Princess and the pea: WHES Round 3.
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
The 2026 Scene Signs Brookton Boulder Bash was a fairytale.
The sun was shining brighter than a unicorns tail and the bitter cold was held at bay by silver-lined clouds that brought just enough rain to keep the pixie dust down.
The surface of the granite boulders was grippy enough to redefine Home Depot's Grit Guide.
And had you held your breath and listened really carefully, you could have heard the track marking fairies casting their spell on an 8 km Hard Enduro wonderland.
Snuggle down by the fire with big cup of hot cocoa and let this fairytale take you in:
Hans Christien Anderson authored the famous tale of the Princess and the Pea.
The underlying theme here was that to win the hand of the prince the potential princess had to endure a night spent on twenty mattresses with a pea buried underneath it.
Spoiler alert: she puts up with a night of terrible discomfort to win the prince and is happily married thereafter.
Alas, the Demo Cut WHES Round 3 has not a princess made; but we may have re-discovered our long lost Prince!
When Jakob Petrig announced he had forgotten his boots, about 15min before he was due on the grid, his fellow riders immediately saw an opportunity to test his integrity.
After runaway victories at MounTurner and Dardanup, it certainly looks as if he will take the throne in 2026. But, as with any good fairytale, he must be tested.
Enter Baron Braaaap (aka Damien Pruden) who immediately, willingly and knowingly offered Petrig a pair of size 10 Sidis with a ridiculously thick custom inner sole with high raised arches.
The Baron knew Petrig wanted a size 10 but, like the pea under the mattress, he also knew his insoles would be the test that could do nothing less than torture and break the spirit of the would-be prince.
And he quite nearly succeeded in his dastardly plan!!!
Enter, to the rescue, the Court Jester, who most humbly offered the boots off his own feet, such to ensure a fair battle on the path through the Brookton Boulders.
With his cunning plan foiled by the Jester, the Baron Braaaaaaap, having suffered the curse of the loogies for Round 1 and 2, still somehow managed to rise like a phoenix from the phlegm to challenge Prince Petrig during every lap of Brookton.
The two riders scaled boulders higher than the walls that held Rapunzel in their race for the chequered flag.
"I was pretty crook for both Mt Turner & Dardy so knew I’d be able to give it a good nudge going into this one healthy and a bit more ride time leading up. Track suits me well too I reckon, good mix of tech and fast flowy."
I saw Baron Braap power through the timing tent for Lap 2 and I couldn't help but wonder if the other Gold riders had succumbed to some Siren Song, wistfully wandering off into the wastelands of WHES.
Though P1 went to Prince Petrig, Baron Braaap considered Brookton to be a fairytale ending as he came in a very strong second place.
Meanwhile elsewhere in the enchanted lands Luke Graham grew some Tinkerbell wings and sent his bike riderless up and over a boulder that was bigger than a Jack and the Bean Stalks Cormoran.
It plummeted into a rock pile on the other side from which he dug it out, undamaged, and did another three laps.
Sitting on the starting grid, Tom Lilly, was grinning like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland because he was finally riding a bike worthy of his ability. Previously, he had somehow circulated MounTurner and Dardanup on a Husky 150 with no thermo fan and managed to place 6th in both rounds. Lucky for him those rounds were cold enough to freeze a penguins cloaca and he was able to push through.
But for Brookton he was on the KTM 300XC.
He too nearly tapped out on the upshot of the very same rock wall that claimed Graham. But manifesting the magic of that same grinning pussycat he vanished off the bike only to reappear safely with all four paws on the ground, smiling like he meant to do it.
And the drama didn't end in Gold.
Bunbury KTM rider Jordon Horworth and Sam Scienski both nearly lost their crown jewels mid race.
Whilst Jordon's was a result of being wrapped up in the curse of rogue fence wire, Sam suffered his indignation after a chivalrous attempt to help a stranded maiden in destress. Freeing her from the shackles of Brookton's boulders she promply ploughed into his two dark knights!
Finished your cocoa yet? Results are up on the WHES socials so you can see who ended up where following this most epic battle royal ever.
And if you are wondering who was the galant Jester that came to the rescue of Prince Petrig I shall leave you but to guess. Know this though; hence forth he has suffered the pain of Baron Braaaaaps torturous Sidi boots and his 'little pigs' screamed all the way to market!!!!!
