Rocks, always an issue at Eagle, punctures would come in to play all weekend.
For round three of the SA State series we headed to Eagle Mountain Bike Park, at the risk of jinxing it this was another race held in glorious conditions, not too hot not too cold, just right! A few small changes tot he track kept everyone on their toes (or should that be pedals?!)
Riders had a new shoot to deal with, lined with rocks it was a good addition.There were still some of the rider favourites retained on the track, this jump saw scrubs-galore!Some riders were finding new lines in places the track has gone for years. It may look like this tree is in the way of the riders, yes to some degree it is, the more innovative riders were actually leaving off the side of the lip and going through the tree to straight line the section, nuts!Some lines were more about just lining up and pulling the trigger though…How about that!? Interesting…There is always something interesting hiding in the pits!Over 150 riders turned out to ride one of SA’s most notorious tracks, to everyone that got injured – get well soon!We did spot some riders, mostly juniors, riding in multiple classes to gain more experience. It is good to see a club progressing their junior riders in this way, no doubt some of the reason names like Brosnan, Fearon and Rischbieth are household names in the mountain bike world.Racing was close across all categories – in Under 19s James Chambers piped Matt Taylor by just over half a second with Cody Barker in third place. Laura Kelly took the win ahead of Dana Ross in the Junior Female class.In Elite Women, Moira Love single handily took out the category. Callum Morrison, pictured here, took out his first Elite SA podium in fifth place.Cam Ryan took fourth, Steve Gebert pictured here, was in third place.Mr Privateer, aka Mr Henry Blake not only threw down the style but the speed as well, second place for the Dark Knight!No denying World Cup speed, Will Rischbieth, now one of the ‘old hat’ riders at the club took the win by a solid two plus seconds!The next round heads to Fox Creek, is Will going to take another win or will someone else step up?
