Father Christmas was kind to Connor Fearon with the delivery of his new Kona Operator! Talk about a good looking bike, all the descriptors you want to use go for it; ‘Blacks on blacks on blacks’ or ‘all black errrything’ or ‘Blackbird’ or ‘the Black knight’ or… well you get the point!
Check the style! Are we talking about the bike or Connor? Or both?
We caught up with Connor as he had just gotten delivery of his new bike which he gave us the run down on before we headed out to Kangarilla, one of the better riding spots in his hometown of Adelaide.
So what you see here is Connor’s personal World Cup rig but the good news is what you see here has the exact same angles, geometry and sizing as the public can buy from their local bike shop.The difference is that Connor’s bike is set up with sponsor/personal preference parts unlike the ‘stock’ build from your local bike shop.Regardless of whether it is a ‘stock’ build or a custom jobby pedals is always personal reference. On this day Connor was riding flats but openly admits he can see many of the benefits of clips…Something that you might want but you won’t be able to get, just yet anyway, is these prototype Maxxis tyres, ‘Spec C’ apparently… You know as much as we do!The only difference with this frame is a slightly different weave of carbon being tested by the guys at HQ, other than that as we have already said angles, geometry, size, etc are all identical to what you can buy.Carbon frame, carbon crank, titanium spring all exotic materials but who would have thought just a few years ago these parts would be as common as they are today, available for everyone?!
After discussing his bike Connor put it to use and showed us he is more than comfortable on it already which should be no surprise! You can catch Connor at the National rounds this year before he heads overseas to race the World Cups.
With this matching kit maybe we should start calling him Darth?Looking comfortable with two wheels on the ground, going past in a blur…!Weeeee!!Blackbird cleared for take off!Can corner.Higher!And more sideways…!
We also heard about a new enduro style bike he was waiting on….
After 3rd place here last year in the juniors at the World Championships we were all hoping Connor could snag a big result!
So Leogang was the last race of the World Cup season for 2013 and the last race until I went back home for the summer so I was pretty excited to get a good result here and get home. Last year the World Championships were here and I placed 3rd so it was good to know I can perform here. The track was really good this year it had some new technical sections which worked in my favour but kept all the turns at the top section where my Kona Operator rips.
Since there was no cross country races at the event the schedule was different to other World Cups. Track walk was on Thursday, practice started Friday with qualifying Saturday and Sunday. It rained a lot during the week so practice was pretty wet and treacherous. I was using wet scream tires which worked well and they roll well so it helps in the middle section where therea��s lots of pedalling. On Saturday it dried up quite a bit but I still used mud tires because I was use to them. I had a big crash the run before qualifying which knocked me around a bit. I broke my helmet and hurt my hand so I had to roll down to the bottom slowly.
When warming up for my qualifying run my hand was really sore and I didna��t know if I could even finish my run. Luckily adrenaline kicked in and it didna��t bother me too much. I finished 13th which is really good, my best qualifier ever. I was looking pretty forward to racing and walked the track Saturday arvo I check out some new lines that appeared from the dried out course.
After qualifying 13th, his best result to date, Connor was in the box seat for a big result.
Waking up on Sunday I was really excited and nervous. Ia��ve never qualified this good before and it piled a lot of pressure on me to do just as well in finals. I did two good practice runs and just waited nervously until it was time to race. Matty my mechanic had my bike running flawlessly and I was really confident. With not much to lose I set off from the gate and gave it everything I had. Luckily there was a tailwind in the pedalling sections so there stronger riders couldna��t gain much time there. I was hoping to come through the finish line in the top 7 so I would be guaranteed a top 20 finish. I actually took the hot seat by almost a second. Once everyone had finished I was left in a career best 10th position. What made it better was before my race Matty said if I got top ten hea��d buy me a set of Brembos for my WRX so Ia��m waiting for those now haha!
Now that the season is done and dusted I can finally make my way back to Aus and relax for the rest of the year. Ia��ve learnt a lot this year, although I didna��t quite reach my goal of top 20 overall (finished 25th) I ticked a big box for the top 10 at Leogang. Ia��m locked in for next year and cana��t wait to train hard and improve my results.
A slight gap between World Cups after the Mont Sainte Anne World Cup saw Connor off to another awesome Canadian race – Crankworx, before heading to Norway to continue the season.
After Mont Saint Anne World Cup there was about a month gap until the Norway World Cup. In this time I went to Whistler and raced in Crankworx where I scored a 2nd place in dual slalom and 10th in the Canadian open. After the event was open I stayed there for a couple weeks riding with my friends from home. This was refreshing to take time off from the world cups and racing in general to just have fun and hang out.
