Brown and Dohling burn up trails to triumph at Jungle Cross III
The. small but talent-packed elite Men's Open filed roars out of the gate at Jungle Cross III
September 9, 2019
Conditions for the third round of the 2019 Cycosports Jungle Cross series at the Centaurs Sports Park in Turf City yesterday were perfect, and Singapore’s off-road cycling community produced a string of exciting contests on a race-card packed with something for everybody. Leading the way were the familiar names of Anthony Brown (Cannasia) and Bastian Dohling (Specialized Roval Mavericks), as they turned on the style to clinch the elite Men’s Cross Country MTB and Cyclocross titles respectively, while among the female racers, Tsalina Phang (Treknology3) took top honours by winning the Women's Open XCO contest in a sprint finish.
The Jungle Cross courses are almost unrecognisable from those first raced on when the series debuted four years ago. A constant program of improvement from the people at Cycosports, Centaurs and the Singapore Cycling Federation has transformed what was a few tracks roughly cut out of the jungle into a network of finely crafted trails. The 2019 mountain bike Pro course is 3km of mostly fast-flowing single track that twists and turns through The Pit, a jungled ravine that gives the series its name. The racers love its jumps, drop-offs, climbs, roots and water crossings that are dotted around the course.
Back in the early days of Jungle Cross, the cyclocross riders with their rigid-forked and skinny-tyred machines had to race over the same root-strewn gnarly course as the mountain bikers and their plush suspension systems. Now the CX men and women get to take on a faster and much more forgiving 1.3km circuit that is free from the worst of the roots but still has enough technical elements to make it a true challenge of skill and stamina.
Conditions for the third round of the 2019 Cycosports Jungle Cross series at the Centaurs Sports Park in Turf City yesterday were perfect, and Singapore’s off-road cycling community produced a string of exciting contests on a race-card packed with something for everybody. Leading the way were the familiar names of Anthony Brown (Cannasia) and Bastian Dohling (Specialized Roval Mavericks), as they turned on the style to clinch the elite Men’s Cross Country MTB and Cyclocross titles respectively, while among the female racers, Tsalina Phang (Treknology3) took top honours by winning the Women's Open XCO contest in a sprint finish.
The Jungle Cross courses are almost unrecognisable from those first raced on when the series debuted four years ago. A constant program of improvement from the people at Cycosports, Centaurs and the Singapore Cycling Federation has transformed what was a few tracks roughly cut out of the jungle into a network of finely crafted trails. The 2019 mountain bike Pro course is 3km of mostly fast-flowing single track that twists and turns through The Pit, a jungled ravine that gives the series its name. The racers love its jumps, drop-offs, climbs, roots and water crossings that are dotted around the course.
Back in the early days of Jungle Cross, the cyclocross riders with their rigid-forked and skinny-tyred machines had to race over the same root-strewn gnarly course as the mountain bikers and their plush suspension systems. Now the CX men and women get to take on a faster and much more forgiving 1.3km circuit that is free from the worst of the roots but still has enough technical elements to make it a true challenge of skill and stamina.
Bastian Dohling tops the podium after his CX win
The cyclocross racers were among the first batch of riders set off yesterday on what was another day of hot and sunny day amid the dry spell that has left Singapore parched. All the Jungle Cross races begin with a 300-metre dash around the Centaurs playing fields before plunging into the bush, and with passing places on the narrow trails at a premium, there was an almighty battle among the CX riders to be first onto the single track. It was Dohling and William Price (Anza Cycling) who won that all-important battle to be first into the jungle. The pair rode that first of five laps together and had already opened up a decent gap on the rest by the time they re-emerged onto the grass as behind a series of crashes and punctures were creating early havoc.
Alas for Price, the fastest lap of the day that he set on the opening stanza was his only completed trip round the circuit, as he was next to succumb to a flat early on Lap 2. This left Dohling out front alone but he couldn’t let up as he was being chased by the mighty Pierre-Alain Scherwey (Allied World Treknology3). The big Swiss could see the German leader about 15 seconds ahead for most of the first three laps and the gap would have appeared tantalisingly closer each time Dohling had to dismount to cross the streams, climb the steps and jump the barriers. But while Scherwey was burning up a lot of energy chasing, Dohling was putting in a set of finely consistent laps and when his rival faded on Lap 4, the German rider pulled away for a comfortable victory by some 70 seconds. Scherwey was the runner-up, with 2019 Jungle Cross I winner Andrew Fang (Team Absolut) rounding out the podium a few minutes back.
