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3rd Urban Polaris - NE
Canberra, Australia, November 17, 2002
400 riders negotiate the capital
By Huw Kingston, event organiser
Is Capital Punishment here to stay? Some 400 mountain bikers seem to think so after riding around the national capital in search of checkpoints in the heart of the city, throughout the suburbs and deep in the surrounding forests and bush. After two years in Sydney, Canberra was a perfect venue for the Urban Polaris, Australia's most cycle friendly city where even the drivers seem to have respect for those on two wheels, a mass of dirt in and around the city and plenty of 'iconic' controls as a result of its status as capital. Controls were widely scattered from the top of the Telstra Tower and others of Canberra's many hills, to the middle of Lake Burley Griffin (accessible by pedalling paddleboats!), to twisting singletrack in the forests. Cafes, Parliament House, shops, houses - all were included.
Compared to the battles waged against bureaucracy in Sydney last year, the running of the event in Canberra was a relative breeze with only a couple of government departments to deal with and an attitude of 'how can we help?' rather than 'how can we cover our butts?'
112 teams from Out of Town, 71 teams from within 100km of Canberra and 14 with one of each. Riders from as far away as Norway, the UK, Melbourne, Mudgee...
The weekend kicked off with a great night at the 4Wheels4Sean Fundraising dinner on Saturday night. We're raising $50,000 for a specially adapted vehicle for Sean Fitzgerald, a Canberra cyclist made a quadraplegic in a riding accident. Close to $7,000 was raised on the night and the fund is now up to $30,000.
Despite very stiff competition local riders, Simon Tilley and Luis Severino won the 2002 Urban Polaris visiting 26 out of 36 controls and amassing 589 points. Part of the Canberra MTB mafia, local knowledge paid off as well as fitness. They rode some 140km in the 7 hours. Snapping at their heels with 580 points were the Sydney team of Ian Stewart/Jez Spackman. We had a record number of 23 Womens Teams, local stars Mel McIntyre/Gaye Camm ran away with the title with 440 points and 10th Overall.
In the Mixed Pairs Catherine Toet/Jim Trail sniffed out a victory (440 points, 9th Overall) whilst in the Veterans, brothers David and John Hatley cleaned up (470 points, 5th Overall).
The unicyclists were back; two teams this time and we also had the first recumbent and first tandem in a Polaris event. Hope to see them all at the Challenge in March! The most inspirational rider was Walter Van Praag. Walter suffers from the debilitating lung disease Cystic Fibrosis. As his Tee Shirt proudly proclaimed he was 'coughing it up for Cystic Fibrosis'. He apologized to all those riders caught behind his coughing and spluttering.
Photos
Images by Mark Watson/mwphotography.com.au
- Now turn left at ASIO for the 30 point checkpoint
- Warp speed and map reading, don't try this at home
- Some checkpoints were reached by boat
- Just some of the riders awaiting the start
- Front row of the start
- Racing through bushland around Canberra
- Plotting checkpoints on the lake foreshore
- Everyone has their own secret to point collecting
- The highest checkpoint in the event
- I can see New Zealand from here
- Climbing is easier on the road
- No time to take in the view, there are points to collect
- Off for the next checkpoint
- How fast can you go?
- Look out for the speed camera
- There is a checkpoint here somewhere
- Riders hope the Federal Police don't stop them
- Riding past Parliament House
- WEEEEeeeee…, coming down is the fun bit
- Some riders take the downhills a bit slower
- How far up is it again?
