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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Back racing on the/a bike! First enduro race for Mr Fearon,
The final round of the Gravity Enduro South Australia series was my first proper enduro race. Luckily it was held at the Fox Creek downhill tracks because I have been riding there for probably over 10 years now and know most of the trails well. The format of the racing is really relaxed, basically you can ride up the hills at your own pace with a bunch of your mates and then race them back down 4 different tracks over the day. Typically the tracks where all pretty downhill oriented albeit with a bit more pedalling in them to lengthen the tracks. Stage one was the top section of Green Smoothie which crosses over to Fast half way. Probably the most physically demanding track it also had the biggest a�?liaisona��(for those playing at home this is the technical word for the un-timed transit stage). Being the first stage all of the racers climbed up the whole hill following each other. It was then I realised making the 3pm cut off to finish all the stages would be no hard task as the pace was pretty slow.
Stage one was probably the most physically demanding and Green Smoothie is one of the most hotly contested tracks on Strava if that kind of thing floats your boat!
Also worthy of a mention is the timing system, all riders wear a ring on their finger that has a transponder on it. You need to poke it into a little machine at the start and finish of every stage. Unfortunately the machine at the bottom of stage one was placed in an awkward position around a corner so once you saw the machine it was almost too late to stop. There was many close calls and a few crashes because of this. The climb up to stage 2 was really steep although the stage itself was anything but. Being the bottom half of the Green Smoothie trail it was relatively flat and consumed a lot of energy having to always pedal to keep your speed up, nonetheless it was a fun stage and probably the longest stage of the day.
Connor chose to go the full face option, as did a lot of riders, in a large part due to the high speeds of this race!
Stage 3 was either your favourite or least favourite track of the day. It is a relatively new trail (to my knowledge at least) that drops off the opposite side to most tracks at fox creek towards Adelaide. The start was high speed down steep fire roads and drops into really narrow, steep and off-camber single track. Especially with the dry dusty conditions which made traction minimal it was the most technical track of the day. For a lot of people it was the first time riding the track and they were caught off guard. Luckily I had ridden the track twice before and knew to take it easy!
Just like downhill, enduro is much about as knowing where to take it easy as it is to go that little bit harder!
It was a long liaison section in between stages 3 and 4. There was a big group of us so we took it easy and talked a lot of banter on the way almost forgetting we were doing a race. Stage 4 was Fox Steep that continued all the way to the main car park. For those of you who are not familiar its quite a technical rocky track thata��s probably more suited to a downhill bike with a big long flat section at the bottom. It was definitely my favourite stage of the day and a track Ia��m very familiar with. It was the first time Ia��ve raced Fox Steep since my very first downhill race in 2005, which was pretty cool. As people were getting fatigued by this point the final stage claimed a lot of riders but luckily no series injuries. After coming off an injury I gave the race a pretty good crack and ended up winning the day which was awesome. My Kona Process made it through with no mechanicals what so ever and was the perfect bike for the job. It was good for my confidence to win this race so just got to keep the ball rolling onto the national downhill series! Thanks to Kona bikes, Fox Head, SRAM/Rockshox/Avid/Truvativ, Yakima rack, HT Pedals and Maxxis.
First enduro race and first win! 100% win ratio is always nice….
Images in this article from Kaneophoto (Instagram @kaneophoto) andA�RFPhotographics (FacebookA�hereA�or follow on Instagram @rfphotographics).
The third and final round of the South Australian Gravity Enduro series headed to a proverbial favourite among crow eaters – Fox Creek! This track often gets used for the Inside Line state downhill races (as well as the Adelaide Mountain Bike Club cross country races) and it is generally fast!
There were a lot of riders sporting full face helmets because of the high speed along the stages.The sun was shining and riders were all smiles…Okay maybe not quite all smiles but overall!Now that is a cool way to roll!Troy Brosnan with a legend of the Aussie riding scene Steve Marsh. Troy will tell you it was Steve who found him and nurtured him to reach the professional level he has since got to.It was good to see Connor Fearon back racing after his crash in Norway a few months ago.The 4 stages that made up the race, riders had to complete them within the allocated time. Green Smoothie and Fast made an appearance along with a newer track
With volunteers scraping for time after being locked out of the forest due to fire ban in the days leading up to the event, everyone did an amazing job to get the trails bunted and groomed ready for racing Sunday. Being blessed by the weather gods was one way to make racing more flat out and corner slapping than ever. With both beginners and Adelaide mountain bike royalty coming out of the woodwork, it was set to be an awesome race for all.
