Fellows and Carrigan win final stage

The tides weren't the only thing riders had to contend with on the final day of the Mountains to Beach. Recent rains in the Bega Valley and Eurobodalla Shires saw the Surf Safari final stage become a contest of wills - rider versus nature. The rain meant that every estuary crossing on the 50km Ground Effect Surf Safari stage from Bermagui to Narooma would be a wet one. The combination of a falling tide and fast flowing water saw many competitors wading chest deep with bikes held aloft.

The crossings combined with soft sand beaches and lush grass paddocks made it a real challenge for the remaining competitors, with many experiencing difficulty with gear changes after a ride across paddocks filled chains and clusters with grass.

The conditions didn't seem to deter Andrew Fellows who completed the ride in 2:24:03, five minutes and 10 seconds ahead of his nearest rivals - David Harris and Bart Hickson who finished just one second apart with times of 2:29:13 and 2:29:14 respectively.

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The win provides Fellows with his first Mountains to Beach title and a clean sweep of every stage. His total time for the 385km event was 12:23:58, one hour, seven minutes and four seconds ahead of Masters winner Garry James in 13:31:03 with Bart Hickson coming third, two minutes and 36 seconds further back with an overall time of 13:33:39.

In the women's category Meg Carrigan maintained her top position finishing in 2:54:30, just beating Belinda Porter (2:54:36) by six seconds. Third place today went to Bianca Mauch with a time of 3:00:45.

In the overall women's category, Carrigan took first with a total time of 15:41:51, 46 minutes and 35 seconds ahead of Porter on 16:28:26. Helen Dorsett retained third place overall with a total time of 17:48:17, one hour, 19 minutes and 51 seconds behind.

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