Hardline Tasmania

I watched Matt’s video ^^^ followed by Bernard’s, my god the speed difference is intense. Hats off to Matt, he did really well, with so little preparation and (as above), as he’s no doubt a hugely better ride than most of us, but Bernard.. bloody hell that’s fast… and he was 1.8 seconds slower than the winner

Matt was 21st (out of 23 that completed the course), hats off to him

No words to describe the amount of respect for Lou. Hard as fooking nails, and such a good attitude.. What an absolute role model. Bet she earned a fair fee more fans.

Great race, great vibe about it too.

Matt’s vlog was brilliant for a real sense of prospective.

I always wanted to see them inviting freeriders to Hardline and I think it really did make the event more interesting.

That and it being a really good DH track with huge jumps, rather than a series of huge jumps with a bit of a lacklustre track in between them in Wales.

Fantastic production and coverage from Red Bull and the commentary was particularly good. You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone, eh?

The production? Too many fixed cameras for my liking and blurry chase drone images in the woods can crash and burn in a ball of flames for all I care. Good to have Rob and Elliot (and Tahnee!) on the mic. He’s dialed down on the metaphors, which was nice. Warner’s fortunately ageing more like good claret than milk on a south-facing doorstep. IGMC.

It does show how slick you can make the broadcast if there’s only 30 odd riders to commentate, not that I’d like the more limited rider coverage in WC but it seems inevitable in the long term.

I liked the range of athletes involved. It definitely adds something to the event’s atmosphere having slope stylers, free riders and racers. More thumbs up for Matt Jones’ vlogs.

Too many fixed cameras for my liking and blurry chase drone images in the woods can crash and burn in a ball of flames for all I care.

Long course though, and camera operators may be more scarce / expensive to get to Tas?

blurry chase drone images in the woods can crash and burn in a ball of flames for all I care.

It was a nearly straight, 60+kph bit of track with what looked like 15ft gap jumps.

I think the options are drone follow cam, or a static camera at the end of the section which riders ride towards. Discovery showed last season, how pathetic and slow that second option ends up looking.

Imo, the old cable cams always looked better and in this situation, the speed and stability given by the old technology may well have been the solution.

The only time I’ve really seen drones working well in the woods is for XC racing. The minute it gets tight or fast, it becomes too much of a challenge for the pilot to keep everything in frame.

It’s a better race track than Cairns (or 2009 canberra track for that matter) so if oz has to have a WC round then itd be great, just need to nerf the bottom jumps only cos theyre a bit much for tired arms it seems

Regular WC riders should be able to handle it.
Although with environmental guilt id hate to see a regular oz stop. Plus i bet the flights are all routed thru mainland oz as well so 2 x as many flights

ocrider
It does show how slick you can make the broadcast if there’s only 30 odd riders to commentate, not that I’d like the more limited rider coverage in WC but it seems inevitable in the long term.

Gaps between riders were a bit big for me but understandable given the nature of the course and that they wanted to stick to a schedule.

DH has always been more about the racing and putting the event on for the participants than the public – now they’re trying to format and  monetise it, that will change.

My biggest take from Hardline Tasmania is how much of a sore loser BK is.
2nd place is nothing to be devastated over Bernard, be pleased for Ronan like everyone else.

My biggest take from Hardline Tasmania is how much of a sore loser BK is.<br style=”box-sizing: border-box; –tw-translate-x: 0; –tw-translate-y: 0; –tw-rotate: 0; –tw-skew-x: 0; –tw-skew-y: 0; –tw-scale-x: 1; –tw-scale-y: 1; –tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; –tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; –tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; –tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); –tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; –tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; –tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; –tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; color: #000000; font-family: Roboto, ‘Helvetica Neue’, Arial, ‘Noto Sans’, sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ‘Segoe UI’, ‘Apple Color Emoji’, ‘Segoe UI Emoji’, ‘Segoe UI Symbol’, ‘Noto Color Emoji’;” />2nd place is nothing to be devastated over Bernard, be pleased for Ronan like everyone else.

Nothing new there then 😀

He was even worse when Craig Evans had the temerity to win Hardline the other year.

My biggest take from Hardline Tasmania is how much of a sore loser BK is.

I am not sure if he is a sore looser or just realised he is at the end of his career and not going to win anything. Thats got to be hard to take.

