Inside Info: Callum Morrison

Callum Morrison, a rider to keep an eye on in the future as he progresses up through the ranks!

The name Callum Morrison is one that is very familiar to usA�as CallumA�pops up on podiumsA�at SA state rounds, VicDH rounds, Nationals and even Crankworx! With that in mind we decided to have a chat with one of Australia’s most promising up and coming riders.

Name: Callum Morrison

Age: 15

Hometown: Mount Gambier South Australia

Cal thanks for talking to us, you’re 15 but how long have you been riding mountain bikes for:

About four years or so, I started riding local trails with my mates.

So racing came next, how long have you been racing for and why do you race:

The South Australian State Championships at Eagle Mountain Bike Park in 2010A�was my first race. It’s is the atmosphere of the racing and the thrill you get from it.

Cal has a good style on the bike and isn’t afraid to throw down in the air.

SoA�considering this reasonably short space of time, what race results stand out to you as your favourites:

Placing 4th in the Canadian Open in Under 15’s, winning the 4x National Championships (and series)A�in Under 17’sA�and and placing 2nd at National Championships in under 15’s.

With these results under your belt what are your goals for the future:

To win the VicDH series, finish a top 3 at National Champs, Oceania ChampionshipsA�as well as in theA�overallA�for theA�NationalA�Series (in Under 17’s).

The top spot on the podium is becoming a regular place for Cal who is quite modest!

Do you have a specificA�a�?training plana�� or are youA�the typeA�of rider whoA�just goes out and rides:

I ride dirt jumpA�and pump track in my backyard, IA�hardly ride downhill because we dona��t have a big enough hill to ride down.

You live in Mt Gambier, a fair way from Adelaide, what is the scene like down there? You say you dona��t have many big hills so what happens when you want to ride downhill:

Riding downhill is hard in the Mount because the hill is so small and you cana��t get a good enough track, riding DJ and XC is far better to do here and I go to Adelaide to ride theA�downhill or just wait to the next race…

How would you describe your riding style:

I have a moto style from riding motos since i was 4 but otherwise loose!

Do you find similarities between riding mountain bikes/downhill and motocross, has this had a big influence on your riding style:

Yes a lot of techniques in riding style and even the mechanic side too, motocross has helped heaps for my riding style because I loved the wide open rough tracks on a moto and most tracks are fast and rough.

A rider to look out for in the future for sure.

So on the downhill bike what are some of your favourite tracks and riding condition:

I love a fast flowy rough track with big senders but I dona��t mind the old muds getting out because my style is good for mud!

What riders you look up to:

The Athertons, because they are the most chilled out people and shred at any discipline on a bike.

Finally is there anyone you would like to thank:

Big thanks to GT Bicycles, Daktari Sport, Cycling Sports Group, Mavic and My mum and dad for taking me all over Australia.

We will be watching with interest as Cal continues to race various races here and in Australia, to us it looks like the future is bright for Australian downhill.

VicDH – Round 3 – Kinglake

As the day passed by the sun came out, the track got a little dustier and a lot looser.

Kinglake! Round 3 of the Victorian Downhill Series has come and gone, a series quickly becoming a magnet for not only local talent, but for riders Australia wide! For the first time this season the track wasn’t just a dust festival (initially). Storms to previous day kept the ground moist and made for some excellent conditions to practice in.

Why do we like it loose? Because riders like Ben Hill show us how ita��s done on the flat corners!
Here Trent Piribauer gives us his take on how how ita��s done in the flat corners…
… And goes drifting on past!

As race day rolled in the weather decided it would be a little bit bipolar, and though it didn’t rain, the clouds ensured that it was a typical Melbourne day with the weather going from hot to cold more times than you can count. The changing light made some riders cautious, especially popping out from the much darker wooded sections.

The Alpine Gravity Team showing no caution to the steep stuff!

As practice drew to a close, we began to get a real show from some of the riders out to have some fun before the seriousness of qualifying moved in.

Timmy Eaton getting completely flat, awesome!
Jack O’Hare going the opposite way from Timmy Eaton and getting that bike vertical!

Come qualifying everyone stepped it up a notch, with style being substitutedA�for raw speed.

Scrub-a-dub-dub! Ben Hill getting it done!

We saw some of the top riders come through a step down section just before the rock garden, three riders, three very different riding styles, one very similar determined look on their faces.

Variety of riders, variety of styles, whatever works for you…
This doesna��t mean you can’t have some fun though! Santaa��s little helper took some time off from toying about with Santa to show off some skills!
Henry Blake was out to ensure the trip to Vic from SA was worth the effort, he was looking very quick over this small kicker.
Keeping the SA theme going, Angus Maddern came across for his first race of the season, he could have been the replacement for Connor Fearon who was noticeably absent.

