Eagle Mountain Bike Park had the privilege of hosting round 5 of the Insideline downhill mountain bike series. Of course Eagle is a tried and true track, having hosted multiple state races as well as National Championships. With an awesome weekend ahead all riders were looking towards the weather to see what was going to become. With blue skies forecast it was going to be a welcome change for the riders (and bikes) from the past few rounds of wet slop. First up before we delve into racing let’s take a ride down the course with our helmet cam rider Mr Aaron Peltarri;
As riders flowed in Saturday morning track walk got underway and saw riders looking at a different eagle track from previous rounds. With different line choices from top to bottom, and a dry gritty dirt it was going to be a fast and loose weekend for all!
Sunday came round and excitement was building for race time! With spectators finally coming out the woodwork due to the all time weather, riders were keen to get rowdy and the crowd wanted to see fast racing! With the usual suspects smoking elite and under 19s seeding runs, racing was well and truly underway and everyone was smiling ear to ear.
As the day dawned, Elite and under 19s finals runs fast approached and it was time for the boys and girls to bring the noise!
Elite women came down first off and it was once again a battle between the gravity girls, with just 1.59 seconds separating the two in seeding it was anyone’s game, Cami Miller came down setting the pace with a 2.52.97 on the clock. However it was not to be her day, as Moira Love came down to seal the deal by just 0.50 of a second!
The under 19s started and it was again tight racing, with most of the field done, at the top the 5 were left, each rider came down knocking the rider in front off the top step to mirror the same result as seeding. With Darcy Grooby taking another win with a 2.04.19, Cameron Heading slipping into second with a 2.06.98 and rounding out the top 3 Drew Gartery with a 2.09.13.
Elite men started and conditions could not have been better, with the pre race banter over it was time to get down to business and it did not disappoint. With Cody Barker setting the benchmark early on with a 2.03.100, Matty Taylor got close sitting in just 0.090 behind. It was not until the wallaby himself (Conor Clancy) came down with a smoking time of 2.01.11 was able to knock Cody off the top step. With the top 2 qualifiers left to come Angus Maddern came down to put the wallaby back a spot with a time of 1.57.950 being the first rider of the day to break the 2 minute mark.
All eyes were on Cam Ryan as he made his way down for the final run of the day, crossing the line in a 1.57.690 taking out his first Elite men win and the fastest run of the day. It was fantastic to see Cam grab his first win in Elite, we are sure there are more to come! Interesting to note he did it on his big bike rather than his enduro whip he has been racing on lately…
Thanks to Insideline mountain bike club for another great event, we will see you all at round 6 back at Fox Creek for another awesome weekend of racing!
Words Aaron Pelttari (Aaron would like to thanks Monza Imports, Bicycle Express & Bouwmeester Composites).
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