Enduro

05
Mar
2016
Superflow: Ourimbah

Superflow: Ourimbah

The first round of Rocky Trail Entertainment’s Superflow Gravity Enduro took off last weekend at Ourimbah. There was a great turnout for it with almost 200 riders in the pack.

I was up there under the guise of Outer Image again to getcompetitor shots for all involved. Gil was away for the weekend so in his absence I called in the talents of Jaime Black to give me a hand. Jamie settled in on the downhill track and I moved to cover the all-mountain trail. Having shot at Ourimbah so many times before I was wondering where I might find a new angle but there is always going to be a spot or angle out there. I soon found a nice rock section where people are jumping over and tested a couple of different angles on it until I found one I liked .

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
15
Aug
2015
Stromlo Rollercoaster, the final round.

Stromlo Rollercoaster, the final round.

 

It’s hectic weekends at the moment as I flit from race to race. Not that I am complaining mind you, I love travelling round and visiting a new place each weekend or revisiting as the case may be. This time it was back to Stromlo in Canberra for the final round of Rocky Trail Entertainment’s Fox Rollercoaster.

With three tracks running the Rollercoaster covered a large section of Mt Stromlo. We went down on the Friday so we could have a bit an explore around the area. We drove out west past Cotter Dam and along Paddy’s River to the space station at Tidbinbilla. We spent the night camped up along the river. Snug as it was wrapped up in the sleeping bag it was an icy morning with puddles frozen and a layer of frost over everything.

Saturday was practice runs at Stromlo. Gil and I took our cameras and headed off to the vapor trail or, as it was known on race day, the Camelbak Track. Gil took to the top half while I explored the lower half. I was quite keen on getting a few shots of the big wallrides in action plus we were just doing a bit of recon for shooting locations on race day. Not nearly as many people were hitting the wallrides as I had expected but I did manage to get a couple of shots. With locations scouted I started on my way back down heading via a field where I knew the kangaroos gathered and snapped a few shots. The sounds of music further down the hill lured me on to the dirt jumps where I met the guys from backbone BMX and did a few shots with them to finish off the days shooting.

Early Sunday morning and apparently the temperatures hit a chilly -4. So I awoke to yet another frosty morning. I don’t mind the cold temperatures but it does make it harder to get out of bed in the morning. Race day all went smoothly. Gil and I shot at the locations we had scouted the day before. Gil got some great shots of a drop up top while I shot lower down on a berm I knew of. I even managed to get a few more sneaky wallride shots in.

A huge congratulation to all those place-getters and an even bigger one to Michael Vanos and Vanessa Thompson who won the male and female elite series. You can, as always see the full results on the Rocky Trail website here. All the images are available for viewing on the Outer Image website here and don’t forget to download your shots if you raced on the day.

A huge thanks to all those who made the series as wonderful as it was. Top of the list is Martin and Juliana of Rocky Trail Entertainment without whom we wouldn’t have a series in the first place. To the fine folks at Fox racing and Camelbak for sponsoring all the races. To all the caretakers that maintain the tracks that the races are run upon and of course to all the competitors who are the soul of the series and who make each event so much fun

Richard

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
31
Jul
2015
Kempsey Rollercoaster

Kempsey Rollercoaster

It’s been a while since I have been out shooting any races but last weekend I was back at it under the guise of Outer Image. We were off to Kempsey to cover the fourth round of the Gravity Enduro Rollercoaster series.

Kempsey is about 5 hours north of Sydney so I decided to make a weekend of it and spend time camping at Hat Head National Park. This is one of my favourite campsites due to its stunning natural beauty and the fact that you set up camp among the kangaroos.

This year 2 more tracks were added to the course and another day of racing was added too. Day 1 was 2 tracks and then on the second day the tracks changed. There was a little bit of something for everyone in the tracks. I heard some say that there was too much pedaling in parts of the track while others said they loved those same sections for the rolling rides through the trees. The tracks were nowhere near as dusty as they were last year which although is good for the riders There was around 120 riders this time. Not such a big turn out for an enduro but considering its 5 hr drive from Sydney it was more than we expected. It’s a great track and good to see it’s expanded to include another 2 tracks this year.

Enjoy!!!

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
20
Apr
2015
A big weekend in the mountains

A big weekend in the mountains

I had a weekend down in Thredbo a couple of weeks ago. The 3rd round of the gravity enduro races was followed by a big start to the season of downhill racing here in NSW.

Cold nights and warm days made for some great MTB weather in the Snowies over the weekend. Kicking off the weekend was the Rollercoaster on the Flow trail. Not a lot of overly technical sections on this trail but a lot of fast-flowing berms. Gil took the lift up and covered the top half of the mountain while I walked up and shot the bottom section. The smooth fast berms saw a lot of folks coming in low as they flew past, laying into the berms as far as they could go.

Sunday saw the start of the DH season for us. Many familiar faces were out on track along with a lot of new ones. This time Gil and I swapped, me heading up top and Gil walking from the bottom. A cool breeze right up top meant I didn’t linger too long but quickly headed down to warmer climes. I tried revisiting a couple of old favourites on the way down but wanted to shoot a new location. I settled in on a corner and the trees just above Snakes and Ladders and spent most of the race there just trying different angles.

Thredbo always puts on great races and it’s always a chance to get away for a few days beforehand to explore the region. I’m already looking forward to our next visit down there.

All the images were supplied to the competitors for the Rollercoaster courtesy of Fox Racing Australia and BH Bikes. The downhill images were supplied by Redass.  Be sure and swing by their Facebook pages and say thanks. And of course to Rocky Trail Entertainment who brought it all together and put on yet another awesome weekend.

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
03
Mar
2015
Gravity Enduro Round 2: Del Rio

Gravity Enduro Round 2: Del Rio

 

Hot, dusty and mosquitoes is how I will remember last weekend’s Rollercoaster at Del Rio but also lots of fun. I said it before and I’ll say it again, dusty conditions may not make for the best of riding but they do make for good photographs.

Del Rio is out north west of Sydney near the town of Wiseman’s Ferry. Every time I go out there temperatures seem to be pushing up towards the 40C mark and this weekend was no exception. The hot conditions meant I was perspiring then sitting next to the track meant I got covered in dust.

It was quite a technical course in sections and I certainly saw a lot of people go down for a bit of a taste of the dirt. Thankfully all those that I saw jumped straight back up and rode off again.

The Rollercoaster series is probably my favourite to shoot at the moment as it is fast paced and challenging plus it offers riders a great range of courses. And with such a range means that we get to photograph a great range of obstacles.

 

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
29
Jan
2015
Gravity Enduro Rnd 1: Killingworth

Gravity Enduro Rnd 1: Killingworth

And so it begins again, race season…

Rocky Trail Entertainment’s Rollercoaster series kicked off on a scorcher of a day. The expectant temperature was 35C but the temperature readings on some Garmin GPS units read up to 44C. Plus it was one of those days when the sun just seemed brutal and unforgiving. It certainly had me looking for shade whenever I set up for a new shot.

The course, at Killingworth near Newcastle, is new on the circuit but an old track remembered by those who had been riding for a bit. Rocky Trail had set the race to run over 3 tracks, the Fox trail, the BH trail and the Gloryfy trail. For the sake of trying to ensure we got photos of everyone Gil and I took a track each and spent the day on it. Unfortunately this meant that we had to miss out on the Gloryfy trail, but then we need to save something for next time.

Already looking forward to the next round at Del Rio

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events