Zac Bradley is on a roll

YOUNG Bright athlete Zac Bradley is well on his way to being a star mountain biker, with his recent race seeing him take out the fastest time of the day, beating all competitors. Zac has been riding since he was eight years old, first on BMX before moving to MTB Downhill and Enduro in the last two years. "I've just loved riding my bike, since I was two years hold," he said. "I love the challenge, beating my own times, improving my skills, meeting new people and visiting different places. "Since I started riding I entered local, state and national events at aged 8 in BMX, but after transferring disciplines to MTB I entered the Victoria Downhill Series (VDHS) and came third overall last year. "I was King of Ballarat racing at Club Mud last year (U17), came seventh at the National Enduro Championship in U17, and came third after a stack in the final at the Baw Baw Victoria Downhill Series comp with a time of 3.10. "Most recently I won the U17 category at the Cannonball Run in Thredbo and Auscycling National Championships combined event." Zac's mum Margi said he would have also placed fourth in U19 and 20th in Elite with a time of 4.13 down an "incredibly rough, challenging track". "Over 600 riders attended the festival and there was SBS coverage of the event where you can see Zac's speedy run down the trail," she said. "He also had the fastest time of all competitors, including elite riders, on the day during his seeding with a time of 3.02. "The conditions were fine Saturday but not so on Sunday with fog, rain and cold wet weather. "We travelled from Baw Baw to Thredbo on Monday; having to stop for several hours at Bairnsdale for repairs to the bike. "Over the weekend Zac gave the gears a hammering, bearings in hubs needed attention, two new tyres and a whole lot of love from their speedy professional mechanic Tom there. "Dan the owner gave Zac's bike priority at very short notice and we were very grateful." The team arrived at Ski Patrol Lodge Thredbo at 10pm after an epic drive of more than seven hours. "We had the seeding on Friday before racing for national championships on Saturday, we were just hoping for an improvement on 13th place nationally from last year's result in Tasmania." Among his list of achievements, Zac also went to Canberra North Stromlo for the Rocky Trail Entertainment Enduro Event where he placed fourth and then attended the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) four–day camp after being selected for the Junior Development Program. "It was an amazing opportunity to hear from world class athletes, ride with them and also learn from physio and nutritionists and form friendships with other keen riders across several disciplines," Margi said. Zac said he plans to continue to ride and pursue the sport professionally. "My next goals are Oceanic events, the national series, Crankworx and World Series Cup," he said. "I already have support from a range of athletes and businesses which is great, I hope they will one day see me represent my country." You can find Zac on instagram and TikTok @Zacbradley555 and Facebook @ZacBradley. His next events will be the National Series R3 in Adelaide in March and the VDHS R4 in Narnethong in April.

Zac Bradley is on a roll

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