The sun was shining!So enduro…Troy Brosnan was back on the bike after taking a well earned break in Hawaii!
With some big names in (and out) of the mix in the elite categories, Phillipa Rostan took out the ladies, followed closely by Jackie Schapel and Anna Puckridge rounded out the top three. All eyes were on Troy Brosnan and Connor Fearon to battle it out in the elite mens. The number 1 plate of Dave West quietly confident he could knock the two young shredders off their perch (and rightly so….. with Dave being no slouch on a bike). After the day’s racing it wasn’t to be, with Connor Fearon taking out the elite men win by a considerable margin of around 20 seconds, followed by Troy and Dave filling out the remaining spots.
Connor Fearon took out the win by a massive 20 seconds, a far larger margin than we were expecting. Connor has given us a report from the weekend’s race so look out for that!Troy Brosnan second and smiling as usual!Third place for Dave West on the day, here he leads the pack!Smiles all around on the elite men’s podiumOur roving reporter, Aaron Pelttari, looking schmick if we do say so ourselves!There was different tracks that suited different riders and their skills.Darcy Grooby going flat out!And the prize for looking most like a professional goes to Kane Lademan who had everyone confused for Connor Fearon…!Always good to see more and more girls out on a bike and riding, something we hope continues to happen.These girls are no slouches on bikes either! Shelly Flood borrowing the photographers bike for a bit of fun.Towards the bottom of the stage saw riders have a few different options where they could drop in on.The timing system meant riders just had to insert their chip at the beginning and end of the stage, overall it worked well.The dry conditions meant there was some dust getting kicked up, it also meant riders were washing out when they were pushing too hard!Getting up high, setting up for the corner.Weaving in and out of the trees at Fox Creek.Being the final round the South Australian series we suspect next year there will be even more riders!
Thanks to all that put their time and effort into making these events possible, trail builders, marshals and event organizers for another epic year of enduro racing. we will see you all next season! In the mean time get rad on your bike!
Ps check back soon for Connor Fearon’s exclusive Inside Info where you get the words straight from the winner’s mouth!
That’s a wrap we are outta here!
Words Aaron Pelttari (Aaron would like to thanks Monza Imports, Bicycle Express & Bouwmeester Composites).
Images in this article from Kaneophoto (Instagram @kaneophoto) andA�RFPhotographics (FacebookA�hereA�or follow on Instagram @rfphotographics).
Welcome to beautiful and dry Fox Creek for the final round of the Inside Line South Australian state series.
With another quality weekend of racing done and dusted, we wrap up the South Australian Inside Line downhill series for 2014 with nothing but rad memories and another flawless season under the club’s belt. With overall titles on the line this weekend it was sure to be another wild weekend of racing.
Racing was going to be tight with overall series up for grabs.
Saturday morning came around as the sun shone down baking us and the track. With mint weather and good vibes all around practice got under way. As soon as practice started the talk of the track running at warp speed went through the pits, with big jumps, fast corners and steep flat out sections the track had something for everyone and kept the smiles all weekend!
Dusty and wild, just how we like it!
Practice meant people were keen to hang it out!
After a rad practice day on Saturday, Sunday was set to be a cracker. With riders arriving first thing to get lines dialed, lift lines kept moving all day thanks to the awesome volunteers and patient racers. With sneaky lines to be had and staying off the breaks being the key, there were plenty of solo runs going down in the morning to keep race lines secret. Once morning practice was done all riders and spectators were buzzing with excitement to get up the hill and to watch riders on their timed runs.
Race day and spectators made the most of the beautiful day to come out and enjoy the day.
As the elite and under 19 fields headed up for seeding, the speed at which the track was running was soon even more apparent. It was awesome to see so many junior riders out trying to get amongst the top step in their race runs. Everyone seems to have stepped it up this past season and their looks to be a bright future ahead for our sport.
Seeding for juniors and elite led into the rest of the categories race runs before finals.
As all categories got under way and a few glitches had been ironed out, all eyes were pointed towards the hillside to watch as the pointy end of the field came down.