Alas for Price, the fastest lap of the day that he set on the opening stanza was his only completed trip round the circuit, as he was next to succumb to a flat early on Lap 2. This left Dohling out front alone but he couldn’t let up as he was being chased by the mighty Pierre-Alain Scherwey (Allied World Treknology3). The big Swiss could see the German leader about 15 seconds ahead for most of the first three laps and the gap would have appeared tantalisingly closer each time Dohling had to dismount to cross the streams, climb the steps and jump the barriers. But while Scherwey was burning up a lot of energy chasing, Dohling was putting in a set of finely consistent laps and when his rival faded on Lap 4, the German rider pulled away for a comfortable victory by some 70 seconds. Scherwey was the runner-up, with 2019 Jungle Cross I winner Andrew Fang (Team Absolut) rounding out the podium a few minutes back.
The SuperMasters are go!
Dohling was a happy but relieved man post-race.
“It’s always feels great standing on the top podium step at Jungle Cross. The competition is so strong and with all the obstacles and the risk of puncturing you really don't know if you’ll end up on the podium at all till you’ve crossed the line. So it was pretty much full gas from the start till the finish,” he said.
“With the dry conditions over the last few weeks, the trial was super-fast and excellent to ride on. I love that no Jungle Cross CX race is the same, always different, challenging obstacles and different twists and turns. The new little river crossing was probably one of my favourite parts of this edition,” Dohling said. “Then there’s the big grass patch. While it’s a great section to open up the legs full gas, it’s also great for spectators. With three Rapha CC riders in the CX field today, RCC came with a big noisy group of supporters which of course made us go even faster.”
That playing section and its covered race staging area was jam-packed with family, friends, supporters and racers all morning, and helped create the friendly atmosphere that Jungle Cross is famous for. Out on course at the same time as the cyclocross riders were the opening MTB racers, with the Junior B (for 13-16 year olds) and Men’s Sports racers being set three laps of the Pro course, which includes four B lines that the youngsters and less-experienced riders were encouraged to take.
“It’s always feels great standing on the top podium step at Jungle Cross. The competition is so strong and with all the obstacles and the risk of puncturing you really don't know if you’ll end up on the podium at all till you’ve crossed the line. So it was pretty much full gas from the start till the finish,” he said.
“With the dry conditions over the last few weeks, the trial was super-fast and excellent to ride on. I love that no Jungle Cross CX race is the same, always different, challenging obstacles and different twists and turns. The new little river crossing was probably one of my favourite parts of this edition,” Dohling said. “Then there’s the big grass patch. While it’s a great section to open up the legs full gas, it’s also great for spectators. With three Rapha CC riders in the CX field today, RCC came with a big noisy group of supporters which of course made us go even faster.”
That playing section and its covered race staging area was jam-packed with family, friends, supporters and racers all morning, and helped create the friendly atmosphere that Jungle Cross is famous for. Out on course at the same time as the cyclocross riders were the opening MTB racers, with the Junior B (for 13-16 year olds) and Men’s Sports racers being set three laps of the Pro course, which includes four B lines that the youngsters and less-experienced riders were encouraged to take.
All smiles from Tsalina Phang during the Men's Masters race ... just after she'd won the Women's Open
For two laps of the Junior B race there was a fantastic ding-dong battle between Pedro Hutchinson and Mohamed Syaheed Ismail (Team Harding), but Ismail couldn’t hold the pace for all three laps and Hutchinson ran out a comfortable winner. Ryan Mikael Bin Nur Redzwan (Twenty9er Racing Team) rounded out the podium in third. Bill Patterson (Anza Cycling) took the Men’s Sports glory, using a big first lap advantage as the foundation for his triumph over the runner-up Haziq Nazid. Mohamad Isa Mohd Sham (Twenty9er Racing Team) was third.
Next up for round two of the racing saw the Men’s SuperMasters (45-54), the Junior As, the All-Mountain riders and the Women’s Open gather in the holding pen. A decent field of five riders started the Women’s elite race and from it emerged a cracker of a contest for first place between Phang and Andrea Trindler (Anza Cycling). The pair swapped the lead between them throughout their three laps and were still joined at the hip as they hit the short grass for the final time and charged at the line. It was Phang who crossed it first, but only just, her winning margin just 0.8 of a second. Prue Roberts joined them on the podium. There were three other adult women racers yesterday, with Louise Donaldson (Singapore Bike Hash), Shirley Teo (MatadorRacing) and Anna Symms (MatadorRacing) winning the SuperMasters, Masters and Cyclocross titles respectively, all unopposed.