2nd place is nothing to be devastated over Bernard

Disagree – anyone who is competitive sees 2nd place as failure.

BK is a massive cry baby though. I haven’t been a fan since since I was unfortunate enough to be accommodated near him and his fawning entourage for a while.

He’s got a fanclub full of boorish, hooray Henry, Surrey millionaires.

Wayne Kerr?

Im sure BK even moaned at Amoury Pierron when AP bet him last year or the year before.

Speaking of Amaury ‘The Dreamcrusher’ Pierron, I can’t wait until he’s back and riding at full speed. When he’s on a flier I’m convinced we’ve never, ever seen anyone go that fast on a DH bike.

I remember AP a few years ago on the grass turns at top of Les Gets (?) going visibly faster than anyone, utterly amazing before he’d even got onto the dirt.

When you see Kerr showing absolutely everyone the lines, the speed, the technique, hitting all the features first, then again just to show it’s OK, well personally then, i’ll forgive him most things. He’s done SO much for parts of this sport that even if he’s guilty of a few things, that’s OK with me.

He sees himself as the king of hardline and has an entitlement to win. He had more track time in Tasmania than any other rider at the sharp end, so to be beaten by Ronan, who had the least amount of track time must have been a huge reality check.

I like Bernard, but I also dislike him.    Whatever the view though, he has come a long way since ‘can’t pay or we’ll take it away’.

I remember AP a few years ago on the grass turns at top of Les Gets (?) going visibly faster than anyone, utterly amazing before he’d even got onto the dirt.

That’s it. We need to see more of that.

He sees himself as the king of hardline and has an entitlement to win. He had more track time in Tasmania than any other rider at the sharp end, so to be beaten by Ronan, who had the least amount of track time 

That’s it.

I’m sure some of the other riders must resent that self-imposed role a bit.

Anyway, I don’t think anyone was disappointed to see Ronan win – and mostly because he was Ronan rather than not BK. The lad is a breath of fresh air.

He’s a bit of a control freak that’s really clear. He tries to hide it by laughing a lot. It’s a shame he was so pissed off as I don’t think that was fitted in with the general event atmosphere.
A mate that was there used to manage an mx team. He said the mtb vibe was outstanding – so much better than any offroad event he’s been to.

You get that vibe at every level from grass roots DH to Nationals. It’s honestly incredible how much support the riders all give eachother. Chatting about lines, (probably hiding a few sneaky ones of course) chatting about cornering, jumps, just standing there going nuts every time a rider comes down the trails. It’s part of what makes what i do with the boy so worthwhile, the fact that even their rivals are still cheering eachother on. It’s brilliant, utterly brilliant.

At Fort William last year the boy was at the top with Minaar behind him in the queue, he looks and sees him and goes “Do you wanna go first..” the reply was “Nah kid, you go, it’ll be brilliant”
A couple of weeks ago the boy was riding with Dan Atherton at Dyfi along with 4-5 others. “Right kid, you look fast, you lead on this one” was what Dan says to him. Along with “yeah you can hit the ramp easy”, so he did…

Fabulous.

That’s awesome Weeksy, there is something special about the sport eh

Interestingly Amaury Pierron wasn’t that far away, he was racing at the New Zealand national champs, is time would have put him 3rd behind two locals, surprising though two other riders in the juniors beat his time.

That’s proper awesome @Weeksy. When I was at Dyfi, Gee and I “chatted” in the lunch queue. “What’s nice”, “It’s all good, mate”, so now we’re bezzies obvs. I was more than a little star-struck if I’m honest.

What’s interesting is how many were racing in Tasmania and still declined to be part of this pr stunt

It doesn’t really fit the criteria of a PR stunt does it? Hardline has been running for 10 years with the same title sponsor.

It was a great event that was almost unanimously enjoyed by riders and spectators both on location and all over the world. Who else has pockets deep enough to run an event like this? Would you prefer Shell, or BAE Systems?

I’m quite happy that a fizzy drink company pours so much money into MTB because we get to see things that no one else would ever finance and I’m still free to not buy their product.

@chrismac what do you mean? you appear to have a real bee in your bonnet about Red Bull in all of these threads.

Speaking of Amaury ‘The Dreamcrusher’ Pierron, I can’t wait until he’s back and riding at full speed. When he’s on a flier I’m convinced we’ve never, ever seen anyone go that fast on a DH bike.

