Snaking down a Welsh mountain, that includes nerve-jangling jumps and screeching turns, the Hardline direction is reputed to be the hardest downhill mountain motorbike observe on this planet, a critical take a look at of frame and thoughts for the boldest riders.
Until now it’s been a male keep, however this 12 months a gaggle of ladies from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada and Argentina have joined the boys hurling during the wooded area at as much as 40mph (64km/h), made up our minds to turn that this hardest of tracks is not only for the lads.
“It’s definitely important for the sport,” stated Tahnée Seagrave, one among two British ladies who’ve been tackling the direction at Dinas Mawddwy at the rugged fringes of Eryri (Snowdonia) nationwide park. “We’re followed by a lot of girls and young riders on social media. If they see us here, they’ll get inspired.”
Another of the six women, a New Zealander, Jess Blewitt, said: “It’s super-important women are doing it. Everyone’s always saying: ‘Girls can’t ride like the boys.’ It’s not just in this sport but in every sport. Girls are not just part of some events. So it’s good to push the women’s side.”
The Hardline course was built a decade ago to challenge the world’s best downhill mountain bikers. Each year a small invited field – around 30 this summer – gather on the mountain above the Dyfi valley for the Red Bull Hardline race.
It takes about three minutes to get down, negotiating features including the infamous Road Gap, which requires riders to complete a 17-metre (55ft) jump over a fire road high above the heads of spectators, but also dodging outcrops of rocks, tree roots , narrow gaps, coping with mud and the unreliable Welsh weather.
Over the years the course has broken bones and bruised egos, but some of the world’s best riders come and the magazine GQ has called the race one of the greatest live sport experiences on earth, putting it alongside events like Wimbledon and the Masters golf tournament.
“There’s just nothing that compares to Hardline,” stated Seagrave, a world-class downhill mountain biker born in London and primarily based in Wales.
“The jumps are huge, the technical element is intimidating. And you’ve often got tough weather. It was surreal the first time I put tires to dirt – incredible”
The race itself takes place over this weekend and the women are unlikely to take part, especially as the weather is dodgy, but having them on site training at what organizers are calling a “development camp” is noticed as a favorable building.
Seagrave isn’t keen on the term “development camp”. “It’s more of a hangout, a chance to see what the women can do.”
She says there are a number of reasons why women have not competed on the Hardline yet. “We’re not built the same, we’re wired visually differently.”
But Seagrave thinks the main issue is that women haven’t had the experience of this kind of extreme track. “We haven’t been exposed to the features. It’s very intimidating when you see them for the first time. The men have been coming here for years.
The male riders have been supportive, taking the women on runs through the sections, “towing”, or guiding, them through the route. “For me the win has been having the ladies on motorcycles at the observe ticking off probably the most options,” said Seagrave.
Blewitt, 21, was the first woman to get out on the Hardline last year. I wanted to start pushing the women’s side of the sport there,” she stated. It ended painfully when she broke her collarbone after falling on a characteristic known as The Renegade.
“There are 5 different ladies with me this 12 months, which is a huge deal. Some of the drops are so heavy. The landings are without a doubt so much tougher for a feminine. And we would not have the similar mentality as the fellows. They say: ‘My mate’s hit it, so I’m going to hit it.’ They do not care as a lot. Girls without a doubt take a bit of longer to suppose: ‘I’m going to hit that.'”
Gee Atherton, a two-time downhill mountain bike champion and Hardline veteran, said he was pleased the women were there.
“It’s a terrifying course to roll up to – intimidating with the mountain looming over you. If you turn up with a good crew, you spur each other on.”
He says it is not the physicality that makes it any such tricky direction for ladies. “I believe it is the aggression. You have to tear the motorbike via probably the most sections. There are heavy landings and turns, on occasion it’s important to be a bit of competitive with the motorbike. That’s what they have got to learn how to care for. It will come, undoubtedly.