The BVRT End-to-End x2 (E2Ex2) is an annual 24 hour cycling challenge event on the BVRT. Starting at 7.00 pm on Friday night when most of sensible folk are sitting down to their dinner, 50 cyclists set off from Esk Station to ride to Wulkuraka in Ipswich, then turn around and ride back through Esk and on to Yarraman before turning around again to Finish back in Esk. A total distance of 322 km.
Organising a cycling event on a 320 km long course is a logistical challenge. All the elements must be in the right place at the right time. Everyone needs to know their role. And then you need the planets to align.
I’d like to salute our awesome volunteer crew, a few old hands who know the event well and those who are new to the event who all stepped up in so many ways.
The trail was in good condition and super-fast. The weather was cold, nay freezing overnight, and we won’t mention the fog, but otherwise near perfect conditions for this event. There were no bushfires, no storms, no COVID lockdown, and no serious accidents. Winner!
We had awesome participants and so many new faces and old friends. A perfect recipe for a great event.
Congratulations to Clinton Hayward for setting a new BVRT E2Ex2 record with a super-fast time of 11:34:24 at an average speed of 27.82 km/h, beating the previous record set by Glen Chadwick last year by 18 minutes.
Anna Beck’s amazing female record time of 13:38:54 from 2020 still stands, but congratulations to Berenice Heuberger for being the sole Female finisher with a very respectable time of 16:59:55.
We also had a great line up for the BVRT 150 which is a sub variant of the E2Ex2. Starting at 6.00 am on Saturday morning, cyclists ride from Esk to up to Blackbutt and then return. A total of 150 km.
The fastest male time of 5:30:46 was recorded by Linton Burns and Emma Rhymer recorded the fastest female time of 7:50:20, not far off the course record of 07:36:45. How awesome is that? Very impressed.
Not for nothing is the 322 km BVRT E2Ex2 cycling endurance challenge reknowned as Australia’s toughest rail trail cycling event.
For a small number of elite endurance cyclists, the question is not whether they can complete an off-road course of 322 km in under 24-hours, but how fast can they do it?
But for the majority, the question is simply, can they survive until the end? The attrition rate was high with 15 DNFs in the E2Ex2 due to a mixture of factors ranging from falling into one of the creeks in freezing conditions to mechanical failure, but kudos to everyone who completed the course even if it took nearly the whole 24 hours.
A special congratulations to Gavin Johnson for having completed his 5th BVRT E2Ex2, the only person to have participated in all five events.
These events contribute significantly to our local economy with many staying for the weekend with their family in local accommodation and eating out in the pubs and cafes.
We’d like to thank The Esk Lions for the loan of Esk Station as the event control centre and OneTime timing solutions for providing the timing and tracking system.
Event Results: https://events.onetime.sport/event/1223/results
Paul Heymans for the BVRT Users Association crew.