Racing isn’t just elite and under 19’s with many battles going down over the course of the series.
Elite women came down and it was Phillipa Rostan that came away with the win, followed closely again by Cami Miller and rounding out the podium was Moira Love coming in third. With a tight seasons racing between the elite women’s field state champs is sure to be another close and exciting race to come. In the under 19’s the final results looked like this;A�1. Drew gartery 2. Darcy Grooby 3. Cameron Heading these guys really are the future of the sport so it was good to see them pushing hard.
Weeeeeeee!!!!
With all other categories done it was time for the elite men to charge down the hill and the hunt was on, with tight times from start to finish it was the bearded beast Angus Maddern who came down and smoked the rest of the field. Followed closely by the wallaby himself Conor Clancy, with Cam Ryan, Steve Gebert and the big dog Ngari Jenkins rounding out the rest of the elite podium.A� With only state champs to go to round out another amazing year of racing the fight will be on for someone to steal the state champs stripes away from Troy Brosnan. Who will it be? only time will tell!!
Cam Ryan can scrub, he also managed to take every chainless race category race this year!
Thanks to Inside Line for another awesome season, we will see you all out at the South Australian State championships on the 11/12th of October at Willunga for the shot at the 2014 title.
It was fantastic to see Troy Brosnan back from his stellar overseas season and out at the race.
Troy constantly had people around him eager to chat which he was happy to oblige, he was also basically giving away stuff to the club members (read super cheap). It is great to see Troy remaining so humble.Thumbs up for the series!Dust, whips and sun, life’s good!Next year will see many of the juniors step up to the next level in their racing!All in all another great weekend racing!
Words Aaron Pelttari (Aaron would like to thanks Monza Imports, Bicycle Express & Bouwmeester Composites).
Images in this article from RFPhotographics like them on FacebookA�hereA�or follow on Instagram @rfphotographics
Is it just Fox Creek that makes Mother Nature bring the precipitation, you have to think so…
Round 4 of the South Australian Insideline downhill series finds us back at Fox Creek for another weekend of wet and wild racing. Leading into the race with weather forecasts looking worse than average a last minute track change was in order to keep riders flowing all weekend!
There was a last minute track change due to the weather.The locals came out for a look despite the conditions!
Saturday rolled around and found riders all around SA sweeping in to there favorite coffee shops for a morning cuppa before heading out to brave the slick conditions that Patto’s Curse was sure to offer. With plenty of fast off camber, tech switch backs and spectator favorite jumps the track is plenty fun to ride and tested many racers fitness.
There’s always fun to be had on Patto’s Curse, big jumps, rocky corners and some technical sections, all amplified by the weather.
Sunday came around and the weather cleared up mid way through morning practice, making track conditions change dramatically and put last minute tyre changes for some racers at the top of the to do list.
It is all about preparation, some riders were dialing their rigs in for the tough conditions and some just didn’t care!
As racing started first up was elite and under 19 seeding, with mostly familiar names at the top of the list race runs were sure not to disappoint! As riders came down cleaner and cleaner it was sure the track had gone from a mess to hero dirt and times kept inching closer to that sub 2 minute mark.
Times kept dropping as the conditions continued to improve.
Elite women came next and Philippa Rostan put in the fastest time of the field, followed closely by Moira Love and Laura Kelly rounding out the podium.A�As the racing was coming into the business end of things under 19s came down the hill, with the crowd getting rowdy and commentators getting more and more excited. Darcy Grooby came down to put down a smoking time of 2.06.93 to put him into the hot seat. Cameron Heading, Henry Hunt and Drew Gartery came down the hill getting close but no cigar, as Darcy Grooby took out another under 19s podium by a considerable margin of 4.6 seconds.
Darcy Grooby took the win in under 19s with a solid ride.
With only the elite men’s field left at the top of the hill racing got underway and saw times dropping considerably. As racing goes some pushed too much and got caught out, while others managed to stay rubber side down and put down quality race runs. Sully Fleming came down and put down a solid run to put him into the hot seat, only to be knocked off by Conor Clancy by less than half a second. With big names left at the top we were sure to see the bar raised and Luke Reynolds was the first to do so sitting himself into the lead with 5 riders left to go. Cam Ryan once again came down on his trail bike and was the first to break the 2 minute mark for the day with a 1.58.44! With everyone waiting for the top seeded rider to come down it was a green light for Angus Maddern as he crossed the line with a smoking time of 1.57.63 to take out the elite men’s field for round 4 at Fox Creek Patto’s Curse.