- We should have taken that left turn
- Sean Fitzgerald talks to riders as they collect points
- Some dress up for the event
- Riding flat out to get maximum points
- Heading through the singletrack
Results
Overall
1 Luis Severino/Simon Tilley 589 pts 2 Ian Stewart/Jez Spackman 580 3 Ian Wright/Jeff Rooney 540 4 Adrian Laing/Oyvind Aas 530 5 David Hatley/John Hatley 470 6 Jason Chalker/Simon Thompson 470 7 Justin Jarvis/Darren Marks 450 8 Simon Davies/Warrick Grieve 450 9 Jim Trail/Catherine Toet 440 10 Gaye Camm/Melanie Mcintyre 440 11 Michael Pottinger/Anne Broadbent 430 12 Steve Gibbs/Rodney Hart 430 13 Steph Maxwell/Michael Carden 430 14 Juliet Fisher/David Morgan 430 15 Mark Shingler/Andy Simpson 430 16 Andrew Rowe/Ian Smith 430 17 Peter Beggs/Spencer Flugge 420 18 Grant McDonald/Bruce Bowen 420 19 Charlotte Keller/Mike Dennis 420 20 Daniel Cooper/Emma Cooper 410 21 Paul Mason/Steven Hanley 410 22 Mick Bucknell/Jens Nasholm 400 23 Richard Davis/Damien Demunck 400 24 Chad Balding/Stephen Jackson 390 25 David Whitelaw/Craig Allatt 390 26 Bruce Perry/Nick Lake 390 27 Michael Meryment/Mat Shields 390 28 James Davies/Tony Hawke 390 29 Greg McLindon/Aaron Thomson 380 30 Brad Adams/Tony Winterbottom 380 31 Eddie Bosch/Steve Mc Millan 380 32 Gavin Owen/Andrew Cowie 380 33 Craig Lindenmayer/Andrew Remely 379 34 Oliver Barlow/Shane Mc Hugh 370 35 Roger Simionato/Guido Simionato 370 36 Tonia Oswald-Sealy/Jessica Ridder 370 37 Chris Jallard/Ian Robinson 370 38 Eric Dole/Andrew Lewin 370 39 Paul Haynes/John Behrens 370 40 Wayne Eastburn/Sean Doyle 370 41 Andrew Harmer/John Moran 370 42 Alan Harding/Verner Verass 370 43 Pete Gretton/Ian Hollister 360 44 Stephen Moon/Philip Lawlor 360 45 Chris Whitburn/Stewart Kerr 350 46 David Lloyd/Amanda Cleife 350 47 Peter McConaghy/Wendy McConaghy 350 48 Tom Kaminskas/Liam O'Dea 350 49 Jonathan Potts/Tom Brennan 350 50 Nicole Lowres/Sara Lindblom 350 51 Andrew Thomas/Katrina Roper 349 52 Arthur Crampton/Jim Prendergast 340 53 Greg Hollands/Jason Baldwin 340 54 Fiona Russell/Martine Robin 340 55 Justin Bagge/Trevor Hill 340 56 Hamish Mackie/George McBean 340 57 David Bush/Phillip Win 340 58 Craig Paull/Dan Paull 340 59 Andrew Robertson/Wayne Bradbury 340 60 Duncan Warrick/Dylan Clift 340 61 John Graydon/Luke Graydon 339 62 Gordon Everitt/Peter Gaull 330 63 Jason Goddard/Mark Worsfold 330 64 Michelle Van Der Voort/Peter Carter 330 65 Nicholas Crisp/Damian Woolcombe 330 66 Kin-Yat Lo/Chris Smith 330 67 Robyn Simionato/Penelope Maher 330 68 Annabel Alexander/Ira Cooke 330 69 Steven Higgins/Ian Greenwood 330 70 Brian Farrelly/Gerard Frawley 330 71 John Mulquiney/David Barrs 320 72 Cara Smith/Jacqueline Clynes 320 73 Craig Younie/Gary