Off we went to Eagle Mountain Bike Park for round 5 of the Inside Line SA State Series, there were a few choice additions/changes tot he track and the way it was bunted. The steep chute coming into the bridge a third of the way down the track was catching a few people out! Especially during practice on Saturday when conditions were less than ideal, in fact a lot of riders were of the opinion that a few runs on Saturday were enough before they headed home to start the long task of cleaning up!
As always RFPhotographics gives us a visual recap of the action;
Changing conditions are all part of playing bikes! By racing may riders were coming off the mud tyres back onto their dry set up.Different parts of the track responded differently to the weather, the clay turns at the bottom were slipperier than most for the majority of the weekend!The jumps at the bottom are always a favourite though, for riders, spectators and photographers!The chute before the bridge a third of the way down was really testing riders, especially the hard left hander at the bottom before the lip, here Simon Buzacott drags a foot!Sometimes it didn’t all go to plan though! This rider just missed out on heading a lot further down the hill near the bottom as he missed the track!There was a hip hop crew on hand who were shooting their next album cover, the album is called ‘All about the lifestyle’ or so it seemed…Racing as always was competitive across the categories.Shelly Flood was again at the pointy end of the elite female’s field!Some riders were more successful with the style than the time, some had both!
Punching out of the fog!And into the sun!At the end of both days there was a fair bit of this going on! Some riders/teams were set up with a wash in the pits!Full gas to the finish!
See you at the next round!
Images: RFPhotographics (FacebookA�hereA�or follow on Instagram @rfphotographics).
Get more content onA�FacebookA�orA�follow us on Instagram: @downhill247
Adelaide has a lot of cycling options, if you are into that lycra, skinny, wheeled caper then the Tour Down Under is the pinnacle for you. However, if you are into mountain bikes, which we assume you are because you are reading this then Adelaide has a lot going on for it, one of its greatest assets is Eagle Mountain Bike Park. Located 20 minutes from the city centre, the park has a range of trails and played host to round 2 of the Gravity Enduro of South Australia (GESA) series.
There was some great riding had over all the stages.
Leading up to the event the weather was reflecting the current winter season but come race day it had cleared up, make no mistake there was plenty of water left around though. It didn’t dampen the spirits of the riders though.
Iced coffee! No it is just the left over water on the track…It did clear up though.
If you are a regular at Eagle then stage names such as Sunset Boulevard, Top Deck and Overlocker will be familiar to you. If not then think of single track, with a mix of rocks, built up corners and fun rollers. The transition stages were wide fire roads that, whilst not impossible, did have a few people getting off and walking.
The reward for the uphills was a series of rewarding downhill stages.
The results are as follows;
Elite Men:
1. Cameron Ryan
2. Simon Buzacott
3. Curtis Dowdell
Elite Women:
1. Shelly Flood
2. Anna Puckridge
3. Moira Love
Junior Men:
1. Matthew Taylor
2. Sam Walsh
3. Sam Walter
There was a good turn out of riders across the categories and the organising committee put another great event together. We have a few more pictures from the event below, enjoy.
Aussie downhill legend Steve Marsh with one of the most impressive moves of the day. The majority of riders were going around this rock, a few of the elite men were riding up on to it and dropping off. Well, Steve came in at full pace and used the first rock as a lip and jumped the whole lot! He washed out in the next corner but he had previously been riding this out. Very impressive.So enduro…Sunset Boulevard saw riders ducking, weaving, going over, around and down!Cameron Ryan took the Elite Men’s win after another battle with Simon Buzacott.Shelly Flood took the Elite Women’s win in the sunshine.Eagle features plenty of rocks.The next round goes to Fox Creek, see you out there!
Get more downhill action on Facebook.com/downhill247 or follow us on Instagram: @downhill247
A good turn out enjoyed the beautiful weather and track improvements.
Hard to believe Round 2 of the South Australian State Series has been run and won! Time flies when you’re having fun… It was to Eagle Mountain Bike Park, host of multiple state and national rounds over the year, for round 2. The track had received a few changes for this race, most notable was the new finish area, riders were now taking a much straighter line into the final hip jump and therefore much more speed. We saw a few riders get unstuck come finals in the corner after the jump, Conor Clancy was one who was on a flyer before he decided to introduce his head to the ground. Another common comment (there’s a tongue twister for you) was that the way the track had been bunted really helped the flow so kudos to the tireless trail pixies who did that!
The new finish section meant riders were coming into this hip jump hot!A few interstaters who have been hanging around the fine state of South Australia rocked up to show us they are no slouches on a bike!There were a lot of the boys in blue out over the weekend, a popular choice!The riders really have to concentrate at Eagle, the track is very unforgiving.Foot out flat out!Henry Blake charging.‘I believe I can fly…’ Kaneophoto sending it!There were a few flash rigs getting around the pits over the weekend.In fact there were quite a few new rides on display!