Agreed – when he puts a run together I feel like he’s a level above the others. Jackson is a very different rider but I think the next one we’ll see do that. I look forward to them going toe to toe.

LOL he does make me laugh does chrismac with his hatred of it all. It confuses me lots.

It was a brilliant event… no more, no less… I can’t see any downside to it.

Jackson is a very different rider but I think the next one we’ll see do that. I look forward to them going toe to toe.

Exactly. I was gutted when Jackson got hurt, I can’t wait to witness a season of him riding in good health. He’s definitely playing on a different level to almost everyone else.

AP is a monster but the way JG changes direction is supernatural, he’s like a housefly. Total opposites. It’ll be amazing seeing them face off on various tracks.

God Damn, is it time for round 1 yet? It’s been forever!

It was a brilliant event… no more, no less… I can’t see any downside to it.

When there’s no downside, someone on here will find one.

“God Damn, is it time for round 1 yet? It’s been forever!”

Get yourself to Rheola in a few weeks to the Nationals 🙂

AP is a monster

I love watching AP’s runs, he’s going so fast, it’s like he’s only *just* this side of it all going horribly horribly wrong, he literally seems to be going as fast as he possibly can, he holds nothing back,  when it all comes together I genuinely think he’s untouchable, it’s amazing to watch.

I think Thibaut Daprela tried to adopt a bit of that style but couldn’t find the balance. He spent more time blowing up spectacularly while Amaury figured out how to do a full run right on the limit.

what do you mean? you appear to have a real bee in your bonnet about Red Bull in all of these threads.

I just don’t get the love in for these events and that RB are somehow the shining light of dh. I have a friend who works at RB HQ in marketing and these events are carefully calculated around the ROI. They are just as money motivated as WB and Discovery but everyone gives them a free pass for some reason. I also struggle with all the hype when clearly most of the top racers aren’t interested.

Other races are available.

Well, kind of.

I think you miss the point fella. People enjoy the spectacle, the pleasure, the fear factor, the atmosphere between the riders, then of course the racing too.
I don’t see why the top racers need to be there for it to be enjoyable. No one is saying “it’s bigger than WCHD” or they’re all faster than DH racers, people are enjoying it because it’s brilliant to watch things that are crazy difficult.

I couldn’t care less if RB make £10 or £1,000,000 from it… i simply don’t care. I just enjoy watching MTBers do stupid stuff really well. The fact that Bruni or Jordan or Vergier isn’t there doesn’t take anything away from the event.

They are just as money motivated as WB and Discovery but everyone gives them a free pass for some reason

I think they get more leeway because the events are free to watch. +1 to what weeksy wrote too.

I have a friend who works at RB HQ in marketing and these events are carefully calculated around the ROI.

Oh no it’s a conspiracy!!!

Honestly I wouldn’t expect anything less. Burning money would be foolish and your business would die.

 They are just as money motivated as WB and Discovery but everyone gives them a free pass for some reason.

Because from my perspective as an armchair racer, the product is better. It’s free and it works beautifully on multiple platforms, it’s easy to find out what’s on and when and they’ve got the commentary dream team.

Disclaimer: I well remember when Red Bull TV was crap and they have dropped the ball multiple times in the past but at least the riders and teams have a direct line to raise their concerns.

WB Discovery just took the whole thing and changed everything without consulting anyone who has dedicated their entire life to it. They took the sport that we’ve been following since the 90’s and tried to turn it into Gladiators. Then they put it behind a paywall, and I haven’t bothered to find out how to watch it.

If it was the other way around I’d be a WB fanboy but they’ve bolloxed the job and they’ll drop it as soon as the bean counters say it doesn’t make sense.

I also struggle with all the hype when clearly most of the top racers aren’t interested.

I think some of the top racers are seriously considering how their bread gets buttered. Riders just below the top are drawing up schedules that include lots of non WC events.

and these events are carefully calculated around the ROI.

Well, Duh…I don’t think anyone in the world ever has thought ” Gee..I wonder if this sporting event surrounded by all this hype will make someone a pile of cash”. Do you go into town just to ride the escalator?

Let me introduce you to Gaius Appuleius Diocles  Widely understood to have been the richest sportsman that ever lived…in 150AD.