Rolfe 320 74 Peter Hanselmann/Graeme Woodward 320 75 Gerard Coggan/Chris Wallace 320 76 Joe Crombie/Liam Downing 320 77 Ian Connellan/Barry Dennis 320 78 Henry Wakeford/Peter Flanagan 310 79 Chris Buxton/Craig O'Sullivan 310 80 Natasha Yolland/Lisa Cutfield 310 81 Jeff Scheetz/Greg Scheetz 310 82 Simon Hayes/Martina Broder 310 83 David Williams/Silvana Yousif 310 84 Roger Broughton/Andrew Boyd 305 85 Ken Wilyman/Anthony Barthelmess 300 86 Alan Davidson/Tony Nicholson 300 87 Dominic Sims/Nicholas Thain 300 88 Ron Schroeder/Debbie Schroeder 300 89 Duncan Kelly/Matthew Egan-Richards 300 90 Geoff Charnock/Heather Selwyn 300 91 Wayne O'Young/David Earls 300 92 Stephen Isbel/Damien Wellbourne 300 93 Marea England/Stephen Murphy 290 94 Andrew Carroll/Andrew Waudby 290 95 Doug Cross/Penny Troy 290 96 Dana Skopal/Peter Hillig 290 97 Kelly Linaker/Gail Sutton 290 98 Gerard Mutimer/Michael Hurley 290 99 Jonathon Hoye/Christopher Hoye 290 100 Stephen Kershaw/Phil Munn 280 101 Michael Reynolds/Eugene Dagher 280 102 Michael Sumner/Vic Mosteart 280 103 Neil Macleod/Stuart Clark 280 104 Sara Hely/Prue Leach 280 105 Nic Scott/Tamas Kibedi 270 106 James Rule/Bill Laing 270 107 Nigel Eggins/Lisa Eggins 270 108 Scott Marston/Stephen Stinton 270 109 Alyssa Rogan/Helen Mc Mullen 270 110 Ruth Paterson/Emily Whitten 270 111 Scott Doyle/Tanya Doyle 270 112 Phillip Hellman/Chris Hellman 270 113 Andy Fowler/David Morrow 270 114 Paul Armstrong/Ashley Carr 270 115 Jeremy Selby/Elizabeth Selby 270 116 James Darch/Andrew Gilder 260 117 Patrick Mc Namara/Nick Bayfield 260 118 Dileen de Silva/Graeme Millar 260 119 Troy Wright/Grant Camper 250 120 Jimmy Chan/Seamus Frahill 250 121 Stephen Bannister/John Kane 250 122 Belinda Green/Julia Graczyk 250 123 Philip Dupal/Helen Cameron 250 124 Peter Rogerson/Fraser Hamilton 250 125 Peter Hendriks/John Frampton 250 126 Keith Bramma/Susan Beck 250 127 Kris Cleeman/Mark Lee 250 128 Luke Johnson/Sascha Moroney 240 129 Neale Schelks/David Hanes 240 130 Kate Miller/Luke Wensing 240 131 Adrian O'Shaughnessy/Helen Crapper 240 132 Mark Krawiarz/Christian Hoegh-Rasmussen 230 133 Walter Van Praag/Katherine Hitch 230 134 Kirsty Busch/Kate Boxsell 230 135 Fil Giles/Paul Foy 230 136 Mick Stanic/Rob Baric 230 137 Cheryl Woods/Geoff Woods 230 138 Mike Levett/Ben Levett 230 139 Malcom Duff/Nick Foster 230 140 Lachlan A R Wainwright/Melanie Wainwright 230 141 Jeff Ray/Stewart Mitchell 230 142 Greg Searle/Graham Smith 230 143 Ben O'Keefe/Lisa Charles 228 144 Emma Hutchison/Geoff Weir 225 145 Michael Gillan/Alan Townsend 225 146 Michael Dupe/Margaret Jamieson 220 147 Reece Guihot/Amy Guihot 220 148 Bryony Mika/Anthea Coggan 215 149 Jim McCracken/David Wheeler 