S.A. downhill ladies

[Wyatt Earp]

oi..nige did you not read I was answering what had been said about xc earlier in the thread - thats all

 

 

 

But that is exactly what I was asking in my post above that you blah blah'd..so what young talent is there? if any? I am not asking for another greg, but the more we have racing the world cup circuit, the more attention the discipline will get..and also why I asked about grass roots bmx development.

 

I think you just saw the xc bit and ignored my other questions

 

Exactly the main reason for this thread, but it went over most peoples heads, even to the extent where accusations made that the current group of girls we have are being "hammered"

 

Showed me again that it's actually very difficult to get something across on this forum.

 

Here is what I will finish off with.

I heard rumours about some chick that told people she "raced overseas", I wanted to know if anyone knew of such a rider.

Seems not, so that BS might as well come to an end.

 

Secondly, downhill is a great spectator sport, and I personally would love to watch more quality downhill racing, it's a discipline that grew a few years back, but has sadly died down a bit.

I feel there is much scope for it and will draw more spectators to the sport.

 

Even my in-laws will come and watch.

 

Lastly , I wanted to know if we had any girls that have the ability to race on the international circuit.

If this was the case, much effort can be made to try and get sponsorship and funding going, reason being the international exposure will be great for a sponsor as well as the state of MTB racing in South Africa.

 

Greg and Burry really did well in putting South Africa on the map, one or two more would not do any harm.

 

So what I highlighted in black Stretch, I can only but agree, the discipline could do well with more attention.

[KathF]

Damn, I cocked this up. I thought Hayley's comment about wanting a horse was funny, but some how I lost the reference to her post. Hayley, big up, that was funny and I owe you a beer for saying I could race if I could just quit my job and focus on riding - he he - anyone who is offering to pay me to ride instead of working for an NGO is my new best friend - HA HA!

 

Yeah I think Nige has a point about the amount of World Cup female riders verse the men, ratio that down to what we had at Masters World Champs and it's about right. I guess also though, that although I felt a bit shy about coming third in my age group when there were so few people, I was the only South African on the stage grinning like a fool - when a Swiss National came second and a Canadian (who is one of the fastest +30's in Eastern Canada) came first. If the SA girls had disregarded the whole thing as 'not being a real World Champs' and not bothered paying their thousand bucks to ride - SA wouldn't have come anywhere right?

 

I think that's kinda cool that we're not that off the pace at the Masters level, if we were all about ten seconds off each other (SA, Swiss, Canadian). That excludes Rika and Gina who smoked our times because A. they're excellent, hungry, racers and B. they actually know how to do things like Dr Evil and Driftage without dying.

 

And no, I don't think we will have an elite girl racing the World Cup series for a very long time, it's not even really a question - unless a very very very wealthy and ballsy girl decides to take it up. Half the reason a lot of the females in SA who ride DH are a bit older is that they are now working, so they can afford to buy DH rigs and afford the upkeep on them. Work more, play less hey!

 

Whatev's, I don't mind if people think it was a glorified SA Champs or a true representation of a Masters World Championships - I had loads of fun, learned a lot and made some rad new friends from other countries - and I believe that sounds pretty Worlds Champsy to me. My interest is in building and riding out in the bush anyway, so if you think we represented the country against others or not - doesn't make much difference to my progression

 

Anyway it's quite nice to know that people even have these discussions and would really be very cool about backing a female if she did have the talent, time, money etc to get on the World Cup circuit, so please keep arguing - it's good for the sport I guess!

 

HAYLEY and LINKEY...lets drink lots of beer on Saturday to refuel ourselves, it's very NB

[Stretch]

 

And no, I don't think we will have an elite girl racing the World Cup series for a very long time, it's not even really a question - unless a very very very wealthy and ballsy girl decides to take it up.

 

 

looks like a prime candidate sitting on your lap......

[Danger Dassie]

Kath and Nige. Nail on the head.

[Stretch]

Kath and Nige. Nail on the head.

 

yes and no...No-one is talking about what is actively being done to develop the youngsters..and thats the question I am asking. We need numbers in the game or in 10 - 15 years time the discipline will be dead in this country. I am happy to get involved. but I cannot unless i know what is already on the go.

