Bike
The Aussie legend on building the Cairns track and his predictions for Saturday’s UCI World Cup.
When did you start work on the track? We started in September – it took us four months to build both products. We had three machines and about 14 or 15 guys flew in from around the country to deliver it.
What was the most difficult thing to build on the DH track? I’ve been in the sport long enough and one of the things that really, really bugs me are tracks that aren’t sustainable. There are some big whoops up there, some big stuff and moving all that soil and material to get the drains in and stuff – that was probably the biggest effort. We had a bit of rain when we were building it, not a whole lot, just enough to help actually. Rainy season starts in December so that’s why we had that four month window to put it all in.
When did Cairns first get the go-ahead and when did you then get involved? I started to push two or three years ago. We were riding all the trails here and they were getting old and degraded and we realised that we weren’t far off our 20-year anniversary (since the 1996 World Champs) and we thought why not try and push to see if we can get it here, you know? We managed to talk to the right people at the right time and they gave us the go ahead. They told us not only would we get the World Championships but that we’d get the two World Cups too. We’ve got 2014 and 2016 then the Worlds but there are a few whispers around that we may get 2015 too...
We had to lop about a minute and a half off it as back in those days, the UCI wanted between five and six minute tracks.
How much do you think the whole World Cup circuit has changed? The riders, the tyres, the tracks are all so different. But saying that, one of my first challenges, before we even got it back here, was that we would be dealing with a 20-year-old track – what had to be done to bring it up to today’s standards? We had to lop about a minute and a half off it as back in those days, the UCI wanted between five and six minute tracks.
The hill is 350m, it’s not a lot but it’s big. We got Reece Atkinson (Bryn’s brother) in and we walked the hill many times together. I told him that I really care about the wildlife, but other than that, to really do what he liked. He came up with some really great ideas and we went back and forward a lot – things like the whoops, you know? That’s good thinking – that’s great. After the whoops there’s a really old school root section that we’ve worked really hard on the drainage of.
In terms of some of the wildlife and flora that are in the forest – there’s some pretty dangerous stuff in there. Was there anything you really had to avoid or be wary of? It feels like... well, to an outsider it would feel like that. But the first time I went to Europe, the first thing I noticed was that there was no bugs or anything!
You sound disappointed about that?! Well, I sort of was, you know (laughs)?!
But the first time I went to Europe, the first thing I noticed was that there was no bugs or anything!
Who’s your money on for the win then? Of course, there’s the local hero, Mick Hannah. I’d love to see him do well, you know? But I really think it could be anybody. Everybody thinks that this is Mick’s hometown event and everything but he’s only really had a couple of runs on it. He’s not had a million runs on it, now that it’s changed with the weather too... the only real advantage I think he has is the heat. If it stops raining and the sun comes out you’ll think that you’re in hell with all the steam rising – it heats the ground up then it’s just the humidity, it can be hard to breath. If that happens, if it starts cooking, I think it’ll probably be Mick’s.