214 150 Hieu Nguyen/Aaron Langley 210 151 Stuart McIntyre/Mary Vrlic 210 152 Denna Kingdom/Ewen Kingdom 210 153 Tim Easton/Alistar Catterall 210 154 Scott Parsons/Ingrid Dewhurst 210 155 Stuart Sutton/Duncan Edwards 210 156 Michael Thomson/Julie Ross 210 157 Karen Fisher/Sarah Wilson 210 158 Bill Smith/Gary Beal 200 159 Bill Hunt/Hannah Newton 200 160 Simon Viles/Pete Lees 200 161 Bronwyn Farrelly/Vicky Gwilliam 200 162 David Griffith/Emma Griffith 195 163 Matt Dempsey/Amanda Dempsey 190 164 Anitra Wenden/Lisa Wilson 190 165 Gabe Holmik/Sam Cowley 190 166 Martin Zweep/Julianne Leslie 190 167 Terry Tompkin/Jason Kyle 180 168 Ben Lymbery/Paul Barrett 180 169 Sarah Campbell/Craig Dennis 180 170 Wayne Thompson/John Curtis 180 171 Kellie Grant/Dwayne Grant 180 172 Georgia Mor/Clare Sporle 180 173 Brett Croese/Matt Richards 180 174 Matthew Ryan/John Bracken 175 175 Claire Graydon/Christoffer Gallimore 175 176 Michael Doran/Hudson Doyle 173 177 Lawrence Kimberley/Marny Collett 170 178 John Reid/Andrew Scott 160 179 Chris Ryder/Michael Ford 160 180 Jackie Bell/Glenda Heys 160 181 Lincoln Keogh/Anthony Tripodi 150 182 Heidi Flaxman/Mandy Flaxman 150 183 Narelle Walters/Melissa Foster 150 184 Tomasz Oczapowski/Kirsty Robertson 150 185 Melissa Butcher/Peter Floyd 150 186 Laurita Rogan/Sarah Williams 140 187 Ross Easton/Robert Minto 110 188 Shane Brereton/Karl Zoechmann 110 189 Dom Galloway/Kate Hobbs 100 190 Humfrey Whitaker/David Ross 100 191 David Cameron/Stephen Clark 0
By category
Men 1 Luis Severino/Simon Tilley 589 pts 2 Ian Stewart/Jez Spackman 580 3 Ian Wright/Jeff Rooney 540 4 Adrian Laing/Oyvind Aas 530 5 Jason Chalker/Simon Thompson 470 6 Justin Jarvis/Darren Marks 450 7 Simon Davies/Warrick Grieve 450 8 Steve Gibbs/Rodney Hart 430 9 Mark Shingler/Andy Simpson 430 10 Andrew Rowe/Ian Smith 430 11 Peter Beggs/Spencer Flugge 420 12 Paul Mason/Steven Hanley 410 13 Mick Bucknell/Jens Nasholm 400 14 Richard Davis/Damien Demunck 400 15 Chad Balding/Stephen Jackson 390 16 David Whitelaw/Craig Allatt 390 17 Bruce Perry/Nick Lake 390 18 Michael Meryment/Mat Shields 390 19 James Davies/Tony Hawke 390 20 Greg McLindon/Aaron Thomson 380 21 Brad Adams/Tony Winterbottom 380 22 Gavin Owen/Andrew Cowie 380 23 Craig Lindenmayer/Andrew Remely 379 24 Oliver Barlow/Shane Mc Hugh 370 25 Chris Jallard/Ian Robinson 370 26 Eric Dole/Andrew Lewin 370 27 Wayne Eastburn/Sean Doyle 370 28 Andrew Harmer/John Moran 370 29 Pete Gretton/Ian Hollister 360 30 Chris Whitburn/Stewart Kerr 350 31 Tom Kaminskas/Liam O'Dea 350 32 Jonathan Potts/Tom Brennan 350 33 Justin Bagge/Trevor Hill 340 34 David Bush/Phillip Win 340 35 Craig Paull/Dan Paull 340 36 Andrew Robertson/Wayne Bradbury 340 37 