Here at Downhill247 we love when the under dog, the black-horse, whatever you want to call it gets up for the win! We also love supporting up and coming photographers, we have seen photographers go from local races and reporting here to world cups and becoming team photographers!
Recently we received an email from Trent Wallace Photography, he has taken a few images we thought we would share with you. Trent is a beginner mountain bike photographer located in Adelaide and is passionate about taking pics for others to enjoy! See the race through his eyes below.A�Read on with Trent’s words below:
Dropping into a great weekend of racing!
“After a full week of editing photos from practice and race day I have chosen some of my favourites to share. All other photos will be posted up on my Facebook page (here) within the next few days. Enjoy!”
Luke Bradey taking out second in Under 17s.Connor Fearon throwina�� some whips during practice before his World Cup race in Fort William.The sun was shining!Sam Walter dropping into second in Expert Men.
Follow Trent on Facebook page (here) or Instagram @trentwallyyphotog
Get more content onA�FacebookA�orA�follow us on Instagram: @downhill247
If you have seen the latest edit from Connor Fearon and Steel City Media then what you are looking at is the bike Connor rode for most of it. This being the Kona Process 167, a bike perfect for his home town of Adelaide where you often don’t need a full blown downhill bike. We were lucky enough to grab some pictures before Connor departed for the next world cup in Scotland. We have added some simple descriptions to the pictures, enjoy.
As you would expect from the name the bike features 167mm rear wheel travel. The swingarm you see here is carbon!Connor is sponsored by HT so keeps it real with their flat pedals, a single chain ring and guide on the front mean the chain doesn’t drop off!
A Rock Shox Vivid compliments the Lyrics at the front, Connor didn’t actually ride this at the latest Australian Enduro he went for the slightly smaller Process 153.Front brake on the correct side (that is the right side in case you are wondering!). There is no dropper post if you were wondering (ignore the blurry shot).“The new Stinky”
There you have a quick look at a very capable do it all bike!
The A�national enduro series found itself in the picturesque Adelaide Hills over the weekend for round 2 and we found ourselves track side bringing you the action! The event started on Saturday with the optional Prologue – basically a seeding event but one that didn’t have any direct bearing on the actual race outcome and then the 6 race stages on the Sunday.
6 stages with transitions between them meant there was plenty of time to get some riding in with your mates.Plenty of time for some bonding and discussing the ins and outs of the previous stage.
As we write this the results are yet to be published but we do know some of the results courtesy of the podium presentations! In the women’s race it was Phillipa Rostan who took the top step ahead of Shelly Flood and Jackie Schapel. Moving onto the men’s race and it was an all local podium (just like the women’s really!) standing on top with a 100% success rate in enduro races; Connor Fearon, in second was Troy Brosnan and Simon Buzacott rounded out the top 3.
Phillipa Rostan cranking to first place!Shelly Flood heading into second place through the ferns on stage 4…Ex Adelaide-ian Jackie Schapel claimed third place after making the trip across from Tasmania.Connor Fearon kept his run of enduro wins going by taking the top spot again!Troy Brosnan charging to second, we saw him just after this shot take a crazy jump line into a corner, the boy has skill no doubt!Simon Buzacott rounded out the top 3.
The tracks were riding good all weekend with many riders saying they had their best runs ever on some of the sections, the real challenge was beating mother nature. Right at the end of proceedings the rain moved in and for some unfortunate riders that meant riding in the wet.
The day was mainly dry and dusty…Until right at the end where the rain fell!There were some entertaining features for both riders and spectators.
There was a small but vocal crowd on the hill.
Ducking and weaving!Ben Corey charging…
Everyone was looking over their shoulder at the weather! The radar view was getting a workout today!Oops! Stage one claiming a victim with its powdery loose, turns!
Stevie Smith the 26 year old Canadian was tragically taken from us too soon. Even at the tender age of 26 it seems he has been on the scene for much longer, such were his accomplishments and his larger than life character. Going by many nicknames it was 2013 where he firmly planted his stake as one of the best in the world, winning multiple world cups and with it the overall championship. Despite being hampered by injuries through 2014 and again in 2015 he was always positive, in 2016 it looked like Stevie was again back on track. A second placed finish at the opening world cup of the year highlighted this. A flat tyre in Cairns put an end to race winning aspirations but seeing him wheelie the course to the delight of the crowd cemented the positive character Stevie was known for.
