SOUTHERN Highlands Cycling Club members Shaun O’Connor and Charlton Durie have been picked in the Australian team for the Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships next month.
The world championships are being held in Australia for only the second time, and Canberra’s Stromlo Forest Park has been chosen as the venue.
There are four disciplines; Four Cross, Cross Country Olympic (the only Olympic discipline), Trials and Downhill which will be conducted from September 1-6.
Durie and O’Connor could not be contacted yesterday, but both have been overseas riding on the world cup circuit in recent months.
O’Connor has been selected for the super-fast downhill junior men division, of which he is the Oceania champion, while Bowral’s Durie will ride in the under-23 cross country event.
In other cycling news, the inaugural 3 Ring Circus mountain biking event takes place next weekend in Wingello State Forest.
More than 600 riders, performing solo or in relay teams of two or three will race three loops (Rings) of either the singletrack for the experienced, climbs for the fit, and scenic forest roads for the novice.
Organiser Huw Kingston said the latest event was built on the back of the Highland Fling’s success.
“We were keen to add another event in the Southern Highlands to our successful Highland Fling,” Kingston said
“By offering The 3 Ring Circus as a relay in addition to solo we wanted to give novice or less confident riders an opportunity to have some fun in the forest.
“The event filled up the 600 limit and we plan to have some circus-style entertainment on the day in addition to the race itself.”
Wingello State Forest will be closed for the event from the afternoon of Friday August 21 until late in the afternoon on Saturday August 22.