Eagle on an enduro bike, a scary thought for some but no sweat for Simon Buzacott!That tongue placement!Remy Morton boosting! He will shortly be heading overseas to continue with the world cup series, good luck Remy!The top part of the track was relatively fast as always.There was a good spectator turn out, noise always helps!Jackson Davis absolutely sent the final step down, the crowd loved it!I wonder what Connor Fearon was thinking? ‘To take a selfie or not?!’The middle section of the track was relatively unchanged.Possibly the only image of Cameron Ryan ever taken with his front air in the air but not turning down!13 on the plate, unlucky for some but only if you’re superstitious!Riders sent this slight gap and then were hard on the brakes for the following corner.Sussing lines, these council workers, sorry race team were hard to miss in their fluro kit!Varying amounts of facial hair, all giving the thumbs up for the weekend!Getting nice and personal!Conor Clancy before he met the ground!Red goes faster right….Remy Morton rides ridiculously fast for his age!Taking the win with pure World Cup speed Connor Fearon was always the one to beat.The style was on show and the sun out! Good times.My arms went this way and my legs went this way… RFphotographics explains!Ian ‘Buffalo’ Jones, another rider on a shiny new steed this weekend.A very successful comeback for Curtis Dowdell this weekend.Plenty of support!Pow pow! Locked and loaded, let’s hope Connor Fearon can get the same result in Fort William! Pull the trigger…
See you at the next race!
Images: Downhill247 and RFPhotographics (FacebookA�hereA�or follow on Instagram @rfphotographics).
Get more content onA�FacebookA�orA�follow us on Instagram: @downhill247
Troy Brosnan, having fun as always getting slightly sideways!
Round 1 of the Nationals Series, held in the hills surrounding Adelaide at Eagle Mountain Bike Park was a big event and we are wrapping up our coverage with one of our biggest ‘Pick of the Pics’ to date. A range of images that convey the weekend, some feature bikes and some don’t! We also do a bit of a style check with multiple riders at the same location, enjoy!
The track offered some spectacular views from the top.Looking to the stars?! You pick the caption…Up close and personal!
Inside Line club president, Andrew Byrne, going for a different ride!
Deanos the machinos!
Sideways!Scrub-a-dub-dub!
Wild times!
Sending it!Style points?!
Matt from Matt Bird Media and Dean Lucas.Art….Ty from Captyvate Media was on hand throwing down some solid edits from the weekend, check them out if you haven’t already!The new downhill247.com singlet coming in Summer ’14…. MaybeLaying down the HP.We style checked riders on this corner in finals.
The man himself, Jase, from Jason Stevens Photography getting the bangers for you all!
You have to eat when you can living the dream as media! Tim Bardsley-Smith chowing down!Winners are grinners, Connor Fearon throwing down the horns!Thanks for coming along on the ride this weekend!
As always, plenty more coverage of racing to be up on the site, check back soon!
Downhill racing in Australia in Summer is typically a dusty affair and Eagle kept up the theme!
Round 1, day 3 and it’s action time! A short practice session in the afternoon before riders lined up, waited for the beeps and pedaled out of the start hut for near on 2 minutes of downhill joy! Well joy for most, there were a few crashes, that said, it could have been worse as Eagle is a track where you can’t let your concentration lapse at all. There are no fire roads to ‘take a break’, the whole track requires commitment.
Whoops! Slide outs on the loose gravel were common.Some riders could still find areas on the track to relax a bit and let it hang out, Will Rischbieth getting flat!A lot of riders were scrambling to find long sleeve jerseys as per UCI requirements, some were probably left with their second choice in terms of look! No such problems for Henry Blake who was looking good all weekend.Dean ‘The Machine’ Lucas used his overseas experience to get up to speed, looking fast very early on in the piece.
As the B group practice and racing finished a bigger and bigger crowd started forming trackside, the bottom finish arena with its tight switchbacks, rock drop and jumps proved to be quite popular.
To kick racing off we look at the Under 19 females, with Tegan Molloy the hot favourite she didn’t disappoint taking the win by some 20+ seconds from Ellie Wale (and setting the fastest female time of the day).
Tegan Molloy set the fastest female time of the day by posting a 2.25.79, very impressive to say the least!
Next we move onto the Under 19 male class, always a large group with riders keen to impress the powers that be so they can have the honour of representing Australia at the World Champs. Australian team coach and all round good guy, Jared Rando, was on hand over the weekend chatting with many riders, his years of racing knowledge invaluable. Talking to Jared he even said he may race a few rounds himself so look out for that (not that team Giant need any more riders, it seemed every second rider going past was on the team!).
Looking at results and we can see that Matthew McCorkell had a flying first run but couldn’t quite back it up in finals, eventually finishing 15th. The top 10 was a quality field, looking further at the top 5 revealed an excellent quality of riders. Aiden Varley was fifth, local rider Matt Taylor was fourth, impressive considering Matt’s tender age, in third just three seconds off the win was Ben Hill and in second Max Warshawsky. This left one rider, Andrew Crimmins, with the number one spot – he took the victory by some 1.96 seconds, made all the more impressive by the fact he had a mechanical during his run that couldn’t see him pedal the bottom section!