As the day grew on the crowd came out and lined the track, the changing weather conditions not deterring them. Come finals the crowd was going crazy and Elite riders were copping all sorts of different cheering tactics…

Look at that crowd! It is no surprise as the Vic series is the most popular downhill race series in Australia. Photo: Harry Hartwig.

The shenanigans certainly didn’t stop when the racing was finished. The podium presentationsA�became complete shambles with people falling off the podium steps, objects being thrown and Dean LucasA�reading his sponsors off the jersey and being caught out, only to return a spray to the crowd!

Some interesting podium moments certainly spiced the proceedings up a bit!

At the end of the day racing was a hotly contested with some big names vying it out, in the end Dean Lucas took another win from Timmy Eaton, Rhys Atkinson who helped construct the track here took third.

Elite Men:

1. Dean Lucas

2. Timmy Eaton

3. Rhys Atkinson

4. Joey Vejvoda

5. Liam Panozzo

 

Elite Women:

1. Tegan Maloy

2. Sarah Booth

3. Jacqui Lovett

4. Ellie Wale

5. Li Lina

 

U/19 Men:

1. Aiden Varley

2. Andrew Crimmins

3. Ben Hill

4. Oliver Zwar

5. Elliot Webb

It wasA�a top weekend where the weather played along, even though the forecast suggested it wouldna��t. A really excellent weekend of racing finishing off with plenty of laughs.

See you all at Round 4, Mt. Buller, which is held a week apart from the National round there, talk about a double header!

From myself, Jason Stevens,A�have an awesome Chirstmas everyone! I will see you all in the New Year!

Thanks Jason for another awesome report and pics (with some help from Harry Hartwig), there will be plenty more up on downhill247.com as the year draws to an end, check back soon.

Victorian Enduro Downhill – Bright (& World Enduro Series Information!)

Make no mistake enduro downhill is here to stay, the format maybe massaged slightly but the discipline is going to blow up in the next few years!

Bright, Victoria played host to Round 2 of the Alpine Gravity Series, one of Australia’s only true enduro downhill races and series. With Elite Men taking overA�ten minutes to complete the course, there was some serious descending to be done!A�Sections of the BrightA�track would be considered just as technical as ‘traditional’ downhill races, in fact, after the first practice session many riders put their ‘all mountain’ style bikes backA�and brought out the full blown downhill rigs! The consensus being this track suited more technical style riders, as opposed to round 1 whichA�appeared toA�have favoured fitter riders more.

There was a wide range of bikes spotted under riders at this race, one area to pay attention to however, was bar width! Pine forest sections meant your standard 750mm style downhill bars could be a little tight in some sections!

Overall the event was run well, transport was ample, timing was spot on and of course the track was good! Around 100 racers enjoyed the day, the track started at the sameA�altitude hang gliders start their ride from and there was only one real big pedal slog at the bottom about 3 minutes. Results are as follows;

Elite Men:

1.A�Daniel Macmunn 10:02.37

2. Oliver Zwar 10:56.21 + 53.84

3. Tom Macmunn 10:59.13 +A�56.76A�

4. A�Ben Crundwell 11:23.17 + 1:20.80

5. Luke Dewar 11:30.47A�+ 1:28.10

Elite Women:

1. Jacqui Lovett 13:21.79

2. Lucy Brandon 16:23.19 +A�3:01.40

3. Amy Phillips 19:51.77 + 6:29.98

Event organiser, Ben Watkins, making his way down the track as a courier for the marshalls!

Continuing on with the enduro downhill focus, it has just been announced a World Enduro Series will start in 2013. Driven by Chris Ball, formerly of the UCI, he was one of the players that has lifted the World Cup Downhill series to where it is today. He is not going solo, rather,A�joining forces with organisers from events such as the Enduro Series in Europe and the Crankworx collective, they have created both a newA�series and a new association; The Enduro Mountain Bike Association. There is plenty of discussion going on within the mountain bike industry (and on the forums) whether the move away from the UCI is a good one. However, with the UCI not committing to one of the biggest growing areas within the gravityA�discipline, it was just a matter of time. Having done some riding with Chris Ball we can tell you the tracks he will select are going to be no walk in the park! Combine this with riders such as Dan Atherton and now Aussie Jared Graves, committing to the enduro format we areA�only going toA�hear more about enduro in the future, which is definitely not a bad thing!A�The race locations and final details of the new series haven’t been released yet but expect more details soon. What’s great is that events like the Alpine Gravity are already up and running here in Australia, getA�on board now and beat the bandwagon!

The new World Series is super exciting and with events already running here in OZ you have no excuse to not practice!

All photos: Jason Stevens Photography

Specialized Asia Pacific Downhill Challenge 2012

Get your style on! Locals and invited riders alike were putting in for the crowd!

