On a weekend where Severe Weather Warnings outspoke TV news, over 160 riders gathered to race on Lithgow’s Pony Express trail. Warmly hosted by the Central Tablelands MTB Club and Lithgow Pony Club, the racing atmosphere was buzzing early Sunday morning.
A dry, dusty track had riders on their toes, pushing for grip to beat the clock.A�Downhill riders are familiar with coming home covered in dirt, dust and sweat, usually accompanied by a huge grin and/or battle scars. There were plenty of spills and near misses, including an unlucky fall by Steve Humphreys (NSWDH) who left by ambulance, but has since been confirmed OK.
Dust isn’t as soft as it looks, as many riders found out. JB.Rick Boyer carves a wave of dust late in his race run, moments before spectators are sprayed with dust. EE.Teejay Clark took the Expert Men’s title for 2013 with a blistering run. Here, midway down the track TJ has his eyes on the prize. JB.Del Rio and Ourimbah had a designated ‘Heckler’s Corner’, here is Lithgow’s. As Jacob McCormack hit the deck on ‘Mega Thunder’ the crowd winced. With a facefull of dust, McCormack recovered and finished 21st. JB.On a modest spring day, even reptiles made it out to watch the state’s fastest battle it out. Spot our reptilian friend.. EE.Michelle Crisp on the gas to Third place in Elite Women. Michelle has had an impressive comeback after a serious shoulder injury just one year ago. 2014 will be a big year for her! JB.Lithgow locals celebrate their racing with true Aussie rider style – here ‘Skin’ stops for a well earned draught mid-race run. EE.Megaphones, tree-climbing, yelling, cheering, and sometimes drinking, the Hecklers were out in force come race time. Despite all the noise, here it’s a rider and his bike against the clock. JB.It’s like a miniature world cup atmosphere. At any level, Downhill racing represents the same values and passion; from grassroots to World Cup people are united by riding their bikes, in the bush.A�JB.
Graeme Mudd, on a high since taking out Dual Slalom at Crankworx was expected to perform in racing, and he did, falling into second place to Andrew Crimmins by less than a second.Crimmins attacks the same corner, blazing a trail of dust behind him. Andrew has shown his pace at every round this year, tough competition with Graeme Mudd and Blake Nielsen.
Here’s a few extra snaps from Lithgow’s State Champs for 2013. What a great weekend of Downhill! The next round of the NSW/ACT RedAss Downhill Series is in Awaba, November 17/18.
The South Australian State were the perfect event to finish off a fantastic year of racing in South Australia. Luke Reynolds on his way to 12th place.
The last event on the South Australian racing calendar was the 2012 State Championships. The last few ChampionshipsA�have been held at Eagle Mountain Bike Park but this year the race was held at Fox Creek, another local favourite. The track received a few touch ups and was riding well. A new double or wall ride, depending on which option you chose, was waiting for riders just after the triple near the top of the course. Whilst Insideline has been holding races here for years we noticed more and more riders jumping and doubling sections of the track that previously riders were riding over. Evidence of progression in the field no doubt.
Conditions were fine on both days, a sharp contrast to the Fox State Series round earlier in the year!
The weather had varied in the weeks leading up to the race but that didn’t deter riders from practicing the track weekends prior, some riders clocking up 20 runs in a day! The weather turned on its best both days with the sun out but not too hot. Favourite for the Elite win was always going to be Connor Fearon, after recently returning from his World Cup campaign peoples eyes were firmly fixed on him. However, to write it off as a foregone conclusion would be crazy, names like Maddern, Marsh, Jenkins, Yates, Blake, Ryan, etc were all capable of pulling out a run to take the crown.
Riding on his “Fox” bike, a single crown, trail style dual suspension bike, Connor Fearon was the man to beat, you don’t end up number 34 in the World Cup overall for no reason! The new number 34 looking good next to the new downhill247.com stickers if we don’t say so ourselves!Team ACR are always a force at South Australian races and were looking for a good finish to the local season.Henry Blake is another rider capable of big results, this may have been the last South Australian race but Henry and his Clint White Racing team mates have a busy schedule of VicDH and National races ahead of them.In fact, with many of the locals returning from the Northern Hemisphere in time for summer it was hard to know just how the race was going to pan out. Photo: Ian Jones
Practice saw plenty of flat tyres as rocks and roots became more exposed, as usual some riders also required attention after coming into contact with said rocks and roots.
