OFF-ROAD RACING
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DON’T be fooled by the shade of lemon associated with the name of this hill between Condobolin and Tottenham - Yellow Mountain is an absolute monster.
Peter Davis knows it.
And Jim Whittaker and Greg Elliott, well, they know it better than most.
The Canobolas Motorcycle Club will this weekend be represented by 12 riders at the 2015 Yellow Mountain Cross Country, beginning this morning at Condobolin before negotiating 220 kilometres of off-road, cross country madness all the way to Tottenham.
They then turn around and do it all again the next day.
Close to 250 riders from across the country are expected to take part in the endurance event but, in a sign of the unrelenting punishment the race dishes out, more than a quarter of those who start won’t finish.
Given that, finishing the 440km round trip on its own is a feat to be marvelled.
“Hell yeah, it is,” Davis said.
“Anyone who finishes the race is given a yellow plough point. Normally, a $2 plough point isn’t worth much to anyone.
“But this is Yellow Mountain. If you finish the race and get one, it’s one of your most prized possessions.”
Backing up for a 10th race, Whittaker already has nine yellow plough points and is gunning to maintain his 100 per cent success rate this weekend.
“It’s a personal adventure for me,” said Whittaker, 60, who has started dead last in each attempt at Yellow Mountain.
“I just sit right at the back of the pack and the only thing I’ve got to race is my own mind.
“It’s enjoyable. It’s great country, great scenery and it’s tough and something different to what I do every day.”
Elliott, too, is a Yellow Mountain veteran.
Embarking on his 11th venture from Condobolin to Tottenham and back again, the motorcycle buff loves the challenge associated with the event.
“Obviously in my game [at Morris Motorcycles] I enjoy helping the boys with the preparation ... it’s just a fantastic ride over so much varied terrain over two days,” Elliott said.
“There’s a lot of high speed, which we all like, fence jumps, bull dust and fast farm tracks and grassy paddocks and all sorts of things that can catch you out.
“It’s probably one of the greatest adventures in NSW, as far as off-road dirt biking goes.”
The race takes the best riders three hours and riders like Whittaker as many as five.