 

If I just look at the cascades track by me, we could be organising competitions for the youngsters on the pump track...even a junior downhill track that does not need a full dh rig. Hell, an honesty box could be installed at coffeberry tomorrow..right now there is nothing! or is there? i dont know..but no-one is telling me

[Super_mil]

Stretch, AFAIK there is no feeder or development scheme set up, I'm sure Nige will have more info. That said the tracks that the KZN guys run through out the year can be run on a stock trail bike, since there are options around all the major obstacles.

 

My hope is that with enduro growing (and now starting to grow locally) we'll see Enduro start to feed DH...

[Stretch]

Stretch, AFAIK there is no feeder or development scheme set up, I'm sure Nige will have more info. That said the tracks that the KZN guys run through out the year can be run on a stock trail bike, since there are options around all the major obstacles.

 

My hope is that with enduro growing (and now starting to grow locally) we'll see Enduro start to feed DH...

 

I think so...but I think we also need more junior specific dh/enduro events as there is in XC. Just not sure how to sponsor it...and that is why I was throwing some of the ideas out there with the pump track etc. I think it would be worthwhile to get some of the bigger race organisers involved who have some contacts with sponsors..even if the prizes are small but funky for a youngster...

[Sean32]

Is DH even a real sport?

 

I really thought its just a hobby/fun ride type of thing

 

Hi Escapee

 

I hope you are just pulling the Piss with this comment and the other one.

If not you clearly dont have a clue how much time and dedication and training goes into DH. Most Guys and Girls who ride DH can hold thier own on XC races or marathons. Not saying they in the Top ten but they will be placed quite high. So next constructive comments will be nice.

[Wyatt Earp]

Hi Escapee

 

I hope you are just pulling the Piss with this comment and the other one.

If not you clearly dont have a clue how much time and dedication and training goes into DH. Most Guys and Girls who ride DH can hold thier own on XC races or marathons. Not saying they in the Top ten but they will be placed quite high. So next constructive comments will be nice.

 

Seano, I think you would agree with me in that I am saying I would like to see downhill in this country as it was some years back.

I will say it again, it's a great spectator sport.

[KathF]

yes and no...No-one is talking about what is actively being done to develop the youngsters..and thats the question I am asking. We need numbers in the game or in 10 - 15 years time the discipline will be dead in this country. I am happy to get involved. but I cannot unless i know what is already on the go.

 

If I just look at the cascades track by me, we could be organising competitions for the youngsters on the pump track...even a junior downhill track that does not need a full dh rig. Hell, an honesty box could be installed at coffeberry tomorrow..right now there is nothing! or is there? i dont know..but no-one is telling me

 

Like Super_Mil said earlier, there is very little in the way of 'in-between' progression jumps and gaps in most of the DH trails. If you honestly want to help people or youngsters progress, there needs to be some money (and tolerance from the advanced riders as for them it will seem like going backwards to have smaller jumps) and time and sweat poured into building a whole lot of tables, 2m - 3m gaps (that you can pop safety in and out of when you're practicing) and other non-death-defying features that can let people make the transition from green line to red line more easily. Like, a sort of jump park trail? The way I see it, no-one is gonna build that stuff for me so I have built my own portable safety bridge and worked on my own smaller jumps on the weekends to try and practice - but that isn't helping anyone but me. I think it should be less about running pump track competitions and more about building a culture of easy supported progression via the right kind of trails. Hylton Turvey does very cool work in this regard in the Karkloof. Nige had the most awesome picture of a set of tables in a park somewhere in the States or Europe - and that is the kind of 'nursery' ground SA is sorely lacking. God if I had access to jumps like that you couldn't keep me away!

 

It's not to say competitions don't have their place, and hell we all enjoy them, but as someone who has only been on a DH bike for less than two years - I got pretty tired of getting injured in races because I didn't have enough experience on the bigger features to be able to do them properly. I was spending all my time trying to heal up between races, and then hating the races because I hadn't had enough time on my bike and I kept crashing! My decision was to stop the racing-injury-racing cycle and start riding and building so I can find some middle ground. So yeah - in my opinion (for whatever it is worth being 31 and not a junior) is that we need that middle ground somewhere for those who are keen on gravity riding to find their feet - whether they're 10 years old or 40 years old.

