On a warm, sunny weekend 128 riders made it to Ourimbah to continue the RedAss DH series 2013. After some recent changes which cut out the infamous flat section, a fast, dusty trail was going to be a test of stamina for everyone. Many riders chose to ride shorter-travel bikes, including Elite Men’s fastest (by nearly 10 seconds) Brad Kelly. After a nasty crash, David Sharp was tended to and airlifted from the trail. After a welcome delay, and with Sharpy in mind racing continued smoothly; read on…
Ben Staggs (u19) warming up with some practice runs Sunday morning. Dry weather leading up to the race meant dust. Lots of dust.Harry Parsons holding speed into the lower berm sections. During racing racers were getting pretty tired by this stage; breathing heavy through the dust. Harry took the U15s title with a nice 5 second margin.
The dry, dusty trail held surprises for a few riders. Combine this with race speed, and well, here’s a likely fate.An annual visit on the State calendar, and the home of Rocky Trail Entertainment, Ourimbah is well known for its superb trail construction and varying features. All we need is the numbers of riders to make these events truly shine.Andrew Crimmins (1) soaring through the lower rock garden, and looking fast through a section that had riders divided for line choice. Crimmins finished 3rd, following Josh Button and Brad Kelly.
Ourimbah legend Brad Kelly went rough on the XC / Trail bike, but it paid off with a time of 3:15:31 – 9.93 ahead of 2nd Place Josh Button.This time of year brings warmer weather, cool breezes and good sunny days. Perfect weather for mountain biking, so make the most of it and get out there! Here Wayne Froggatt sends his way to first place in Masters.The hecklers were out in force in the spirit of Crankworx. ‘Hecklers Corner’ grew infamous as the crowd got rowdy, but it was all with good intention, adding to the hype of racing. Or maybe it’s just time to start practicing for World’s in Cairns next year? We’ll let you decide.
September 28 & 29 will be the NSW State Downhill Championships, held at Lithgow and run by Rocky Trail Entertainment. We’ll see you there.
Ever read a downhill related poem? Nope we struggle to think of one too, so here is something a bit different for you! While it is definitely not going to win the Montreal International Poetry Award (that is the most valuable poetry prize in monetary value going around, 50,000 Canadian dollars valuableA�to be exact!) but if you are a racer we think you will relate to this and it will give you a grin! Enjoy.
Ah yes, good old Bennetts, push ups all around! This is a race that favors the fit both up and on the way down.
Race 5 of the South Australian StateA�Series saw riders return to Bennetts, famous for itsA�two ride gaps, pine trees and push ups! The weather was a bit hit and miss leading into the event but for the weekend it was mainly fine. It seemed like half of the club was in Whistler, as half of the Australian riding community seems to do at this time of the eyar, so numbers were down on the average but that didn’t matter everyone was still keen!
Those road gaps! A staple of Bennetts and the area where the crowd generally gathers to watch.
Seeding for Under 19’s showed that Matt Taylor was the rider to beat, some 6.5 seconds clear of second place. In Elite Men Cam Ryan was fastest by 2.5 seconds but there were some new names in the top five so it was going to be interesting come race time.
Benetts rarely sees riders out of the pine forest, which is great for camera types to sniper shots between the branches such as this!
The track hasn’t really changed, it rarely does, so riders knew what they were in for. Realistically it is generally a one line run but there were a few areas riders could make up some time.
Where to pick up those critical seconds?Jumping both road gaps, successfully, does help carry speed, critical on this track where being slowed down in one section will carry on for the sections after it.
Finals came and once all the riders had done their 2 and a bit minute run it was Matt Taylor who took the Under 19 victory, his time of 2.14.01 would haveA�got him second placeA�in Elite! Conor Clancy was second and James Chambers third. Elite Women and Simone Cameron took the win ahead of Natarlie Hobby. Elite Men saw a slight reshuffle of the seeding results, Will Rischbieth took the win ahead of Cam Ryan, Luke Reynolds, Sullivan Fleming and Steve Gebert.
Kieran Jenkins on the gas for 11th.There’s a good reason the tree is in focus here, for some riders it was a full moon during their run…Braaappp! Bit of slide action was spotted on the weekend! Luke Reynolds charges for third.
The next race heads to Fox, for another classic race no doubt.
The second round of the SA Gravity Enduro series had been postponed once due to the weather but that didn’t stop the event this time. Despite how appalling some of the conditions were!
We hit up Eagle Mountain Bike Park for the second round of the highly successful SA Gravity Enduro series, this round had already been postponed due to the weather but even with more sub par conditions for the event,A�it didn’t dampen peoples spirits. Four stages with climb trails/links in between saw a totally different event from round 1, big jumps on stage 2, rocks and tight corners on all the stages and the weather really made it interesting.
It was foggy near the top, real foggy! That didn’t stop Josh Flack from putting a bit of style in, nice!The stages lower down the hill were a lot better for visibility. Riders were trying to adapt their set ups for the conditions, whether they got it right is another question though…There is always a good mix of bikes and backgrounds out these events. It is always good to see the friendliness between different disciplines that generally don’t get a chance to mix it together. Check out the rocks!Fair to say the enduro style of riding/racing has really caught on here in SA.It was really wet and foggy if you didn’t get it the first few times… So much so visibility was a real challenge in many sections!Troy Brosnan showed a clean pair of heels by taking the win with a healthy twelve second margin. Always smiling too!