We had Matthew McCorkell pegged for a top 5 result before issues on the course put a stop to this.Third for Ben Hill, the rider who always has a smile on his dial!Max Warshawsky cornering hard for second place.A sign his form is red hot Andrew Crimmins took the Under 19 victory despite a mechanical during his run.
Moving onto Elite and more specifically the Women’s class we saw Danielle Beecroft step up to Elite and take the win in her first attempt, the ever reliable Sarah Booth was second with Michelle Crisp in third place.
Fifth place for Victoria Armstrong in Elite Women.
The pointy end of the day was the Elite Men, after seeding there was talk that riders would go under 2 minutes come finals. We would have to wait all the way until the last rider to see if this was true and while no rider dipped under the 2 minute barrier they got close! As with any Australian National race it was a very competitive field, names all through the top 20 were capable of pushing for a podium spot. With a DNF in seeding Angus Maddern hit the hill early in the piece and set the time to beat, his time of 2.08.66 was enough for 15th at the end of the day. Whilst we could talk about everyone’s run it was David McMillan who snuck in under the 2.05 mark at 2.04.36 to grab fifth and set himself up for a good series. With it being a three race series a strong start was crucial and David was understandably happy! Fourth went to Dean Lucas, a rider who we know is keen to hit the World Cups this year. Third place was the biggest unknown of the weekend, Josh Button returning to racing and showing he still has it! Sure enough the top spot came down to an SA showdown, first off was Troy Brosnan who took the hot seat at the bottom of his run. With only Connor Fearon left to come it was going to be a local win one way or another, tearing the last corners, as the crowd chanted his name, Connor crossed the line and up flashed his time: 2.00.89, a winning time! Made all the sweeter by the fact it was his birthday.
A successful return to racing for Josh Button, third place on a track he has done well at in the past.Troy Brosnan was looking good in his new green and gold kit, it certainly had the fans talking. A second place shows he is good form as we get closer to the World Cup season.Also sporting a new kit was race winner Connor Fearon, it also happened to be green and gold!Stoked! Here is a question for you, when was the last time Connor Fearon lost a race here?! He won this year, he has won two under 19 Champs here as well as the Under 17 ones, that is a remarkably good record!Happy to chat and stay out of the spotlight until the last minute at presentations Troy and Connor provided one heck of a race for us!
Join us in a few weeks for round 2, before then we still have a large (very large) number of pics to show you guys from the weekend.
Riders were a lot more comfortable on track today, the weather conditions may have played some part of this…
Back to Eagle today for practice and seeding, albeit in much cooler conditions! Riders were coming to grips with the tough conditions, we saw a few crashes but nothing too major.
Practice was split into A and B categories today. B practice (and seeding) was held in the morning but all riders were focused!Rain fell overnight, not that you would have known! There was still a lot of dust…It was Tegan Molloy’s birthday today and she managed to score the title of the fastest female in seeding, across all the classes, sounds like a good day!The Swell/Specialized team have had an interesting weekend with a snake (as in the animal) being found hiding out in the team accommodation!
Looking at the qualifying results revealed Andrew Crimmins had a solid gap in front of his closest competitor, some 4.57 seconds Matthew McCorkell. Andrew will be keen to impress this weekend with Kona’s World Cup mechanic in town.
Under 19 Men:
1. Andrew Crimmins 2:03.16
2. Matthew McCorkell 2:07.73 + 4.57
3. Max Warshawsky 2:09.61 + 6.45
4. Ben Hill 2:09.89 + 6.73
5. Aiden Varley 2:12.04 + 8.88
Under 19 Female:
1. Tegan Molloy 2.32.59
Fourth place for Ben Hill in qualifying.Fifth place in seeding for Aiden Varley, a quality field means the win could be any of the top five riders from seeding.
Moving on to the Elite classes and with her overseas experience coming into play Danielle Beecroft seeded first in Elite Female ahead of former Adelaide local Sarah Booth. The Elite Men was always going to be a showdown between the local riders, Connor Fearon and Troy Brosnan. In the end Connor took the number one spot by just over half a second from Troy with Thomas Crimmins a few seconds back. In reality, with no rain forecast for tomorrow, these positions won’t have any real influence on the final results.
Elite Female:
1. Danielle Beecroft 2:34.06
2. Sarah Booth 2:38.87 + 4.81
3. Michelle Crisp 2:39.36 + 5.30
4. Victoria Armstrong 2:49.68 + 15.62
5. Shelly Flood 2:52.78 + 18.7
Elite Male:
1. Connor Fearon 2:02.87
2. Troy Brosnan 2:03.40 + 0.53
3. Thomas Crimmins 2:05.55 + 2.68
4. Dean Lucas 2:06.37 + 3.50
5. Luke Ellison 2:06.90 + 4.03
Connor Fearon, number one in seeding!A huge contingent of riders are racing under the Giant banner, so much so it was hard to keep track of who was who! Will Rischbieth getting it done.It is not just about all the big name riders though as everyone starts somewhere!And while racing was serious there was still style to be had!If you have a crystal ball you probably already know who is going to win, for the rest of us we will just have to wait until finals!
