“It looks bigger than it does on the telly” only tells half the story. Aran Francis reports…

What 90 feet actually looks like

Red Bull Hardline has been going for over a decade now and the nature of the event has clearly evolved. Gone are the days where riders like Rauridh Cunningham can go 8 seconds into the green at the first split.

Although technically it’s always been a race, the modern Hardline seems to have become so much more focussed on that race aspect. This said, the improvement in competitiveness of the racing and the apparently more polished final runs does not come at a detriment to the spectacle.

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Simply getting down the course is an achievement that is the aspiration of many incredibly talented riders.

Fans get a taste of the gnarliness on the spectators walking track

The scale of Hardline is a massive. If I talk to someone who doesn’t ride, if they’ve heard of mountain biking at all, it’s usually a clip of Hardline or maybe Rampage. Clearly the influence Hardline has on getting ‘external eyes’ on the sport is significant. Even sat here in the media tent, not only are there the usual MTB media and Red Bull folk here but Hardline attracts teams from the likes of Visit Wales and the BBC.

Being here in person takes this majestic massiveness up another notch. For me, it’s not the size of the features that becomes clear in person, it’s the need for precision. The steepness of the road gap landing, for example, means that a touch too fast will see you landing several meters past the sweet spot. Again, a slight overjump on the massive 90ft gaps could result in a frame snapping impact.

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Fans grab clips of George Brannigan over the road gap

I remember watching this event as a kid 10 years ago and hearing someone (probably Rob Warner) say that the jumps provide a rest(!) for the riders. Being here and seeing the roughness of the linking sections, I can understand why. These jumps and big features provide a welcome relief from the brutal onslaught of rocks roots and general nastiness. It’s seeing these pros struggle and take time to think about the track that really puts Hardline into perspective.

Talking of the riders, there were some really good stories to highlight from this weekend.

Louise Ferguson made Hardline history as the first woman ever to complete a top to bottom run, qualify and become the first women’s Hardline Champion and setting the stage for more to come no doubt.

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After almost completing this feat in Hardline Tasmania earlier in the year (but running out of time with one feature left to tick off) it was only a matter of time before Louise put together a full top to bottom run at a Hardline event.

After winning the National Championships last week and sitting in the top 10 of every World Cup that she has finished this season, this weekend’s Hardline is another highlight to an already brilliant season for Ferguson.

Tuhoto-Ariki Pene, the New Zealand National champ, was initially struggling to find consistency in the earlier World Cups this season however, but off the back of a top 10 in Andorra he was looking incredible this weekend. Easilly one of the most stylish riders on the mountain and with a podium place seeding run the tone was set for finals.

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Unfortunately, he couldn’t piece it together into a podium run on raceday but Tuhoto provided some great entertainment and we look forward to seeing what he puts down the rest of this season.

Tuhoto-Ariki, clocking fans as he goes off the road gap. Photo by Jake Monnox.

As for men’s finals, Ronan Dunne faced a long wait on the hot seat as big names fought and failed to take him off. Eventually it was a rampaging Charlie Hatton who knocked the Irishman off the top step. Hatton put down what many thought to be an unbeatable run until Asa Vermette decided to beat it.

The rough nature of the mountain took its toll on a number of riders. Some spectacular crashes took out Matt Jones and Oli Clark and others. Whilst punctures stopped some promising runs from Theo Erlangsen, Adam Brayton and possibly Laurie Greenland among others.

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Talking of disappointments, it was shame to see Dan Booker not make an appearance after a crash in practice and Brendan Fairclough fail to start after various mechanicals.

From a fan’s perspective, the experience of being here in person and in such close quarters with the athletes was a great opportunity. There are only a few large spectator points (even for media blaggers flike myself) so you could only really view the track at the big features. It would’ve been nice to have a bit more free rein and watch some of the more technical sections of track. But the nature of the terrain, track and event format makes this difficult.

That said, Red Bull did a really good job of presenting this event regardless of where on the track you were watching. There were multiple big screens in the finishing area to watch live race runs and even one up by the 90 footers so that you could watch the headline features and not sacrifice the drama of racing.

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Adam Brayton’s Saracen (Marracen) Myst

I’ve always thought of Hardline as a sort of bucket list event that every mountain biker should go to watch at some point. With the atmosphere from the fans along with the heroics put on by the athletes I’m happy to confirm that it really is this bucket list event I had imagined.

Jono Jones’ Propain Dan Booker’s Santa Cruz

Fans grab clips of George Brannigan over the road gap.

What 90 feet actually looks like

Fans get a taste of the gnarliness on the spectators walking track.

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