{"id":7170,"date":"2018-02-28T03:59:52","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T03:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/?p=7170"},"modified":"2018-03-08T11:15:59","modified_gmt":"2018-03-08T11:15:59","slug":"otway-odyssey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/otway-odyssey\/","title":{"rendered":"Otway Odyssey"},"content":{"rendered":"

THOUSANDs or riders descended on Forrest for an action-packed weekend of bike racing at Otway Odyssey.<\/p>\n

Peta Mullens and Jay Vine clinched King and Queen of the Otways titles in the 12th edition of the Otway Odyssey and Great Otway Gravel Grind (GOGG).<\/p>\n

The events, presented by Focus, confirmed their status as one of Australia\u2019s greatest and most challenging off-road bike races, with over 1,400 riders from across Australia and overseas travelling to Forrest to compete on the weekend.<\/p>\n

The atmosphere was electric as competitors from the recreational to the elite raced across the famed single-track and smooth rolling dirt roads of the Otway Ranges in six races of varying distances.<\/p>\n

Mild temperatures and light showers from Friday to Sunday settled the dust and made the courses fast and the racing exciting.<\/p>\n

The weekend champions taking the King and Queen of the Otways titles, as fastest overall across the two premier long-distance races were Peta Mullens and Jay Vine.<\/p>\n

Mullens, a former Australian Road Cyclist Champion and current professional rider, claimed a history-making fifth victory at the renowned 100km Otway Odyssey MTB Marathon on Saturday, then clinched her second GOGG victory in a time of three hours, 42 minutes, and three seconds.<\/p>\n

By winning both the 100km mountain bike marathon on Saturday and the gravel grind on Sunday, Mullens successfully defended her title of Queen of the Otways.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very much a surprise,\u201d Mullens said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was super exciting racing, and good camaraderie by everybody out on the track; the support the whole weekend as a competitor was really great, I\u2019m surprised and very happy; it\u2019s good to be back!\u201d<\/p>\n

It was tight racing in the men\u2019s field on Sunday throughout the race with the lead pack of seven riders entering and exiting each time-out zone together and crossing the finish line in quick succession.<\/p>\n

Chris Jongewaard of Adelaide managed to hold onto a puncture for the last four kilometres, ultimately finding himself as runner-up to Vine (3:09:30) just 21 seconds behind (3:09:51), after time in the transitions were tabulated. In third place overall was Ryan Standish one minute later (3:10:52).<\/p>\n

\u201cI was struggling for about five or 10 minutes there early on, the bunch punching me all the way to the first time-out, so I was actually looking forward to that first transition,\u201d Vine said from the podium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking something was going to come up this weekend. Yesterday, was probably for the glory, and today was just a glorious ride, you\u2019ve dropped onto to the beach, and 90kms of this with mates; it was just amazing. Thanks for putting on a great event and I\u2019ll definitely be back next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vine\u2019s lowest cumulative times over the two days of racing meant he clinched the King of the Otways crown.<\/p>\n

Full results are available at bit.ly\/2GJopn9.<\/p>\n