Red Bull Hardline isn’t an event for the fainthearted. Hailed as one of the toughest downhill mountain bike races in the world, the event returns to the hills of Dyfi Valley in the north of Wales for its sixth edition.
The 2018 edition saw home favourite Gee Atherton taking home the trophy for the first time after a nail-biting final in front of 3,000 spectators. Bernard Kerr came in second with Charlie Hatton in third.
Red Bull Hardline 2019 is bigger than ever before. With the worlds best DH riders coming from all corners of the world, expect to see some wild riding in the valleys of Dyfi this weekend.— Red Bull
"You're in the air for quite a long time, you can clip back in then...." Riiiiiiiiight..... In the mean time I'd fall over riding off a curb with a foot un-clipped.
@DavidGuerra: it’s definitely possible. It’s just scary as all heck when you have to. Can’t imagine doing that on such s monster feature.
The way I’ve seen it done is compressing super hard on the takeoff so the bike gets more upward force but then push back against it with your unclipped foot while in the air. It comes out looking like an awkward scrub but it’s faster than not riding the feature at all.
@DavidGuerra: if u have 1 foot clipped in, u can get the other in the air..2 feet, pull with the one that's clipped in, push with the one that's unclipped. I'm at a loss for how you'd get both clipped back in if you were completely unclipped tho. I reckon Gee can do it tho XD
Everyone knows that cameras make things look flat/smaller, but I’ve been and watched even compared to Champéry in its first running this place is bonkers, the features are just plain ridiculous, but the riding in between is sooooo steep and tech in places. I’m not a huge fan of the step-ups, they lose to much of the speed. But holy sh1t I can’t wait to see them throwing shapes over that hip/wall section. Come on KaosSeagrave !!!! And for all the people that day there needs to be a woman’s class, just go look at the place first, I bet there is a large quantity of the men’s current World Cup scene who’d be scared to hit some of it. Sorry if that seems sexist.
Funny, I was watching the 2018 Hardline yesterday and thought to myself 'I wonder if we'll ever see a chick doing this'. I think it's highly unlikely. Thing is, if you create a female class, you will probably have to make the course easier. Then it stops being Hardline.
If/when a woman can tackle this course, she will be there. And she'll have earned the right, just like the guys have.
Big fan of Vero's style & bike control, but there's a gaping chasm between the size of the hits in her film vs the fest sized stuff on Hardline. And honestly, I was a lil scared for Casey at the Rampage qualifier. Glad she came out of her crash in one piece. There's still no contest in the really rough chunk in the men's vs women's, on world cup tracks. Different level, entirely. I'm all for progression on the women's side, and it's awesome to see, but there's a danger in public pressure pushing riders beyond their capabilities and comfort level. They'll be there when they're ready.
Get Ben Cathro there to do some more track analysis! Just the little bit they did in this vid gave a better impression of how steep it is and how big some of the “small” moves are then the race footage does.
@Dropthedebt: I just don't like diva attitudes from people that aren't even in the same class as the top guys. Now if Bruni was a diva then i would get it. Thankfully, he is not. But Gee? It's almost embarrassing.
@thesharkman: The guy is 34 years old (relatively old for a world cup racer) and has won the Great Britain DH National championship, european DH championship, UCI DH World championship (twice), UCI DH world cups (7 times), UCI 4X world cup, and the UCI DH world cup overall.. To top that off he has competed in multiple rampages (and done pretty well, did features normal humans would vomit looking at) and done very well in this Hardline event (including winning, just last year). Guys like Bruni look up to legends like this and likely hope they can stay as good for as long as Gee has.
Riiiiiiiiight..... In the mean time I'd fall over riding off a curb with a foot un-clipped.
The way I’ve seen it done is compressing super hard on the takeoff so the bike gets more upward force but then push back against it with your unclipped foot while in the air. It comes out looking like an awkward scrub but it’s faster than not riding the feature at all.
If/when a woman can tackle this course, she will be there. And she'll have earned the right, just like the guys have.
Now. Anyone got a can opener for these worms?...
meanwhile, Casey Brown can destroy me anytime she likes
The worlds best are on the wooorrrld cup circuit..
50 shades of Gee
Guys like Bruni look up to legends like this and likely hope they can stay as good for as long as Gee has.