Matt Taylor on the hunt.There were still smiles despite the mud (except for whoever had to do the washing!)And maybe not for bike mechanics who would be dealing with the aftermath!Angus Maddern took the win, what a great season he is having and we expect this to continue as the season rolls on.Our intrepid reporter getting into it, jumps for show and style for dough as they say!
That’s all from me, another quality weekend of fast racing done and dusted (or maybe that should be mudded!). See you next time back at Eagle Mountain Bike Park for round 5 of the Insideline mountain bike downhill series!
Words Aaron Pelttari (Aaron would like to thanks Monza Imports, Bicycle Express & Bouwmeester Composites). Images in this article from RFPhotographics like them on FacebookA�hereA�or follow on Instagram @rfphotogrpahics
Troy Brosnan racing the second enduro race of his career, both have been in his home town of Adelaide!
Round 3 of the Australian Gravity Enduro Series rolled into Adelaide over a quiet weekend in May, with around 140 riders competing it was another good turn out for the series with good racing across the classes. The event was made up of 4 timed stages with 2 loops to get riders around. Surprisingly there were no major injuries considering how quick riders were going, especially on the ‘steep’ sections. Some unlucky riders did run into kangaroos on Saturday whilst out at Fox practicing but nothing major.
A few stray kangaroos on course were the only real concern for most riders who were practicing Friday and Saturday. Stage 3 was a new trail and only cut in for this event.
Of the 4 stages 3 were pre-existing tracks and there was a good mix of stages that required a combination of fitness and technical skills. Stage 2 was the same track as used in the South Australian downhill state series so it was fast and suited the more technical riders. Stage 3 was new for the event and one of the most challenging aspects for riders was how it changed between Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Being brand new it bedded in as the weekend wore on (excuse the pun!), there was a lot of almost powdery like dust to be had on this stage. Stage 4 was a bit of a rider favourite (check out the intense competition on Strava!) A�’Green Smoothie’, this trail is really fun to ride with big flowing corners and jumps if you were keen. Most tracks were pretty dry as the weather leading into the event was unseasonably warm in Adelaide.
There was something over the four stages for all riders. Sam Hardie showing the physical effort!
Showing that local knowledge pays off, both the men’s and women’s podiums had Adelaideans (that’s a real thing right?!) on the top step. Troy Brosnan was the favourite coming into the weekend but with riders like Dan MacMunn, who are veterans of the relatively young enduro scene, it wasn’t going to be a cake walk for Troy. We had a chat to Troy about his weekend and this is what he had to say “I was using the event for training and to ride with some of my Adelaide mates. I made sure I climbed all the ascents before the stages”. Troy raced on his 29er S-Works Enduro bike and in only his second enduro event he took the win! What makes it even more impressive was the fact Troy didn’t practice on Friday & Saturday unlike some other riders and therefore rode stage 3 completely blind as it was created for this event. “It was hard to know where to push as I was going in blind but this stage had less pedalling and there was fresh dirt”, for the record Troy got second on that stage.
Get your speed tuck on, Troy Brosnan winner of round 3.
Talking about second, there was initially a draw for second place between Simon Buzzacott and Dan McMunn as the timing system couldn’t differentiate riders by larger than the closest second. In the end Simon claimed second as he had the fastest time on the last stage. Talk about close racing! In the women it was Jackie Schapel who used her fitness, skills and local knowledge to full effect taking the win.
Second place for Simon Buzacott, it was close though with a countback to the last stages’ results required to determine the 2nd place getter!
Elite Men
1. Troy Brosnan
2. Simon Buzacott
3. Dan MacMunn
4. Dave West
5. Cameron Ryan
Elite Women
1. Jaclyn Schapel
2. Genevieve Mckew
3. Rosemary Barnes
4. Vanessa Thompson
5. Alyssa Lyons
Jackie Schapel off and into the stage, eventually claiming the overall title win for round 3.
That wraps up this round, the next race is scheduled for June 29th in Western Australia at Mount Gunjin.