Results for the Elite guys looked like this;
1. Troy Brosnan
2. Andy Clarke
3. Dave West
4. Alex ‘Wankles’ Waddicor
5. Craig Yates
The next round heads to a little mountain biking oasis – Melrose!
Jackson is a guy we have really wanted to sit down and have a chat to for a while!
Jackson Davis, a rider we have wanted to chat to for a while, when Sam Hill says he has some of the best cornering skills he has seen you take notice! Even if Sam hadn’t of said anything we noticed Jackson’s silky smooth skills and good demeanor. So without further a do lets have a chat with another up and comer…
Name: Jackson Davis
Age: 19
Hometown:A�Perth, WA
Hey Jackson, thanks for chatting to us, straight up,A�what have you been up to over the past 6 months? We saw you in Indonesia, then a lot of National and Vic races, tell us about your travels:
Yeah I spent a little bit if time up in Indonesia about 6 months ago racing the Specialized Asia Pacific Downhill race, which was a good experience just being able to ride with a few World Cup racers and some local heroes.A�I ended up winning my category soA�I was pretty happy about that. After that well we had the national series, this year being my first full season and first year on the Swell-Specialized team, I was pretty happy with the season on a whole but I think I learnt a lot and I’m pretty keen to get back next year and give it a crack.
Never a quiet moment for Jackson it would seem, a hectic schedule has had him all across the country (and internationally too).
So you are back home in WA now:
Yeah back home now which has been good after my stint over east, had a few races since I’ve been back home and went quite well on a few of them but it’s just been good back riding some fresh loam haha.
Not afraid to jump is this one.
Looking back at those races what were the goals you had set and what stood out as highlights:
Since I finished the national circuit I decided that I should probably start training hahah, so I have been doing a bit of work on a lead up to the Mont Saint Anne World Cup which ill be racing a little bit later on in the year so well see how we go there hahah. As for other races I’ve just tried to stay up with the top boys at home and stay on my bike unlike Mount Baw Baw which I would actually consider to be my biggest highlight of the season. (if you are wondering Jackson had an epic crash there but walked away)
Keeping it upright and wide open!If you have ever chatted to Jackson he has a level head on his shoulders and when it comes to racing this is a huge help.
What is it like for someone from WA to try and make it in the Australian downhill world, you guys are so far from all the races, even the nationals are just on the East coast:
Coming from WA is not the easiest for racing but we do produce good riders such as Sam HillA�for example but then we have Luke Ball and Mitch Bryant some guys you’ll be seeing on the circuit soon if not already!
Track destruction 101! Loving the looseness.
Sounds good, how about the race tracks in WA, how do theyA�compare to everywhere else?
The tracks over here a pretty cool but there’s not much you can ride in comparison to places like Thredbo or Buller as we struggle to get a track over two minutes. The good thing about our tracks is there all built by the man rather than a machine so they ride pretty well but they don’t last long haha.
The unique surface that WA tracks offer must be part of the reason so many riders can hold it wide open on the limit but keep it upright.
We saw you aboard a Specialized for the Swell team this year along with David McMillan, Rhys Atkinson, etc how did that all come about?
Sam helped me out a little on that one throwing my name forward and I ended up getting in contact with Matt O’Connor at nationals one year and then I flew over to Melbourne for a trade show and that’s when It came about really! I like to thank Matt, Dad and Sam for that one, it’s been a massive help and I’ve learnt a lot being on the team with the boys!
Having a strong team behind you always helps, the Swell Specialized team is on of the best on the domestic circuit.
Your dad seems to be a pretty big supporter of yours, can you explain to everyone a bit further and how important it is for you?
Yeah dad’s the man aye he’s been the biggest help and gave me some mad support over the years! I’ve just recently left school and got a job to help fund some stuff but before that dad was running the show and I thank him for everything so far and everything to come!
Team Davis, father and son are always a strong pairing.
Apart from your dad is there anyone else you would like to thank:
A pretty unique event and some pretty unique terrain!
The King Of Ballarat (KOB) is a pretty unique little event/series, held in – wait for it – Ballarat it has been going on for around 12 years now! To make up for the short race runs riders do two runs of one of the tracks at Black Hill depending on which round it is and there are three rounds in the series.
99 Racers entered the race, almost cracked the ton!
Categories are a little different from many races but the A results overall looked like this;
1. Beacom Trant 1:54.931
2. Thomas Dion 1:56.194 + 1.263
3. Coutts Kyle 1:58.270 + 3.339
4. Coutts Damon 1:59.180 + 4.249
5. Coutts Darcy 1:59.871 + 4.940
With the weather being questionable in the week leading up to the event it was good to see it all stay okay for racing.A casual event but one the riders enjoy.We have seen a few team changes recently and some similar old partnerships. Regardless of your set up case if your run wasn’t 100% you could lose just a small amount of time but lots of places.A bit of style to finish it off!
