Two rounds into the Central West Interclub Series the Mudgee Red Devils are looking strong, heading into a busy February for the local triathletes when they'll be in action most weekends of the month.
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After the annual Australia Day round, hosted by Bathurst, Mudgee sit on 54 competition points, six adrift of powerhouse club Orange who've collected maximum points from the opening two outings and one ahead of Bathurst.
Nineteen Red Devils (across the short and long course) contested Sunday's event. And president Matt Webster said numbers are vital to the club.
"It's a really good situation for us, because we're a small club and we get the participation points," he said.
"We always send a strong contingent to the Bathurst event, for the last few years it's been on Australia Day, so it's become a tradition."
Webster was the top Mudgee performer, coming home sixth overall and topping the 40-50 age group, with another local Greg Atkinson finishing third.
Giselle Denley and Rebecca George (14th and 15th overall in women's) were also strong. And the club was also represented into the 60 age group through Ronda Gainsford and Adam Mort.
However, what really bodes well for the future of Mudgee was the performance of Campbell Wall, third in the Under 19 group and seventh overall.
"Campbell had a really strong start, he ran with the lead pack and was mixing well until part-way through the bike, when all of his effort got to him and slowed a bit," Webster said.
"It was warm and humid and we started to feel the humidity towards the end of the day. And this event gets a few people from outside the inter-club towns as well, so it's our fastest race.
"The young guys are very competitive, so Campbell did really well to come third in his age group. He's one of a number coming through so the future is looking good for us."
And came away with the maximum 30 competition points and tied at the top of the table with the Piranhas.
But while it was a long time between rounds to open the season, that certainly won't be the case with the next two, which will only be separated by a week.
Dubbo will host Round 3 on Sunday, February 9, with the Orange outing (which is also NSW Country short course triathlon) on February 16.
Furthermore, the next Mudgee Triathlon Club race - the fifth local event of the season - is slated for Sunday, February 22.
"It will be a test because we'll be racing most weeks, it's going to be a busy time," Webster said.
"At Dubbo we don't tend to perform as well, just because of the time of year and other triathlons and it does tend to be a smaller event, however this year Dubbo have a lot more people competing and they're getting a lot more coming through.
"With Orange we tend to get a lot of people to, but at their home event they'll definitely be very tough to beat."
The fifth and final round of the Interclub Series will be hosted by Cowra on Sunday, March 22. Prior to that (March 15) will be the sixth Mudgee Club Race, with the Red Devils Club Champs to take place on Sunday, April 5.
