrest on Saturday.

Johnston was lightning quick, setting a winning pace of 4.22:09 ahead of brothers Russel and Tasman Nankervis.

“I haven’t done the event before so I didn’t know what to expect,” Johnston said.

“These guys, Taz and Reece, they were attacking, it was like they had a leader’s jersey on or something. I just kind of hopped away from the front and ended up winning somehow.”

Holly Harris from Armidale claimed her first women’s title in the 100km marathon. Samara Sheppard (one of the pre-race favourites from NZ) came second with Renata Bucher third.

Former Australian Road Race champion Peta Mullens suffered a nasty tyre blowout 20km into the women’s race, forcing her to play catch up and eventually leading her to retire from the track not far from the finish.

Nearly 1,000 riders from recreational to elite raced the single-track of Forrest. It was a hot and hard track with a new course record set by Adam Blazevic in the 50km race.

On Sunday, the third edition of the Great Otway Gravel Grind took 300 bike riders on a journey through the Otways to the coast and back.

The event included a Big Ring 97km course, and a Small Ring 49km course both starting and finishing in Forrest.

Bendigo rider Tasman Nankervis and Kiwi Samara Sheppard took the honours.

“It was champagne cycling out there,” Nankervis said. “There were a lot of little attacks at the start then before the 87km feed zone but I think I attacked at the 80km mark. I just did one big attack and drilled it to the feed zone.”

For more information and results, head to OtwayOdyssey.com.au and otwaygravelgrind.com.au.