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EducationKing’s MountainMountain biking is one of the fastest growing sports throughout Sydney, as is seen by the strong turnout at the 2016 King’s Mountain Bike Classic. At 8am on Sunday 27th November over 170 competitors and support crew turned up to register for the two hour race, preparing for a gruelling morning of jumping and pedalling their way through the 4.5km bush track.Music beats out from the Rocky Trail Entertainment marquee, as competitors scurry around making last minute adjustments (in one case, a new pair of pedals, for others new tyres and minor changes), confirming their registration and testing outthe circuit.Now in its fourth year, theKing’s Mountain Bike Classic attracts competitors of allages and abilities, from elite state representatives downto brand new riders. The race encourages both amateur and professional riders to join in and have a go - this year the youngest rider was only seven years old and there was alsoan Open 60+ category. All riders start in a Grand Prix style, riding along a road for a shortdistance before plunging into the bush and the beginning of the official track. Slower riders are encouraged to stay towards the back and allow the elite riders to speed up.Father, Mark Bradford competed with his three young sons. None of his family are elite level competitive mountain bike riders, however they like the King’s event for its inclusiveness.“You don’t need to be an elite rider to join in this race,” he said.“You can be involved at all ages, our youngest is racing today and he’s only seven years old. It’s a really family friendly sport.”On the track at the same time were riders racing for thevery first time as well as NSW representative cyclists from the Institute of Sport. The camaraderie is evident when one young boy falls down and another rider stops to help him. He is later given a time concession to make up for the time lost.Mountain biking is set apart from a lot of competitive sports because rather than being based on time, it’s based on how many laps of the circuit riders complete. Time only becomes important when riders have completed the same amount of laps, as happened with the first and second place riders in the U19 Open Male Solo category. Matthew Dinham of Knox Grammar School took outFor more information and all the results please go to