Next up for round two of the racing saw the Men’s SuperMasters (45-54), the Junior As, the All-Mountain riders and the Women’s Open gather in the holding pen. A decent field of five riders started the Women’s elite race and from it emerged a cracker of a contest for first place between Phang and Andrea Trindler (Anza Cycling). The pair swapped the lead between them throughout their three laps and were still joined at the hip as they hit the short grass for the final time and charged at the line. It was Phang who crossed it first, but only just, her winning margin just 0.8 of a second. Prue Roberts joined them on the podium. There were three other adult women racers yesterday, with Louise Donaldson (Singapore Bike Hash), Shirley Teo (MatadorRacing) and Anna Symms (MatadorRacing) winning the SuperMasters, Masters and Cyclocross titles respectively, all unopposed.
Frederic Schaff goes air on his way to a dominating triumph in the Masters race
The SuperMasters contest had the biggest field of the day and on the first of the three laps over half the field were lined out for the entire lap, with only 20 seconds separating first and seventh by the time they crossed the line to start Lap 2. At the head of the field was Phil Routley (Anza Cycling) and fresh from racing six days on the Mongolian steppe, the Aussie wasn’t in the mood to give up that position at the front. While the placings behind chopped and changed, Routley stayed out front and he went on to claim the victory by 38 seconds from Alvin Lim (Team Entro Cycles). Mohd Herman Mohd Arsek (Team Harding) had a fine last lap to come through and take the final spot on the podium.
In the Junior A race, Sathya Simman Chockalingham (Team Twenty9er Racing) enjoyed a wire-to-wire win over Ahmad Safiy Rahudin (Team Awano).
There was another comfortable winner in the battle of the long-travel bikes, as Walton Seah (Altitude Bikes) triumphed in the All-Mountain race from Mohamed Shafiee Mohamed Salim (Team Harding). Syafiq Ali (Altitude Bikes) was third.
The third and final round of racing saw the Men’s Open and Men’s Masters (35-44) contests. In the Masters contest Frederic Schaff (Swiss Club MTB Riders) put the hammer down early and simply rode away from the rest of a good quality field. He won by over four minutes from Mohamad Faisal Rawi (Team Twenty9er Racing), with Alistair Reed (CyclingTraining.CC) taking the final spot on the podium.
In the Junior A race, Sathya Simman Chockalingham (Team Twenty9er Racing) enjoyed a wire-to-wire win over Ahmad Safiy Rahudin (Team Awano).
There was another comfortable winner in the battle of the long-travel bikes, as Walton Seah (Altitude Bikes) triumphed in the All-Mountain race from Mohamed Shafiee Mohamed Salim (Team Harding). Syafiq Ali (Altitude Bikes) was third.
The third and final round of racing saw the Men’s Open and Men’s Masters (35-44) contests. In the Masters contest Frederic Schaff (Swiss Club MTB Riders) put the hammer down early and simply rode away from the rest of a good quality field. He won by over four minutes from Mohamad Faisal Rawi (Team Twenty9er Racing), with Alistair Reed (CyclingTraining.CC) taking the final spot on the podium.
Luqmanul leads Riyadh through the jungle midway through the first lap
And so to the main event of the day, the elite Men’s Open for cross-country mountain biking. On paper, the quality field looked like it was going to be the strong Team Awano against Brown, but adding a bit of intrigue to the contest was the inclusion of Luqmanul Hakim Othman (Team Harding). Luqmanul was one of the stable of star Team Harding juniors when Jungle Cross started back in 2015, but he had moved (with great success) to road cycling in recent years. Would he still have it on the trails?
The answer was a resounding yes as it was Luqmanul who set the early pace and fairly roared round the first of four laps of the Pro course. Leading the chase was the Awano wonderkid of the past two years, Riyadh Hakim Lukman, followed by Brown, then not far behind were another three Awano men, Muhammad Aidil Taufid Afendi, Arfan Faisal and living legend Junaidi Hashim.
But Luqmanul looked strong at the front and by midway through Lap 2 he had eked out a few more seconds on the five-second advantage he’d enjoyed over Riyadh when crossing the start-finish line after the first lap. But maybe he’d gone a little too hard as by the time the riders emerged out of the jungle for the second time, the Team Harding rider’s lead had stabilised at seven seconds and now he also had Brown breathing down his neck. The rest of the field looked a bit too far back, but the big crowd were happy enough to witness a thrilling three-man battle.
The gap continued to dwindle during Lap 3 and it was Brown who was left to chase Luqmanul alone after a mechanical woe took Riyadh out of the running. The tall Aussie made the catch before the two riders came out of the jungle for the third time but the young Singaporean wasn’t going anywhere and he planted himself firmly a few centimetres from Brown’s rear wheel.
The answer was a resounding yes as it was Luqmanul who set the early pace and fairly roared round the first of four laps of the Pro course. Leading the chase was the Awano wonderkid of the past two years, Riyadh Hakim Lukman, followed by Brown, then not far behind were another three Awano men, Muhammad Aidil Taufid Afendi, Arfan Faisal and living legend Junaidi Hashim.