Duncan Warrick/Dylan Clift 340 38 John Graydon/Luke Graydon 339 39 Gordon Everitt/Peter Gaull 330 40 Jason Goddard/Mark Worsfold 330 41 Nicholas Crisp/Damian Woolcombe 330 42 Steven Higgins/Ian Greenwood 330 43 Brian Farrelly/Gerard Frawley 330 44 John Mulquiney/David Barrs 320 45 Craig Younie/Gary Rolfe 320 46 Peter Hanselmann/Graeme Woodward 320 47 Gerard Coggan/Chris Wallace 320 48 Joe Crombie/Liam Downing 320 49 Henry Wakeford/Peter Flanagan 310 50 Chris Buxton/Craig O'Sullivan 310 51 Ken Wilyman/Anthony Barthelmess 300 52 Alan Davidson/Tony Nicholson 300 53 Dominic Sims/Nicholas Thain 300 54 Duncan Kelly/Matthew Egan-Richards 300 55 Wayne O'Young/David Earls 300 56 Stephen Isbel/Damien Wellbourne 300 57 Andrew Carroll/Andrew Waudby 290 58 Gerard Mutimer/Michael Hurley 290 59 Stephen Kershaw/Phil Munn 280 60 Michael Reynolds/Eugene Dagher 280 61 Michael Sumner/Vic Mosteart 280 62 Neil Macleod/Stuart Clark 280 63 Nic Scott/Tamas Kibedi 270 64 James Rule/Bill Laing 270 65 Scott Marston/Stephen Stinton 270 66 Phillip Hellman/Chris Hellman 270 67 James Darch/Andrew Gilder 260 68 Dileen de Silva/Graeme Millar 260 69 Troy Wright/Grant Camper 250 70 Jimmy Chan/Seamus Frahill 250 71 Peter Rogerson/Fraser Hamilton 250 72 Kris Cleeman/Mark Lee 250 73 Neale Schelks/David Hanes 240 74 Mark Krawiarz/Christian Hoegh-Rasmussen 230 75 Mick Stanic/Rob Baric 230 76 Mike Levett/Ben Levett 230 77 Malcom Duff/Nick Foster 230 78 Jim McCracken/David Wheeler 214 79 Hieu Nguyen/Aaron Langley 210 80 Stuart Sutton/Duncan Edwards 210 81 Simon Viles/Pete Lees 200 82 Gabe Holmik/Sam Cowley 190 83 Terry Tompkin/Jason Kyle 180 84 Ben Lymbery/Paul Barrett 180 85 Brett Croese/Matt Richards 180 86 Matthew Ryan/John Bracken 175 87 Michael Doran/Hudson Doyle 173 88 Lawrence Kimberley/Marny Collett 170 89 John Reid/Andrew Scott 160 90 Chris Ryder/Michael Ford 160 91 Lincoln Keogh/Anthony Tripodi 150 92 Shane Brereton/Karl Zoechmann 110 93 Humfrey Whitaker/David Ross 100 Mixed 1 Jim Trail/Catherine Toet 440 pts 2 Michael Pottinger/Anne Broadbent 430 3 Steph Maxwell/Michael Carden 430 4 Juliet Fisher/David Morgan 430 5 Charlotte Keller/Mike Dennis 420 6 Daniel Cooper/Emma Cooper 410 7 David Lloyd/Amanda Cleife 350 8 Peter McConaghy/Wendy McConaghy 350 9 Andrew Thomas/Katrina Roper 349 10 Michelle Van Der Voort/Peter Carter 330 11 Annabel Alexander/Ira Cooke 330 12 Simon Hayes/Martina Broder 310 13 David Williams/Silvana Yousif 310 14 Ron Schroeder/Debbie Schroeder 300 15 Geoff Charnock/Heather Selwyn 300 16 Marea England/Stephen Murphy 290 17 Doug Cross/Penny Troy 290 18 Nigel Eggins/Lisa Eggins 270 19 Scott Doyle/Tanya Doyle 270 20 Jeremy Selby/Elizabeth Selby 270 21 Philip Dupal/Helen