The Quad Crown Sunny 80

I have wanted to do a stage mountain bike race for years, but my schedule just never lined up to make it happen. This past weekend I was able to compete in the Quad Crown Sunny 80 event that took place on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Queensland. My weekly riding buddy, Lee Black held me accountable to get signed up but unfortunately Lee came down with the flu the week prior to the race so he couldn’t attend. So, what exactly is the Quad Crown? The Quad crown is a 3-day stage cross county Mountain Bike Race that takes place over three days with three different locations. The weekend starts off with a Prelude 10k race that utilized a local trail system and it really has something for everyone. Stage 1 was at the Parklands trail network just east of the coast. This stage is set for 35km in length and about 1000m of climbing that incorporates some of Queensland’s best single track. This location will also host the 2032 Olympic games, so it was great to be able to race a location the world’s best race for Gold. Stage 2 is held at Ewen Maddock Dam just east of the Sugarbag bike park where the Prelude was held. This trail network was split amongst two different riding areas, with some road sections that connected them making this stage around 40k and 800m of climbing. This stage it will finish the weekend of racing. When it comes to scoring and awards they award each day and at the end of the weekend, they will combine each stage race and that’s your total time to be ranked amongst your class and overall.

Now that you know about the format, let me tell you about my experience. First off, I was gutted to miss the 10k prelude at Sugarbag with work getting in the way because the idea of 10k’s around that place sounded awesome. With Lee sick I brought along Mason “my oldest son” to give me company and for him to see what the event was like in case he wanted to race this event in the future. Day 1 for me started at Parklands trail networks where I have only ridden a small number of trails, so I was going in completely blind. The Venue and start/finish were at an epic location. Hidden Valley campground is a private stay when there aren’t races being held. Parking was down the road a little bit from the start, so you had to ride in to get signed on. I got my Sniper T unloaded, prepped and I was fueled up for the race. Because I didn’t race the Prelude my starting position was in the back of wave 2. They sent us off and for me it was into the unknown, The start went into a gradual fire road climb straight into an amazing single track with hero dirt. I was making a lot of passes and as I was coming to the end of this section of single track out of nowhere, I went flipping over the handlebars onto my back. My glasses flew off, I had no idea wtf happened. I looked at the trail and on the very edge I could see where I hooked my pedal under a tree root. I almost started to panic but I was only 5k in so I said to myself chill get sorted because I still had over 2 hrs left. As I’m thinking this, I’m looking for my 100% glasses as a rider runs over them ha-ha. Somehow, they didn’t break just a lens popped out so I put the lens in and brushed off the ego and the lycra and continued on my way. Shortly after I hear a nasty raddle and it’s my bottle cage almost ready to fall off. My gut told me to just pull out the bottle and let the cage fall off because I was in a race and I didn’t have time to stop. Then I realized I did have time because I just ate shit and now it was just a time to enjoy the race for what the course has to offer. I hit a creek crossing pulled over and used my Crankbrothers multi tool to get my bottle cage tightened up and I was back on the way. For the next hour and a half, I enjoyed some amazing riding. Creek crossing, off camber turns, chunky fire road, and technical climbs that would test all levels of riders. I crossed the finish line with a time of 2:30 minutes with the winner Daniel McConnel doing it in 1:50. All in all I was stoked how it went for me after a disaster of a start. The course was hard, it just kept hitting you with something, my nutrition was good and my body did everything it should have with the prep I put in. I rode back to the parking lot loaded up and headed back to the BIG 4 caravan park in Caloundra to prep my bike and gear. The bonus was I got to spend the evening with Mason walking the local car show that was in town.

Due to a sudden City Council change they had to split stage 2 up into an A stage and a B stage. Mason and I parked at the finish of the B stage and rode over to the start which was good because I got to have a warmup. I did one lap to check the 9k course and off we went right at 9am. I really wanted to try my best to win this stage because I knew I didn’t have much chance in the others with my fitness being average at this time. I took off and did my best to smash the pedals all the way into the mix of the first wave of riders where I would have bushes smashing me in the face and multiple sketchy moments but I came across the line stoked. I later found out that I in fact did win the stage in the master’s division. I was surprised but I also knew I had nothing left to give on that stage and it was going to be hard for me to regroup for Stage 2 B. Mason and rode back to the Van where I put some Maxima chain lube on, put down some Ryno Power electrolytes and rode 5k’s up the next stage. This next stage was mainly a fire road through the forest and around a lake. I went off with the first wave where I realized I had some heavy legs. I did my best trying to hang with the lead group but it wasn’t in the cards as they slowly crept away. With just over 5k to go, Peta Mullen came through the pack onto my back wheel as I tried to help her bridge the gap to the lead female but with 1k to go I had to let her go as my legs were toast. This stage was better than I thought it would be. Different than the others adding another element for riders to shine who put out big power for a long period of time. We finished up at the Moolah Valley country club where we would have some drinks and celebrate the combined A-B stage winners as well as the overall winners.

 The question is should you put the Quad Crown on your calendar? In my Opinion it’s a yes. I feel this is a long game for this group as they aren’t new to events like this. The Quad Crown has already has elite level talent showing up the to the races making it credible and prestigious, but it doesn’t lose the sense of community welcoming and fun for all the riders’ who are up for a challenge. The afternoon beers and awards are a great element but I do feel having off-site from the finish makes it hard for people to get cleaned up and back to another location. I would prefer to have the social hour right after the race at the event. This event is also not for beginners or kids but I’m sure there is something in the works to broaden the rider demographic. If you can’t get away for the entire weekend you can also enter just one stage if you would like but the three-day format is something special even though I missed that first day. It’s always nice be greeted with smiling faces as you will get a free t-shirt with entry and free photos post event to remind you of the fun and suffering had. To wrap this thing up, I commend the team at the Quad Crown for what they are doing. It takes a village to put on an event like this and I hope to do more in the future.

 Click HERE for race results

Special Thanks to fellow competitor Rob Booker for getting me information throughout the weekend and Shane Deutzmann for riding Mason back from the start of Stage 3 to the finish line.

 Learn More about The Quad Crown Series .

More Details from my race weekend

Bike Used – Intense Cycles Sniper T

Nutrition – Ryno Power

Tires – Maxxis Recon Race

Race Kit Ride -  Ryno Power and 100%

Lubricants – Maxima Chain Pro

Grips – ODI Dread Locks

Accommodation – Caloundra BIG 4

 Photos courtesy of Element Photo and Video Productions