Practice - Cairns DH World Cup 2
How do you fit two of every creature on Earth onto a wooden boat only 300 cubits long? What did all the other animals do wrong? Why should we bring mosquitoes aboard, and indeed, what the funk is a cubit? All very poignant questions after today, well done for asking. The rains came down from the heavens early on and there is little sign so far of reprieve from the Father's clear disapproval of our outdoor activities here in Cairns. Flooded pits, waterlogged camera bodies and prunified fingers will not stop this race, however. The show must go on. Some riders hit the showers early in disgust or despair, others stayed to session what is surely a course that simply can make no recovery before Saturday's race. If it continues to rain grip levels will arguably be improved on the alternative grease level of sunnier days ahead. We are locked in for a slip n slide and nothing mixes up the scoreboard more than steamed vision, deep puddles and super-slick roots. You don't get a rainbow, so take that silver lining and enjoy a very different Australia World Cup than we might have expected.
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 To begin the way it ended... Foot out, flat out desperate conditions. Huck your ruined Vans over a tree branch and get off this goddam hill. |
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| Mick Hannah and course builder Andrew catching up on the plans for some top secret course changes back first thing in the AM. |
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| One of many surprises on the side of the track awaiting the media... One complaint so far is that there are no safe ways down the hill without walking directly in the track or risking life and death bushwhacking on the side of the track, prompting some to bring a bit of a knife along in the old camerapack. However, by day's end you'd be better off packing a paddle for your canoe. |
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| Boris 'I have no f*ing idea where I'm going' Beyer, but coming straight at you to slit your belly. Getting flayed alive by the rusty 12" blade of a German with a bad Australian accent...the stuff of horror legend. |
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| Speaking of which, the golden orb spiders were out and about, but didn't get many hits in the old web today. The rains kept the butterflies, birds, snakes, and anything else these things might eat away. |
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| Whatever the forecast, don't forget sunblock around here mate! Even the golden orb in the sky is out to get you here in Queensland. |
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| Blenki's bike was sprouting vines in an effort to camouflage into the jungle |
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| Mitch Ropelato's 29'r Enduro. |
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| UCI gravity technical delegate, Dave Vasquez prepares to pay homage to the World Champion with a traditional hand kiss early this morning. Fancy. |
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| Riding Giants. The imminent waves of mud rolling down the hill would keep any Hawaii beach local on their toes. |
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| Someone got a hefty fine for having too short of mud flaps on his way up here to Cairns. Shuttle truck ready to go Kovarik style. |
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| Marc Beaumont bearing his impressive rack of tools. |
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| Gee is a lot further down the Atherton Racing pecking order than you might think. As you can see, keeping Marc cool was his main concern this morning. Later he was seen feeding his sister large, thirst-quenching hand fruits while note-taking her memoires, sacrificing a good deal of his own practice time. Luckily he was still able to set the fastest TT later on. |
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| Steve Peat's Chris King Buzz Works prototype headset that maintains the standard 65degree head-angle of the V10, but gives the big man all important living space. He and Greg run theirs the same way, while Ratboy has his set in reverse to shorten the reach. |
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| If you've ever wondered how Greg has stayed on top for so long, maybe it's because he is physically holding on higher than anyone else... 4 chunky stem-stackers set him literally on another level. |
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| Many riders chose to upgrade to mud-race gear after their first practice run today. Extended visors, tear-offs, spike tyres and mudguards sprouted from riders and their bikes. |
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| Preparation is well and good, but there would soon come a point where tear-offs would become entirely useless and riders would be forced into the ungodly realms of goggleless-ness. |
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| Nigel Page from Team CRC putting on his best michelin man impression |
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| With no break in the forecast for the foreseeable future, we can expect more slipping and sliding down the track here at Cairns. Looks like the mechanics will have their work cut out for them this weekend. |
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| Sam Hill keeping things low and not so boosty off the triple, between downpours. |
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| A fast shutter speed and you can't quite say whether it's a soothing trail nap or vicious head-smack into the muck. |
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| Greg Minnaar grinning like a toddler in a mud pit. Everyone out there seemed to be having a blast sliding around the track all day and can't blame them a bit. |
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| Brendog shedding a bit of the course off the track, how much more rain and riding before it's all pure bedrock? |
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| The outback shuttle service pumping soggy riders back to the top all day long. |
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| This guy was at least the size of a disc brake rotor and would probably eat Matt Delorme for lunch, so he gets two angles. |
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| Dropping gwinto the fog... rainy conditions all day meant that the summit start was constantly surrounded by cloud |