The Specialized Asia Pacific Downhill Challenge is one event held simultaneously with a whole range of other events in Indonesia, think of it as the closest style ofA�event the region has to Sea Otter. We are just going to focus on the downhill, here is what Chris Berry had to say about the event as well as Junior Aussie Jackson Davis;

Looking back we realised that the only dry race we have had was in 2009. It has always been a wet race and I think thata��s what made the event different from other races around the region. The pros got to ride the track in all conditions, dry, intermediate and really wet. Summing up the comments from the riders after the track walk on Friday was that the track was quite mellow. Fun is the word when ita��s dry. For the first two runs the riders were still getting the feel of the track. Dan had a crashed at the entrance of the pinball section. Marc was looking super-fast, Mitch and Brendan was boosting the small chute trying to clear a section in one go. Neko was flying at the top section. Christian, the brother of Brendan, also decided to join the race and he was having fun riding the track. Jackson Davis was here few months ago and won his category. However, this time we were using different line which he thought was way better and so much faster. He was doing runs with the elite guys and tagging along was United Bike Kencana International upcoming rider Adrian Aakre. These two were flying and whipping all the jumps.

Nice! We have seen World Championships with smaller, less organised press sessions then that!
Track walk time! Not sure about Brendan Fairclough’s choice in footwear though…

Just as they thought they had it under control in comes the rain! Then all of a sudden ita��s game on. Never have you seen so many pro riders hitting the deck and not once but a couple of times. Brendan Fairclough and Mitch Ropelato were telling us, never before had they rode a track that is like riding on tiles or ice…. Like last year, we see a lot of riders getting confused which tires they wanted to run. The whole weekend was like two seasons in one day. Wet in the morning and dry in the afternoon or vice versa. The track was drying out for seeding although rain fell after the official practice on Friday. Some riders are sticking with wet tires. The pros were running intermediate and cut spikes. The track was so much grippier than Friday and there was some fast action in seeding. Jackson Davis took the lead with 2.43.8. The Women Elite field only had 3 riders and they were all from Indonesia. This is one category we want to see more riders in the future. The Elite men was the last to come down as the clouds were rolling in.

Even though the track itself was quite mellow, the conditions and grip levels meant it challenged the best riders in the world!
With such varying and different conditions bike set up was a real headache for some riders!

The Elite men started with Dan Atherton coming down 1st, the line he took was an eye opener and the speed he was carrying was mental! He posted the fastest time for the day with 2.29.3, Mitch Ropelato in 2nd, Marc Beaumont 3rd, Agung Fambudi the National series leader in 4th and Popo in 5th. Brendan FaircloughA�was way down in 10th and Neko MulallyA�in 16th. Young Aussie Jackson Davis took the win in the Youth category with 2.42.7, making it 2 from 2 for his Indonesia races this year. John Derrick Farr from the Phillipines came in 2nd, Abien in 3rd, Henri Fitra 4th, Multi Gangsar round up the podium in 5th. Adrian Aakre was just off the podium this time in 6th. The rain fell right after the seeding run and it didn’t stop until 11pm. The sun came out stronger then on Saturday, riders were taking the morning 1 hour practice time very seriously. The track was slippery and they all said that the track was so beat up making it harder to stay up right. The condition stayed the same until lunch time, then water came down like it was being poured from the sky. Some sections of the track turned into small streams! For the local riders, this condition is the best condition because the track has better grip and the mud tires can dig into the clayiest ground.

The locals were loving the wet conditions and the event in general!
The locals stacked the top spots, testament to their ability in these conditions.

With the heavy rain falling more spectators were on the track, they wanted to see how the worlda��s best riders handled the technical parts of the track. They were cheering like mad for every Elite rider passing through. We saw riders crashing and falling as they tried to stand up. Dan Atherton finally wins it with 2.39.2, followed by his team mate Marc Beaumont in 2nd, Mitch Ropelato 3rd, Popo in 4th and Neko Mulally, despite a top section crash, still managed to get the last spot on the podium. Brendan Fairclough crashed at the pedalling section and this put him way down the order in 24th place.

What a cool event, look at the background! Good to see the locals show the rest of the world what they have and what they can do on a bike!
The love of downhill is a world wide feeling, here we see some of the biggest names in the business riding with a local Indonesian junior. This is part of the reason the organisers invite the likes of Fairclough and Ropelato, to give their riders a chance to learn and progress, awesome.