Game over! For this front wheel at least, luckily this happened in practice.From the practice session in the morning, until the end of racing, spectators lined the track, just like the riders they were making the most of the conditions. Photo: Matt Gibson
In between the morning practice session and the start of racing was a fancy dress competition and a thank you to all the volunteers that have helped out over the course of the year. After having travelled to countless World Championships, World Cups, Nationals, etc we can safely say, that here in Australia, the vibe and atmosphere at local races is as good as any of these other events!
Ah what a sight! The fancy dress competition took it to the next level, this rider even had custom pedals to help keep his big paws (?!) on the pedals!
Moving on and it was race time. With 175 entrants racing there was close racing across all the categories butA�as expected seeding for both Under 19’s and EliteA�was tight meaning it was going to be tight come finals.
Chill out or get revved up! Everyone has a different pre race routine.
The Under 19’s kicked off the finals and it was a two horse race between Matt taylor and James Chambers for the win. In the end Matt prevailed by just over 1.5 seconds.
Matt Taylor. 2012 South Australian State Champion after looking fast all weekend. Photo: Matt Gibson
Under 19
1. Matthew Taylor 2.11.77
2. James Chambers 2.13.37 + 1.60
3. Bryce Wing 2.20.44 + 8.67
4. Conor Clancy 2.21.00 + 9.23
5. Sam Keogh 2.25.13 + 13.36
Elite Women saw Jolene Knight continue her blistering form by comprehensively taking the win ahead of Molly Payne. Moving onto the Elite Men and the commentators predicted the winning time would be in the region of 2.10, we would soon find out if they were right!
Flat! Flat tyres and crashes took out their fair share of competitors during racing.
Young Cam Ryan rounded out the top 5 with a solid result, series winner Steve Marsh was in 4th, Steve Gebert 3rd and the final two riders on the track took the top 2 positions. After being on the same second in seeding as Angus Madern,A�it was Connor Fearon who was down next, the time to beat and get onto the hot seat held by Steve Gebert was 2.10.78, sure enough Connor came down with a blistering 2.07.97, the commentators couldn’t believe it and the rest of the crowd was pretty impressed. One rider left, Angus Maddern, he came bursting out of the trees and charged to the line, his time; 2.09.07 meant Connor was crowned 2012 State Champ.
A successful return from injury for Angus Maddern who pushed Connor all the way for a deserving second place.2012 South Australian Elite Mens Champion Connor Fearon.Connor and everyone was happy, it was good to see!
Elite Women:
1. Jolene Knight 2.41.40
2. Molly Payne 2.57.21 + 15.81
3. Julie Harris 3.27.68 + 46.28
4. Moira Love 3.30.85 + 49.45
5. Elsbeth Falster 5.05.71 + 2.24.31
Elite Men
1. Connor Fearon 2.07.97
2. Angus Maddern 2.09.07 + 1.10
3. Steve Gebert 2.10.78 + 2.81
4. Steve Marsh 2.10.98 + 3.01
5. Cam Ryan 2.13.11 + 5.14
That wraps up another successful season, bring on 2013!
Over 150 riders hit Ourimbah State forest over the weekend for the N.S.W State Champs, Central Coast Ourimbah MTB Club had the 2.5km track in good condition and with Mother Nature playing along, the conditions came together for a good weekend of racing! The track had a large pedal in the middle but plenty of cool corners and jumps made up for it. There were a lot of riders out on new bikes and with new teams, a kind of preview for the upcoming National/Vic Series! Continue reading “New South Wales – State Championships – Ourimbah”→
The 2011 South Australian State Champs were held at Eagle Mountain bike park on the long weekend. This would be a good shake-down event before the 2012 National Champs are held here and interstate riders made the trek over to get some extra practice on the course. Continue reading “Eagle Park Race Report 1st & 2nd October 2011”→