But Luqmanul looked strong at the front and by midway through Lap 2 he had eked out a few more seconds on the five-second advantage he’d enjoyed over Riyadh when crossing the start-finish line after the first lap. But maybe he’d gone a little too hard as by the time the riders emerged out of the jungle for the second time, the Team Harding rider’s lead had stabilised at seven seconds and now he also had Brown breathing down his neck. The rest of the field looked a bit too far back, but the big crowd were happy enough to witness a thrilling three-man battle.
The gap continued to dwindle during Lap 3 and it was Brown who was left to chase Luqmanul alone after a mechanical woe took Riyadh out of the running. The tall Aussie made the catch before the two riders came out of the jungle for the third time but the young Singaporean wasn’t going anywhere and he planted himself firmly a few centimetres from Brown’s rear wheel.
Shortly after losing the lead to Brown, Luqmanul stuck to the Cannasia man's back wheel like a limpet
The Cannasia man admitted later on that this unnerved him and he feared that Luqmanul might come round him and ride away, but in the end it was the opposite of that, as midway through the last lap, Brown suddenly found himself free and clear. He didn’t let up his pace or concentration, though, until he hit the playing field for the last time and he knew he was going to win. Luqmanul had faded dramatically, with Brown putting almost two minutes into him on that last half lap. Indeed, the Team Harding rider only just held on for second place from a hard-charging Afendi.
Post-race, Brown was revelling in another win from what had been an exciting race to be part of.
“Everyone was pushing hard which was good and you know when it’s like that it’s more of mental game than physical, you’ve just got to keep to your game plan and you know, try to execute like you wanted to, and not going out to early and blowing yourself up, and just trying to wind it up through the race. It was good, I was happy I executed it how I wanted to. It’s hard not to get drawn in, though, when everyone is hammering away,” Brown said.
“I managed to drop Luqmanul about half way round the last lap. I felt like he was really strong. He was right behind me, sitting on my wheel, and it’s hard to concentrate on the lines then and I didn’t get them all right, but then all of a sudden he was gone. I don’t know whether he made a mistake or whether he just had fatigue, but it was good.”
“The trail was fantastic. When it’s dry, I mean the new course, even when it’s wet would still be a really, really good course to race on. Some of the A-lines could do with being a little bit harder I think, but overall it’s brilliant, very good. It’s come a long way in four years.”
Post-race, Brown was revelling in another win from what had been an exciting race to be part of.
“Everyone was pushing hard which was good and you know when it’s like that it’s more of mental game than physical, you’ve just got to keep to your game plan and you know, try to execute like you wanted to, and not going out to early and blowing yourself up, and just trying to wind it up through the race. It was good, I was happy I executed it how I wanted to. It’s hard not to get drawn in, though, when everyone is hammering away,” Brown said.
“I managed to drop Luqmanul about half way round the last lap. I felt like he was really strong. He was right behind me, sitting on my wheel, and it’s hard to concentrate on the lines then and I didn’t get them all right, but then all of a sudden he was gone. I don’t know whether he made a mistake or whether he just had fatigue, but it was good.”
“The trail was fantastic. When it’s dry, I mean the new course, even when it’s wet would still be a really, really good course to race on. Some of the A-lines could do with being a little bit harder I think, but overall it’s brilliant, very good. It’s come a long way in four years.”
Jungle Cross starts them young!
Brown is right, Jungle Cross certainly has come a long way in four years. It’s not just the improved trails that make it a great event. The main races still attract decent fields and the kids clinic and mini contests that run concurrently on the playing field and pump track are thriving. And indeed, where there used to be nothing but grass, roots and mud, not just one, but two pump tracks have been created. The SCF runs now a mountain biking academy out of the Centaur Sports Park facility and recently a “Jungle Cross Tag” membership scheme has been launched, which allows access to the trails for a few hours every morning for just $48 a year ($35 for under 19s). This is already proving popular and the funds raised will help make sure that the improvements that have enhanced Jungle Cross will continue.
Jungle Cross will return on November 16 for the last round of the 2019 series. In what has already become a tradition in the four short years of its existence, the finale will be a gala affair with BBQ, beer and more family fun in addition to the hard racing. There’s also talk of a night race.
Check out www.cycosports.com for full results from Jungle Cross III.
Jungle Cross will return on November 16 for the last round of the 2019 series. In what has already become a tradition in the four short years of its existence, the finale will be a gala affair with BBQ, beer and more family fun in addition to the hard racing. There’s also talk of a night race.
Check out www.cycosports.com for full results from Jungle Cross III.