The Trailblazing Super Jambo Grom Pre

Deep in the Yaouk Valley in late November, Jorja Creighton watched on as finishers of the inaugural Super Jambo Grom Pre basked in the Murrumbidgee River.

In her own words, it was "beers in hand, Grom flap hats on, electric good vibes shot straight to the veins".

That moment of bliss was the culmination of what had started as a joke between Sydney-based Creighton and her friend Jack at the end of a New South Wales lockdown in June.

They had jointly scoffed at the idea of people riding 200km through the Monaro Region and Kosciuszko National Park in one day, however, Creighton wasn't letting the idea slip away.

By September, the joke had manifested itself into a reality - the Super Jambo Grom Pre was alive.

Marketing the event was perhaps the easiest aspect of the organisational phase for Creighton.

A clear and driven response from prospective participants more than justified the creation of the alternative cycling gravel epic and continues a trending lust for cycling events which fall outside the traditional cycling ethos.

"I love to gas people up and get them really excited," Creighton said.

"The tickets sort of sold themselves, I didn't have to drag people to come to the event - people really wanted to come."

Creighton said she held 50 per cent of the tickets to the inaugural Super Jambo Grom Pre for women, people of colour, trans ... basically anybody that doesn't fit in the white male category.

"We didn't fill that quota but we came pretty close, which I was stoked about," she said.

"It also encourages a really crazy good group of people to end up coming.

"It (2020 event) was such a vibe - I couldn't believe the calibre of people there, they were just divine."

Canberra's Zoe Cuthbert was the first Grommet to finish the 200km caper in a time of 11 hours 20 minutes.

The Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship & Mentoring Program recipient and current U23 XCO Women’s National Champion and Oceania Champion said the Super Jambo Grom Pre was one of the most amazing experiences of her life.

"Despite being absolutely exhausted (I’m still recovering), it reminded me of how much I love riding and adventures, that big fuzzy idea in your brain that comes from a dream of what could be possible," she said.

There are no doubts that the Super Jambo Grom Pre will easily go from strength to strength ahead of the next edition of the event near Walcha in April, however, retaining the same spirit which encapsulated the best of the event is a conundrum Creighton is already brainstorming solutions to.

The Sydney courier said she will most likely keep the upcoming Northern NSW Super Jambo Grom Pre at the same 150 participant number as last year, to lay off as much of an organisational burden as possible to herself and her small team behind the scenes.

"I'm aiming to get the most diverse crew of people as possible," she said.

"I'd love to see it blow out in terms of participants, but the downside of that is it could lose a little of the vibe I've grown attached to.

"I do have a couple of ways I'd keep it in what I'd call - the alternative cycling scene."

Entries are expected to open for the second edition of the Super Jambo Grom Pre shortly.

Follow @jambi_jambi and @superjambogrompre for more info, or get in touch by email at [email protected] if you want to play a part.

Photography: Jack Durr/@hikingrat