 

Anyhoo...I am glad people are keen to help! We just need some land, a TLB, someone with a bit of skill to do a whack of shaping - and voila - tables galore and manageable gap jumps; mix that in with our awesome riding at Cascades, Comleys, Ricos, Giba, Karkloof, Howick and there's your progression right there. But that's just KZN I guess.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Kath - you hit it there! Progressive trails are key to rider development! That, and sponaorships

[SwissVan]

Like Super_Mil said earlier, there is very little in the way of 'in-between' progression jumps and gaps in most of the DH trails. If you honestly want to help people or youngsters progress, there needs to be some money (and tolerance from the advanced riders as for them it will seem like going backwards to have smaller jumps) and time and sweat poured into building a whole lot of tables, 2m - 3m gaps (that you can pop safety in and out of when you're practicing) and other non-death-defying features that can let people make the transition from green line to red line more easily. Like, a sort of jump park trail? The way I see it, no-one is gonna build that stuff for me so I have built my own portable safety bridge and worked on my own smaller jumps on the weekends to try and practice - but that isn't helping anyone but me. I think it should be less about running pump track competitions and more about building a culture of easy supported progression via the right kind of trails. Hylton Turvey does very cool work in this regard in the Karkloof. Nige had the most awesome picture of a set of tables in a park somewhere in the States or Europe - and that is the kind of 'nursery' ground SA is sorely lacking. God if I had access to jumps like that you couldn't keep me away!

 

It's not to say competitions don't have their place, and hell we all enjoy them, but as someone who has only been on a DH bike for less than two years - I got pretty tired of getting injured in races because I didn't have enough experience on the bigger features to be able to do them properly. I was spending all my time trying to heal up between races, and then hating the races because I hadn't had enough time on my bike and I kept crashing! My decision was to stop the racing-injury-racing cycle and start riding and building so I can find some middle ground. So yeah - in my opinion (for whatever it is worth being 31 and not a junior) is that we need that middle ground somewhere for those who are keen on gravity riding to find their feet - whether they're 10 years old or 40 years old.

 

Anyhoo...I am glad people are keen to help! We just need some land, a TLB, someone with a bit of skill to do a whack of shaping - and voila - tables galore and manageable gap jumps; mix that in with our awesome riding at Cascades, Comleys, Ricos, Giba, Karkloof, Howick and there's your progression right there. But that's just KZN I guess.

 

 

Hey nice post

 

Welcome to the Hub

[Guest Omega Man]

Kath - you hit it there! Progressive trails are key to rider development! That, and sponaorships

Sponsorships won't happen dude. It's a fringe element of a fringe sport. There's nothing in it for a sponsor. There's ZERO local exposure for womens DH and They show a minute of the top 10 ladies at world cups on the internet 5 times a year on a Sunday afternoon. Plus it's a year on year deal so there's zero guarantee that Red bull will even show it the following year. Then add to that the fact that the sport translates TERRIBLY to TV.

 

There's probably 5 girls and 30 guys on the DH circuit that make a semi decent living out of it. The rest hack from year to year trying desperately to piece a deal together for the following season. Even some of the top teams will only do the Euro rounds cos of the costs involved (Think Potties RRP team)

 

Not trying to be a dick just pointing out the situation.

[Hairy]

Stretch, AFAIK there is no feeder or development scheme set up, I'm sure Nige will have more info. That said the tracks that the KZN guys run through out the year can be run on a stock trail bike, since there are options around all the major obstacles.

 

My hope is that with enduro growing (and now starting to grow locally) we'll see Enduro start to feed DH...

[Sean32]

Seano, I think you would agree with me in that I am saying I would like to see downhill in this country as it was some years back.

I will say it again, it's a great spectator sport.

 

100% with you on that. I have been out of it for 13yrs and i must say i was stupid to leave it. And when Dudes like this makes comment like that it gets my blood boiling. Like saying Usain Bolt runs for fun. Rant off sorry.

[Guest Omega Man]

100% with you on that. I have been out of it for 13yrs and i must say i was stupid to leave it. And when Dudes like this makes comment like that it gets my blood boiling. Like saying Usain Bolt runs for fun. Rant off sorry.

It's a trap. Step away.