South Australian Downhill State Championships

We knew that the excitement building in the lead up for last weekend’s racing on the historic, new track, Lone Gum was big but we had no idea just how big. Everyone who ever rode a downhill bike was there, it seemed, relishing the atmosphere of a great mountain biking community event.

2nd in the World Cup overall, but Troy stepped up to 1st at the SA State Champs

Just a couple of locals riding bikes down a hill. Troy Brosnan follows his Canyon Factory DH Team Mechanic, Aaron Pelttari, down Lone Gum in practice. See the video below for Troy’s GoPro POV.

Following @aaron_yo01 down the state world champs track and he is not scared to get wild! ?

A post shared by Troy Brosnan (@troybrosnan) on Sep 17, 2017 at 3:20pm PDT

The new Trailscapes track offers a bit of everything; off camber old school racing through the steep pines, rock chutes, crazy gaps, berm transfers and a massive set of jumps at the bottom making for a spectacular finish.

This track has been years in the making with much advocacy, planning and building going into it. Thanks to Forestry SA, Bicycle SA and Inside Line sponsor Trailscapes for every ounce of effort that has gone into bringing Lone Gum into fruition. The track can be found at Fox Creek Mountain Bike Park which offers a plethora of riding options for XC, GE and DHI on Forestry land in the beautiful Adelaide Hills.

U19 Canadian Anthony Poulson made the most of his World Champs trip down under, racing in the hometown of his Kona Factory Racing teammate, Connor Fearon (following). Poulson placed 5th in U19 Men.

Conor Clancy is recovering from an ACL injury, hence the knee brace. He’s back on form though, placing 2nd in Elite men, just 5 seconds behind Troy Brosnan

The official opening ceremony involved cutting of the bunting by next generation rider, Izack Fielder, along with our homegrown World Cup heroes, Troy Brosnan and Connor Fearon. After the race, both Troy and Connor stated that this was the most fun they had had all year on their downhill bikes and plan to return for more next year.

Another World Champs racer, Shelly Flood, dominated the Elite Women’s race.

Coming from an 11th place at the World Champs, Darcy Coutts was a hot favourite in the U19 race but ended up 7th after a scrub-a-dub-down on the final jumps.

A post shared by Darcy Coutts (@couttsssss) on Sep 17, 2017 at 4:40am PDT

The U19 Men saw very close racing with the top five places separated by less than 2.5 seconds. Enduro racer Sam Walsh (pictured) took the win, just 0.79s ahead of fellow enduro pinner Bennett Wythe.

The weather was perfect and Zolle Borbasi and Jordan Roberts manned the mic while DJ Delta pumped out the tunes for an excellent atmosphere. A memorable day of racing was capped off by a whip-off contest featuring four World Cup riders that was simply nuts!

VANZAC Jackson Davis is known for taking his airtime a bit more seriously than his race times but still placed a respectable 6th in Elite Men. Though he wasn’t finished…

A post shared by Jackson Davis (@jacksonndavis) on Sep 17, 2017 at 4:51am PDT

Connor Fearon’s finals crash wasn’t serious enough to keep him from unleashing his wild whips and leg danglers to send out the epic day.

A post shared by Connor Fearon (@connorahoyhoy) on Sep 16, 2017 at 2:18am PDT

Elite Men:

1. Troy Brosnan
2. Connor Clancy
3. Callum Dawes

Elite Women:

1. Shelly Flood
2. Rebecca Wilkinson
3. Moira Love

U19 Men:

1. Sam Walsh
2. Bennett Wythe
3. Joel Hakkinen

Full results can be found here.

The next Inside Line event will be the Gravity Enduro Nationals, once again in Fox Creek as part of the Adelaide Festival of Dirt from Oct 20-22. The Adelaide Festival of Dirt is a celebration of mountain biking based at the Anderson Hill Winery with sideline events running concurrently with the GE Nats including a night ride in Fox Creek, dual slalom competition and some quality downhill coaching. More details can be found here www.adelaidefestivalofdirt.com.au