A couple of weeks back Trent, also know as Wally Photographya went out for a shoot on some local Adelaide tracks, with upcoming shredder, Sam Walsh. Sam has recently signed with BC Composites, a wheel brand based in Adelaide, hand crafted by Mello Bouwmeester. If you look at some of Sam’s recent results (think the Enduro Championships in his home town of Adelaide) then you won’t be surprised to know he is one of the riders to score a wildcard entrance into the world enduro series race in Tasmania this April!
Thanks to RF Photographics ( Instagram @rfphotographics or FacebookA�here) we have some more great images to share with you from the National Enduro round at Fox Creek over the weekend. It was a great weekend and we are already keen for the next one!
The weather was great for the first few stagesKnee dragging FTWMany came unstuck on this cornerTroy with the “enduro line” across the insideYoungster Sam Walsh looked fast all dayBuzz with the creative linesShelly Flood feet up drifting into the corner
Jackson Davis looking fresh with his new rigConnor with the masterclass on switchback shredding
Lucas Pitt on the bottom of stage 3The media squad giving the riders a good heckleChris Panozzo suffered a flat on stage 2 putting him out of the race for the overall but still shred the rest of the day#panshotfridayLurkingBuzz on the charge to 3rd
Connor drifting his way through stage 4Ryan De La Rue looked fast all weekend long
Jackie Schapel at the top of the final stage
Images: RFPhotographics (FacebookA�hereA�or follow on Instagram @rfphotographics).
Get more content onA�FacebookA�orA�follow us on Instagram: @downhill247
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!
Off to Fox Creek for a day of bikes, pretty hard to beat if you ask us.
We headed out to Fox Creek for the South Australian Gravity Series over the weekend and thanks to the great guy and gals at GESA (Gravity Enduro of South Australia) we did something we don’t normally get to do, race! We aren’t going to tell you our results but what we can tell you is what the race was like! It was great, end of story… okay we will elaborate further but it was great.
Nature and that!
Being a legal network of trails in the Adelaide Hills anyone could ride there so as you can imagine Saturday before the race there were plenty of punters out practicing the course (which GESA had conveniently publicised prior). Roll on Sunday morning and after a riders brief (and a the odd sneaky course condition check) we were off!
Conditions were good all day.
If you don’t know this round was probably the most physical yet with some long climbs between stages (the downhills get used by Inside Line at the state downhill races) so just making sure you paced yourself was key. Off up the first climb to the first stage, as usual this is where the riders got split up into groups. It was the shortest stage of the day and got everyone focused on what they had to do, some slippery roots kept everyone on their toes. The slalom at the end was also a bit of fun!
No time to smell the flowers, there was racing to be had!
From here the riders got sent on predominately downhill courses; Bowl, Long and even Steep making a welcome return towards the end. A�There were also a few other parts, such as Green Smoothie that weren’t strictly downhill downhill but were great additions to the stages. If you raced elite you alos got the joy of doing another stage (6 instead of 5), which was ‘Pattos Curse’.
A good range of trails kept everyone chuffed.A few scrapes here and there, all part and parcel of the sport.
For the results head over the the GESA Facebook page and you will be able to find them there, for use we weren’t overly bothered with the results. A day on your bike riding with mates means you’re a winner regardless!
Steve Marsh on a different bike from the one we saw at the Eagle round but still going fast!There were plenty of photographers out snapping pics!Again it was great to see the girls out racing (and being the track sweep!)Some really good racing across all categories.There was the opportunity to find some creative lines, finding a second or two here and there.Shelly Flood took the women’s race.Simon Buzacott took the men’s win!
Winners are grinners!
The next round heads to ‘Dazzleland’ at Mount Torrens which is going to be another great event no doubt.
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!
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Round 3 of the National Enduro Series headed to Fox Creek.
Over a sunny weekend in the picturesque Adelaide Hills round 3 of the National Enduro Series was run by the Inside Line Mountain Bike Club. It was great to see that the trails were totally different from the last National Enduro race held there, it always makes it more fun when the trails are fresh.
Fresh trails had everyone cheering.Fortunately the weather was on the organisers side, the trails can get pretty wild at Fox when there is rain about so this was definitely a good thing!
In total the distance was about 21 kilometers (Strava anyone?!) but the fire road climbs added extra challenge. All in all this took the top guys about 2.5 hours to complete, for the more casual racers the time increased as they hung out with their mates on the transition stages.
21 kilometres will do that to you…The rewards were worth it though and their were happy faces to be found left, right and centre.Mmmm hero grip, yes please!The grip levels meant the corners would really be railed.
Results:
1. Christopher Panozzo
2. Ben Cory
3. Dave West
4. Simon Buzacott
5. Cameron Ryan
Christopher Panozzo took the win ahead of Ben Cory by 10 seconds before a trio of fast locals filled in the next three positions, all the riders agreed the conditions were great and the selection of trails was fantastic.A�Stage 4 (Duck and Weave) seemed to be a favoriteA�among riders. To keep things interesting the last stage (Steep) had a big pedal at the end which saw everyone using theirA�last bit of energy. At the time of writing we didn’t have access to the female results but head to the Inside Line website where they will shortly appear no doubt!
Elite Men’s winner Chris Panozzo with an interesting line, it obviously did the trick!Former Junior World Downhill Champion Ben Cory puts his bike handing skills to good use and took second place.Eyes on the prize, 3rd place for Dave West.Believe the hype or should (that be Buzz!) Simon Buzacott in 4th place.Cameron Ryan looking stylish on his way to 5th place.Sometimes you just need those carbs…!Get it in, getting your finger into the timing chip reader is harder than you think after pedaling like a rider possessed!Ex Local Jackie Schapel making full use of the riders ability to turn the unlucky (depending who you talk to) number 13 plate upside down.A legend of the mountain bike game, Micheal Ronning put in a strong showing and almost cracked the podium in the process!The whole weekend blurred past, that’s a good thing!Hunched over for that optimum race positioning!A lot of locals (Matt Kelly pictured here) came put which was great to see.
That wraps up round three of the Enduro National Series.
Images/Report: RFPhotographics (Facebook here or follow on Instagram @rfphotographics).
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