We caught up with Aussie junior Jackson Davis and this is what he had to say about the event;

Well we were racing in a place called Bandung, about 3 hours out of Jakarta, the track we raced was called Chikole, which is actually part of a volcano. Last time I raced there in June it was dry but it was the wet season over there this time and after a few showers it was definitely the slipperiest thing I’ve ridden. The locals said ita��s something to do with the soil. The rain was kind of on and off all week which made the track pretty gluggy and slow to race on, it was a different track since last time, with a new top section which was probably the most technical part. Then there were some steep corners and drops, then it came to the old section where it was really fast, full of corners and breaking bumps and then the pedal… Haha the pedal section was probably a little over 30 seconds, with a few cool jumps along the way, which eventually led into some fun corners and jumps towards the finish! On race day I was lucky enough to have a semi dry run and ended up winning youth with a time of 2.42, which I was stoked with! At about lunch time was when the rain hit, making it a super wild race for the Elite boys definitely the heaviest rain all week! It was Dan Atherton taking the win with a 2.39, he was just too good for the local boys! All in all it was a sick event they really know how to put a show on up there big thanks to Andre Palmer, FJC, Specialized and Kabuto helmets.

Jackson Davis flanked with some of the heavy hitters in the downhill world! He did Australia proud and took the win in the Junior division.

With the event all done and in the books of history, the boys headed off to Bali for some relaxing time and to get a tan for few days. The organisers would like to thank all the participants and sponsors for making the event possible and even bigger this year. See you all next year…

Article and photos: Andrew Palmer/Christopher Berry

NSW/ACT RedAss Downhill State Series – Thredbo – Round 5

The final round of the NSW State Series fittingly was held on one of Australia’s most famous, toughest and longest downhill tracks!

Thredbo resort held the 5th and final round of the Red Ass NSW-ACT Downhill State Series 2012 this weekend. Riders inundated the village to ride the legendary Cannon Ball trail and to see who would be crowned the overall champions for 2012.

Ben Cory would know this track like the back of his hand after racing here so often!

In the Elite male category, the old hand Ben Corey was victorious this weekend followed by Jack Moir. The young Graeme Mudd came in third place, which was enough to secure him the overall championship title for 2012.

No surprise Tegam Molloy took the victory on her home track!

Maybe ita��s no surprise that Tegan Molloy took out first place on her local track, with Sarah Booth in 2nd place and Danielle Beecroft in 3rd. Sarah was crowned the 2012 overall series champion following a consistent performance over the season.

Pretty standard Thredbo weather!

The weekend started out well with the sun shining, everyone smiling, although a little windy. Typical of the Alps, by Sunday the weather had taken a turn back to winter with wind and sleet seeing the Elite males off for their seeding runs.

A long way down still to go with a slightly different starting position!

Thredbo is renowned as the oldest DH track in Australia accessible by chairlift, and also as being one of the toughest tracks in the series. The track measures around 3km in length with over 500 metres of vertical. We could see that the Thredbo MTB crew had worked hard in the lead up to the weekend to build some new features. On show this weekend was a brand new double jump just above the a�?Bunny Walka�� section and a new step down jump at the bottom of the course.

Snowgums! The old girl got a run this weekend.

For those of you that know the track, this year the top section of the track that follows the gravel access road was closed for maintenance works. This meant that riders had to take the old Snowgums chairlift up and the race began at the beginning of what is known as the a�?Kareela Highwaya��.

Andrew Crimmins had the new section sorted!
Tim Eaton had no problems on ‘Snakes and Ladders’ one of the more technical sections of the track!
Wherever you can, whenever you can…The Lusty’s Industries/ Orange Bike team chilling under their tent.
Sara Booth won the Elite female category.
Local rider Joey Vejvoda showing off his skills on the new double jump.
Jack Moir came 2nd in Elite Men.
Thomas Crimmins popping off the double jump onto the lower ski runs, on his way to 4th position in Elite.
Hi five to Greame Mudd, the young gun from Maitland who won the Red Ass NSW-ACT Elite Downhill State Series for 2012.

The RedAss Downhill NSW/ACT State Series 2012 is over but we are looking forward for the 2013 edition already!

Article and pictures by Ronnie Grammatica – www.ronniegrammatica.com

Asia Pacific Downhill Challenge 2012

The Asia Pacific Downhill Challenge is quickly becoming one of the premier races in the Oceania area, it is great to see the love of downhill cross international borders. Photo: Andre Palmer.

The Asia Pacific Downhill Challenge is back again, it’s being held on the 16th-18th of November, this race has been held in Indonesia for the past few years and has been a favourite with riders and fans alike. The Cikole track is about three hours from Jakarta, a landslide on the original track facilitated the change to the new venue.A�This is aA�race that Aussies have traditionally been well represented in and done well, Sam Hill won it last year, other Aussies there included Troy Brosnan and Mitch Delfs. Unfortunately, this year, the sole Australian entrant is junior Jackson Davis but there are some big overseas names whoA�are signed on to race this yearA�including; Dan Atherton, Marc Beaumont, Brendan Fairclough, Neko Mullaly and Mitch Ropelato. This, combined with the fast locals such as Popo Ario and Pornomo, will see fierce competition for the $3000 USD first place prize! More news and updates as we get them.

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