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| Umbrella's are worth their weight in gold on a pissing World Cup track. Duncan Philpott bears the great gift of not being soaking wet unlike the rest of us. |
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| Ragot went down hard in timed training, but by some miracle got straight back up onto her feet. |
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| Danny Hart had moments in the mud that reminded onlookers of a certain 2011 glory. Where others had troubles navigating through the slime, Hart kept it going. Could this be where Danny gets another win? Time will tell. |
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| Remi Thirion threading one of the last two steep sections on the track today. While Thirion was next to last in timed training, it is likely that with the rain, timed training might not be indicative of much at this point. |
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| Ruts in the red clay quickly filled up with rain water and the track turned into a creek. Spectators, riders, and photographers all had a rough time getting down to the bottom in an upright position. |
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| This rock garden only got slipperier as the day went on, with hundreds of tyres shedding the greasy mud onto the conveniently smooth and off-cambered rock faces. |
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| One run down the hill was enough for Sam Hill to swap to cut spike tyres. Jacy gets to work. |
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| Marcelo railing the tight upper turns. |
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| Marc Beaumont looked incredibly composed in the slick-as-snot mud today to make 4th in TT. Now just to carry that over into the race. |
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| Neko Mulally finds his line through the upper rock garden. Once it started coming down, the rock gardens backed up with riders trying come to terms with the mud-slicked rocks. |
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| Australian shuttle service now in full trailer-toting swing. |
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| Sik Mik was one of the few stoked on the sloppy conditions. Apparently a "light" drizzle considered by the locals meaning Mick is right at home on these conditions. |
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| Tire choice prior to the rain was quite a gamble, much of the track was fast and hard packed while some sections were slick and sloppy. After the rain today, one thing the riders can count on is a consistent wetness and a probability of running spikes. |
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| Gee Atherton looked at home in the mud today. Rest assured he is hungry after South Africa, and if conditions keep up he could walk away with a win here in Cairns, scoring the gold in timed training today for what it's worth. |
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| Huck-O-Meter score of the day goes to Pierre-Charles George. Face smash to stem soon after and near course ejection into the spider's web. |
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| Blenki was one of the few who looked at home in the slop, sending it to ninth in timed training today. |
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| Some spectacular foot work from Cam Cole as he lost the bike but ran it out without wiping out. There were plenty of spills out there today, as speeds pick up for qualies you can expect the body count to rise. |
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| Cam contemplating how many more runs to take for the day. "I know the track now, but if the weather keeps up it will just keep changing. Not sure I want to be wet all day, only to have to learn new lines tomorrow." |
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| Sam Hill signature edition bars glow blue whenever goblins are close by. Or when conditions are reminiscent of his Champery '07 masterclass. |
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| Matt Delorme and the entire media squad looked about like this after the day. Completely soaked, camera gear hanging onto life support and sh*t eating grins all day long. |
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| The pits were flooded by lunchtime today... you can add at least 4 more hours downpour and whatever comes in the night. |
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| The rain set in just that little bit harder this evening, as if that were possible... only time will tell what the jungle will have in store tomorrow. |
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| Gotta love mother nature deciding to put the rain in rainforest today...unless you have to ride or take the pictures themselves of course. For those at home; enjoy the show... it seems there's plenty more slip n slide where that came from. |
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9pm is good. Because we are so far away for most of the season the races are on much later than 9pm here or are in the early hours.
So keen
But if its for the babez....then lift some weights Danny!!
Hot is 30+ this summer we had days hitting 48 (118.4F).
Cairns is crazy humid too though so athletes will be struggling, if you didn't notice that sunburn picture is not water, its blisters. The sun will smash you even at 21 up there.
And 650b wheels while we're at it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-pgdY7CTmI
Make your mind up..
Also what does Boris Beyers Tattoo say??
And no practice for Troy and Aaron?
Gwin is on this one, one the Enduro
www.pinkbike.com/news/qualifying-cairns-dh-world-cup-2.html
blisters? damn.
jonnyox.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/1.1305054469.een-golden-orb-spider.jpg
I see what you did there.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWjPoPzsYxs
The guy in the video below is 132lbs and deadlifts 600lbs.Downhill is very skill based too and when it comes to fitness while it is a powerful sport mostly we need endurance to stay strong for 4-5min, endurance generally does not require or build size. On Gee he is probably one of the most athletic built riders.
Either way watch the video size means nothing if you know how to train.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ohaq_yrHeA