Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Del Rio Rollercoaster

photo:theroostmag.com.au

Where do you get DHers, 4X sprinters, AM riders, XC whippets, enduro riders and social riders together at one event? Rocky Trail Entertainment’s Rollercoaster Series. The basic principal behind the 2012 series is to pit you and your bike of choice against a potentially technical but fast track.

For the DHers it was 2011 Elite Female NSW State Champion, Sarah Booth, back on the bike after some recovery time. Sarah attempt to remove a pine tree at the 2011 Crankworx Air DH and was air lifted from the event after the tree just wouldn’t budge. It wasn’t to hard to see that Sarah would take the top spot on the Elite Female comfortably nine seconds in front of Vanessa Thompson and Joanne Fox.

Super D and AM speedster Michael Vanos was a shoe in for the Elite Males after some great results in the Real Insurance All-Mountain Cup National Series. Finishing the short run down the hill at Del Reo Resort in a blistering time of 4:45, three seconds faster than roadie slash mtber, Nash Kent. Michael was an absolute powerhouse and piloted his short travel dually through the technical sections with experience beyond his years.

Blue Mountains local and National Elite representative in the 4X discipline, Blake Nielsen finished a mere four seconds down from Nash for third in the Elite Males. In what was a closely contested competition, Central Coast DHer Chris Barlin and great all-rounder Marc de Geoffroy rounded out the top five. It was impressive to see these guys with their variety of experience all vying for a podium position.

But it wasn’t all about the guys and girls who could get down the fastest, the Rollercoaster is about bringing all riders together and putting a smile on your face while doing it. While you won’t see me crack a smile in the heat of the final sprint and some may have cracked a little on the creek crossing, but it was all hoots from the top of the hill and screams of encouragement over those final hundreds of meters as everyone lent support to the riders.

Rocky Trail Entertainment will hold their final round of the Series at Mt Stromlo in June. Just imagine, shuttle runs to the top, with a run at Skyline, onto Luge, then finally the 4X track and finishing beneath an inflatable arch, World Cup style. Doesn’t that put a smile on your face?

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