Last year for some reason I didna��t really like the track. There are a few good bike park turns which I like but all the technical sections were awkward slippery rock gardens. This year it was really dry and therefore I liked it a lot better. I was feeling really good in practice straight away. Ia��ve been changing my shock setup a lot recently between a 350 and 400 spring. Sometimes Ia��ll swap back and forwards a few times at a race but here I felt comfortable on the 400 in my first run so it stayed like that.
Connor Fearon had some serious rain during his run, which left a dampness to his weekend. Next weekend is a chance to end the season on a high note, Aussie support is super important right now!
I was really excited for qualifying and was confident and not too nervous. Unluckily for me I got caught off my line less than a minute into my run and hit my derailleur into a rock which got my chain jammed. This meant I had to coast the rest of the track and actually having to scoot some sections I thought I wouldna��t even qualify. I ended up 55th and I was left pretty sad thinking of how I could have qualified.
When it came to race day it started to rain heavily. This was not to my discretion and I was a little disappointed as I know Ia��d be stronger in the dusty conditions then in the wet. My practice runs in the morning were pretty good. I didna��t push it too much and tried to keep the same lines I was riding in the dry. In conditions like this every rider is faced with a decision to attack really hard at a high risk of crashing or just try to stay on the bike because a lot of people will crash. I think I opted for the latter but maybe took it too easy. After a couple of bad choices to pull tear offs and a costly mistake in the main rock garden my hopes of a good result here were gone. I ended up 39th which is a disappointing result. Luckily Ia��m still in the top 30 overall and will try to improve it as much as possible in Leogang.
After round 2 at Val di Sole there was a 5 week gap in races. I took this time to head
back to Australia and dig into some training, eat a lot of Chicken Parmigianaa��s and
do heaps of Go Karting. By the time I flew back to Europe for Andorra world cup I
felt I was a lot stronger, fitter and ready to continue the season.
Nobody really knew what to expect of the track in Vallnord. There were rumours of it being steep, long, technical and also physical. After walking the track on the Wednesday it was apparent that the rumours where true. The course was very long, steep, rough, fast and technical. I liked the look of the track except the first section which was very flat and had you sprinting for the first 40 seconds of your run. When the first day of practice rolled around the track was pretty wet from the heavy rain it received leading up to the event. Some sections of track where so slippery you could hardly brake or steer down them.
Qualifying was on Friday and I had been feeling really good on the track. It hadna��t rained at all so the course was drying up and getting almost dusty which I preferred. In my qualifying run everything was working well until about halfway down when my hands where cramped so badly due to arm pump I was reduced to just crawling down the track. I didna��t have this problem in practice because I would stop 2 or 3 times a run. I qualified 63rd which is my worst qualifying result by far in the 3 seasons I have competed in.
On Saturday my mechanic and I worked on changes to help me down the track. We changed the settings on my suspension a lot to try and make it easier for my Hands! I walked the track on Saturday as well and scoped out some smoother lines which might be a little slower but in the long run would make me go faster. On Sunday my practice was good and the track was dry and dusty in sections which made for a really fast course. I knew if as long as I could hold on I could get a good result here.
The crowd is always loud on a WC race day, but Connor is quietly focused, on the job.
My plan for my runs was to make as much time up at the top of the track before my hands got cramped. This seemed to work pretty well for me. My final run was fast, the track had changed quite a lot since my last practice run so I had to guess what to expect in some sections. I finished in 34th position, which was good considering my qualifying result and I didna��t lose to many points for the overall.
Next race is Mont St Anne which I have done well at in the past. At the moment Ia��m already in Bromont, QuebecA� spending a lot of time on my bike getting prepared to get a great result there in two weeks!
Val di Sole is a track Connor has always done well on. We will let him fill you in on his weekend…
A hectic schedule for the first two World Cups of theA�year had riders trying to get up to speed as soon as possible, with Connor Fearon back in Australia he gives us the Inside Info on his Val di Sole Experience;
36th in qualifying meant Connor comfortably would be in the main show come Sunday.
The first World Cup of the year is always the first real indication of how your off season training went (not to mention everyone else’s). Connor had some specific goals heading into this season, read on…
Connor Fearon gives us the Inside Info onA�the first World Cup race of the yearA� at Fort William where he claimed his highest World CupA�finish to date in 21st;
Sunny conditions all weekend for the first time in how long? Here Connor looks right at home…
31st in qualifying, with a few issues, set the scene for Sunday.