Cameron 250 22 Keith Bramma/Susan Beck 250 23 Luke Johnson/Sascha Moroney 240 24 Kate Miller/Luke Wensing 240 25 Adrian O'Shaughnessy/Helen Crapper 240 26 Walter Van Praag/Katherine Hitch 230 27 Cheryl Woods/Geoff Woods 230 28 Lachlan A R Wainwright/Melanie Wainwright 230 29 Ben O'Keefe/Lisa Charles 228 30 Emma Hutchison/Geoff Weir 225 31 Reece Guihot/Amy Guihot 220 32 Stuart McIntyre/Mary Vrlic 210 33 Denna Kingdom/Ewen Kingdom 210 34 Scott Parsons/Ingrid Dewhurst 210 35 Michael Thomson/Julie Ross 210 36 Bill Hunt/Hannah Newton 200 37 David Griffith/Emma Griffith 195 38 Matt Dempsey/Amanda Dempsey 190 39 Martin Zweep/Julianne Leslie 190 40 Sarah Campbell/Craig Dennis 180 41 Kellie Grant/Dwayne Grant 180 42 Tomasz Oczapowski/Kirsty Robertson 150 Women 1 Gaye Camm/Melanie Mcintyre 440 pts 2 Tonia Oswald-Sealy/Jessica Ridder 370 3 Nicole Lowres/Sara Lindblom 350 4 Fiona Russell/Martine Robin 340 5 Robyn Simionato/Penelope Maher 330 6 Cara Smith/Jacqueline Clynes 320 7 Natasha Yolland/Lisa Cutfield 310 8 Kelly Linaker/Gail Sutton 290 9 Sara Hely/Prue Leach 280 10 Alyssa Rogan/Helen Mc Mullen 270 11 Ruth Paterson/Emily Whitten 270 12 Belinda Green/Julia Graczyk 250 13 Kirsty Busch/Kate Boxsell 230 14 Bryony Mika/Anthea Coggan 215 15 Karen Fisher/Sarah Wilson 210 16 Bronwyn Farrelly/Vicky Gwilliam 200 17 Anitra Wenden/Lisa Wilson 190 18 Georgia Mor/Clare Sporle 180 19 Jackie Bell/Glenda Heys 160 20 Heidi Flaxman/Mandy Flaxman 150 21 Narelle Walters/Melissa Foster 150 22 Laurita Rogan/Sarah Williams 140 Super Vets 1 Roger Simionato/Guido Simionato 370 pts 2 Alan Harding/Verner Verass 370 3 Fil Giles/Paul Foy 230 4 Greg Searle/Graham Smith 230 5 Ross Easton/Robert Minto 110 U21 1 Kin-Yat Lo/Chris Smith 330 pts 2 Jonathon Hoye/Christopher Hoye 290 3 Paul Armstrong/Ashley Carr 270 4 Tim Easton/Alistar Catterall 210 5 Claire Graydon/Christoffer Gallimore 175 Vets 1 David Hatley/John Hatley 470 pts 2 Grant McDonald/Bruce Bowen 420 3 Eddie Bosch/Steve Mc Millan 380 4 Paul Haynes/John Behrens 370 5 Stephen Moon/Philip Lawlor 360 6 Arthur Crampton/Jim Prendergast 340 7 Greg Hollands/Jason Baldwin 340 8 Hamish Mackie/George McBean 340 9 Ian Connellan/Barry Dennis 320 10 Jeff Scheetz/Greg Scheetz 310 11 Roger Broughton/Andrew Boyd 305 12 Dana Skopal/Peter Hillig 290 13 Andy Fowler/David Morrow 270 14 Patrick Mc Namara/Nick Bayfield 260 15 Stephen Bannister/John Kane 250 16 Peter Hendriks/John Frampton 250 17 Jeff Ray/Stewart Mitchell 230 18 Michael Gillan/Alan Townsend 225 19 Michael Dupe/Margaret Jamieson 220 20 Bill Smith/Gary Beal 200 21 Wayne Thompson/John Curtis 180 22 Melissa Butcher/Peter Floyd 150 23 Dom Galloway/Kate Hobbs 100 24 David Cameron/Stephen Clark 0