Stevie all smiles after winning his first world cup in Hafjell, Norway 2012.Always stoked and such a positive guy, it is his character that was loved by all.
Words cannot do the tragic loss of life justice and the outpouring from the global mountain bike community has shown this. Our thoughts are with the friends, family and fellow riders.
One of the final wishes from those close to Stevie is the donation in lieu of flowers, information below:
A Celebration of Life will be held on May 21 at 1 p.m. at the Vancouver Island Convention Centre in Nanaimo, B.C. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the a�?Stevie Smith Legacy Funda�? atwww.gofundme.com/23k7fus. Funds will be earmarked for a Tiann Smith initiative, assisting talented young athletes.
Cairns was one of the best races for some time and so we thought we would dedicate some more screen time to it, have a look at these pictures and reminisce on a great event, enjoy:
Loris Vergier popping! One of our favourite kits for sure.
We are Australian so we might be a little biased but the Cairns world cup was one of the best we have witnessed in some time! There were some truly amazing highs (as well as a few lows – after all that is racing), the day kicked off with a short practice session in the morning before the crowd started filing through the gates and lining the course.
One hour of practice was all the riders had to check the course and finalise their lines.
The juniors kicked off proceedings and there was high expectations with a large number of riders all keen to impress at their home race. In the end impress they did with 4 out of the top 5 spots going to Australians. In 5th was Josh Clark, 4th was Jackson Frew, 3rd was Harry Bush and 2nd was Remy Morton. The win went to Matt Walker from Great Britain.
15th for Harry Parsons.17th for Darcy Coutts.It was a nice sight seeing everyone on the hot seat and it almost finished this way…
Next up were the senior females and it was evident who the crowd was cheering for, the home town Hannah! In this case Tracey, she put down a stomping run and finished second, it was Rachel Atherton that took the win but boy was the crowd lapping Tracey up!
Fourth for Tahnee Seagrave.Tracey Hannah was second on the time sheet.But first in the eyes of the locals!Rachel Atherton was ahead of Tracey this race.
One happy camper!
At 2pm it was time for the men to start their race runs, 80 riders, one winner! Here are some observations from the afternoon;A�Stevie Smith got a flat front tyre, Greg Minnaar commented he didn’t have any issues with his run but still had a result that wasn’t up to his standards, much the same for Gee Atherton and Sam Hill was battling an illness in the week leading up to the race finishing 28th.
Gee Atherton sprinting for the line, head down showing the physical effort required in the end.Brendan Fairclough after having a few crashes during the week.Graeme Mudd had an absolute blinder and ended up in 8th place.Dean Lucas finished 41st with team mate Jack Moir in 40th.David McMillan isn’t racing the world cup series this year so this was his retirement race (for this year anyway).Tough day for Sam Blenkinsop who said hello to the ground during his run.A lot of riders did!The draining nature of the course was evident to see as riders came into the finish arena.A front wheel flat for Stevie Smith near the rock garden put an end to his race.A smiling Luca Shaw ended up in 13th.
Without doubt one of the highlights of the weekend for us was the result of one man – Josh Button – after having stepped away from racing World Cups since 2012 Josh has been keeping things low key, until Cairns that was! He put in a stomping run to claim the hot seat from Graeme Mudd and he was sitting there for a very long time…At first we were hoping he wouldn’t get knocked out of the top 20, then the top 15 before finally the top 10… then we began to dream, a podium?! We all knew JB had the skills, then sure enough there were 4 riders left and Josh was in range. In the end he did claim one – 5th place, JB you’ve done it again!
What did Josh have for breakfast because it obviously worked…Lapping up the hot seat and the water!
There were still 4 riders to go, Loic Bruni was on the hot seat with AAron Gwin unable to better his time, there were just 2 riders left, both Australian. Sik Mik Hannah knows Cairns like the back of his hand having grown up here, with sister Tracey coming close in the women’s everyone was hoping mic could finish one step higher. He put in a cracking run but ended up in second place. This left Troy Brosnan as the last rider on course, the whole way down the times were so close, it looked like he might have done it just before he crossed the line where the timing board showed he was just 0.493 seconds down! In the process this handed Loic his first ever world cup win.
Troy Brosnan missed out by almost nothing on his second world cup win.Loic Bruni charging for the line and his first world cup victory.Loris Vergier cranking for the line.Connor Fearon slipped a pedal and ended up in 12th.Winners are grinners!JB you’ve done it again…
We have a smorgasbord of images to show you guys from the week so check back for those soon.
