While the MTB & Trials World Champs were finishing up at Stromlo for the day, another huge mountain bike party was just kicking off. Garreth Paton is one of the owner partners of Onya Bike Civic, and also happens to have a very nice pump track in his Kambah back yard.
A pump track is a short track for mountain bikes that requires no pedaling to ride, as riders use the humps and berms (banked corners) on the track to gain momentum, like a skateboarder on a half pipe. Garreth built the track as a bit of fun last Christmas with his mate Ben Corey, who happens to be an awesome downhiller, and an even better trail builder. It took about a week for the basic construction, and the track has been tweaked and refined since then – and ridden a lot!
Garreth was approached to host a photo shoot on the pump track involving a few of the international MTB riders in town for the Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships. From a simple idea it escalated into the Pump Track World Championships, with about 20 riders from across the globe and 200 spectators crammed into his backyard. As a bonus, all profits from the event were being donated to Cure For Life.
Heading into the event, UK rider Brendan Fairclough was a hot favorite, but a timing error in his final run saw him having to repeat the performance on tired legs. He still managed to walk away with a very nice surfboard as a consolation prize.
In the end it was Aussies 1-2-3, as Mick Hannah took out the event with a very slick ride, completing 6 laps of the track in 41.3 seconds. Close behind was Tim Eaton, followed by Dave MacMillan (who also scored the Local Legend award for the fastest Canberran). It was a great evening of very impressive riding, and I’m sure all the lucky people from the mountain bike community who managed to snare a ticket had an excellent time… except maybe the photographer who had a naked drunk guy fall on him while running a lap of the course (check the slide show below).
Here’s some video of the top riders in action, just so you can see how good they are (remember they are not pedaling at all!).
Meanwhile at Mt Stromlo today in the cross country, Poland’s Aleksandra Dawidowicz scored the rainbow jersey for the under 23 women, and France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot won the under 19 women. Canberra’s own Rebecca Henderson did us very proud today, coming in seventh in the under 19 women.UPDATE
Don’t forget today (Thursday) is the last day for free entry at Stromlo. Under 19 men will be hammering around the XC course, and 4X qualifying will be on from 4pm.
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