Hopper

Today I went to a track called Mount Torrens in SA. I'd heard from a guy who rode it the previous week it was pretty hard with off camber corners and long doubles. I was going up to practice for a race (tomorrow) and when I got there I was surprised. I got my bike out of the car and walked to the rego tent. Lucky Maxxis was sponsoring the event, I got some free stickers . When I walked up a bit I hear this whirling, the noise of a CK hub, and bang, a rider flies over a road gap and lands going about 60km/h. I thought, this track looks sick, unfortunately I had to walk up .

When I got to the top there was a starting ramp so I lifted my bike on it and pedaled down, the bike was pedaling pretty well over the rocks, but this spot was flat so I got tired after about the 5th run. I got to a point where there were some logs over the track, like a rock garden of logs and the bike just floated over them. Then there was a north shore that had a jump at one side, but I didn't jump it as there were two trees about 1.5m apart which the NS goes on. This was only about 4m long and you roll down the end. Then there was this sick burm that was 180 degrees and about 1m high with a radius of about 1.5m, this thing just shot you around the corner, this when it started to go down hill, to another burm about the same dimensions which sot you into a drop which landed in yet another burm which was the same as the others. The Mongoose seemed to be turning really well and I could keep up with some of the other riders in the older age division.

After this burm section there was a long off camber straight where you ride accross the hill. On this straight there was a group of stutters and then a jump. This them led you into an unburmed corner that had things like steps that you went down. My mongoose soaked all the stutters and steps and turned really well. At this point however there was a rock garden that was about 2m long and led you straight into a 1m deep ditch which was less than .5m away from another burm similar to the ones further up the track. After this burm which you loose heaps of speed on because of the ditch you have about 2m to peadal before there are two swithchbacks that are unburmed and and the hill points away from where you want to go. Here the Mngoose had trouble whipping the rear wheel around the corners, but I think that was more rider error than the bike.

Now after those two sections was the final section. It was more like a freeride course than a DH track and my bike loved it, I only bottomed out once due to rider error. After the off camber corners there was a long straight accross the hill and then you do a 90 degree turn and drop off a pallet set at about 1.2m but n a steep slope so you launch it. This then led you down a steep DH in toa a step up. This step up however was part of a big stunt. What it was is a NS with a jump before it to step up and then about 2m later you launch off the end over a 1m drop but the landing is about 3m away. this leads straight in to a double which throws the bike about 2m up and 2m long. This double was easy to launch too far because there is tight burm about 2m high and 2m radius which is 180degrees. This then leads you on a 10m DH straight where there is a road gap about 1.5m high and 3m lng. When you land you are going around 5okm/h. Now you pedal like a biatch to a wierd dip in the ground (where I bottomed out) which then puts you on a huge launcher. This has two landings, it is a tabletop about 4-5m lng near a ledge which is about 3m away from the first landing. You hit his at a bout 60km/h and still don't even make the second landing. Only oneperson, the guy who made the track and fastest DHer in SA could make it. I screwed my self over by landing flat between the two landings and bouncing over the second landing into some race tape and stakes. This then went around the corner to the finish.

The bike held up really well, but I couldn't flick it around the corners in the second section, but could hip into the berm after the double while in the air, so I need t get used to the longer wheel base. In the air the bike felt really balanced an I need to adjust the linkage abit (I have 90 different positions) because when I bottomed out, my tire just got my seat and seat post.

Tomorrow or Monday I will see if I can post some pics of the track, that's if I can get the camera to the race.

Hopper

Wow that's longer than I thought

Maelstrom 

Nice sounds like a real dh rig. Long wheelbase has its disadvantages...but for racing there are few

Congrats meng....pics dag nabbit