- [Neil] We are at one of the most challenging mountain bike races in the
world.
- [Scotty] And this is what is Red Bull Hardline, and we're going to take a look
at how gnarly that course is, and take you guys through it.
♪ [music] ♪
- So we're in North Wales, we're near Dinas Mawddwy. Just look at the mountains.
This is the home of the Athertons and this is the third year of the Red Bull Hardline
Race. It's a downhill track built by Dan Atherton himself.
- But what makes Hardline different to any downhill course that we've seen elsewhere
in the world? Well, the fact is just how gnarly it is. Straight away out that start
gate, you hit a jump. You come down this big rolling section, and you come straight
into a jump. Just look at the size of the lip, onto the landing.
Just the sheer scale of it, and all around you, there's stumps.
You've got to get everything perfect, and you've got to be sprinting down to ensure
that you clear that big jump.
- So we're into the first woods section. This is much more like a World Cup
downhill track, except a very hard one. We've got these roots here,
I guess you've got to try and plow through them, and there's a little tricky-looking
off camera section, either high or low, but there's roots everywhere and it's
actually pretty boggy in between them.
- Surrounded by soft grass, boggy merlin that's actually been cut away,
right down to the bedrock. And in between these sections is massive GRs,
where the bikes are going to be worked. They're going to go through that full
suspension, probably around eight inches on the bikes. And they're just going to be
dropping through these sections, pinning through them, and it's going to be one
gnarly section. And then right there, it gets really steep and there's some
step-downs, so let's take a look at that.
- So, this is what makes Hardline what it is. You can't tell, probably,
how steep this is off that camera, but it's a big old step down.
It's a really steep landing and that berm. What really makes it different from most
downhill events is look at how exposed and how dangerous it is.
It's almost half free ride, half downhill. One of the countless features in this
course is this really big dropoff into a super steep landing.
- This is one of the biggest features on the course. It's a run-in to the step down
before the renegade jump. I'm just going to pass over to Neil,
who I think is on the landing. Over to Neil. Neil, can you hear me?
- Yeah, here I am. This is the landing, it's a long and low jump.
It's a motocross-size jump. I'm guessing 40, 50 ft? Well, I'm 6 ft tall,
give or take a couple of inches. How big do you think that is?
♪ [music] ♪
- So, we're getting down near the bottom of the track now. Your nerves might have
just settled, but it's a really steep, rocky run-in, and this looks terrifying.
This is really steep. There's boulders off the edge. I don't even want to see what's
at the end of this.
- So, just when the riders think that they've almost got to the bottom,
there's this massive road gap. You're rolling down the wood, and you obviously
just have to commit, let go of those brakes, and launch off it.
It's probably 40 ft down, 25 to 30 ft across, and it is huge. You can actually
see, there's a Jeep parked there and the bottom is right just there.
So the riders are really going to be holding on, grasping for the last breath,
and pushing off those things.
- So, just a couple more big gap jumps and you're into the finish.
Three and a half minutes of the most exciting, terrifying, downhill track I've
ever seen. Scotty, what do you think?
- It's definitely pretty gnarly, and hats off to the riders who are doing it.
Neil, 2017 presenter challenge?
- Maybe. So, that's the course. Let's take a walk round the pits and speak to some of
the riders, see what they make of it.
So, I'm here with Dan Atherton, course designer and builder. Dan,
what were you thinking when you built this track?
- [Dan] I think, to be honest, I never thought it would get to this stage
it's at, you know? You know, 10 years ago we built this track just for training on,
and seeing as well, we come up here, you know, every winter we use this track for
training. And when Red Bull said to us, you know, "What's your dream event?" I
always knew it was this, you know? I always knew it was Hardline,
but never in, you know, a million years did I think it would get to this stage.
- What do you think about this track? How does it differ from normal
downhill racing?
- [Craig] Just a bit more technical, maybe, and then, obviously,
the big jumps and gaps. You don't see those on the normal downhill tracks.
- So, we've got those massive features. Are those the biggest jumps
you've ever hit?
- Yeah, I reckon there's, like, two of those there that are definitely the
biggest jumps I've ever hit.
- And that renegade jump took you down this week. What went wrong?
- Yeah, just first time doing it. Overcooked it a little bit out of fear,
yeah, and just heavy landing and blew my knee on a rock at the edge of the track.
- So, Joe, we're at Hardline. How does this track compare
to a normal World Cup track?
- [Joe] It doesn't really compare. There's not really much that's similar,
to be honest. Like I said a few times to people, there's been a few jumps similar
size to this in World Cup, but there's only ever, like, one of them,
and it's not as technical as these ones.
- What's the scariest thing about this track?
- Like, not an actual jump in particular, I think. Kind of just being a bit of windy
and it makes it unpredictable.
- So, that is Red Bull Hardline. It's not your average downhill race.
Twenty riders are invited, last year less than eight actually made it through to the
race. It's so gnarly, people are hurting themselves up there, bikes are breaking,
but it's one hell of a spectacle.
So, that is Hardline, and you can watch it on redbull.tv. If you want to see more
videos on GMBN, click down here for full pro bike playlist.
- And if you want to know how to ride some of those rocks like a pro,
click down there for how to ride the rocks with Neko Mulally.
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- And thumb up "Like," if you like Hardline!