Downhill bungy jumps gets Cairns' adrenalin pumping

Scott

bAdmin
Staff member
April 22, 2014
MEDIA RELEASE - Downhill bungy jumps gets Cairns' adrenalin pumping
For most, just the thought of taking off from a mountain bike downhill ramp is enough to get the adrenalin pumping, but for Australia's Chris Barlin (Green to Gold Race Development) it isn't enough.
Barlin took his preparations for the 2014 UCI MTB World Cup to another level by performing a downhill bungy jump with his bike on Tuesday at AJ Hackett's in Smithfield Regional Park. (Download images)
"That was pretty exciting, it was a great opportunity to do this before the World Cup starts this weekend," said Barlin after making the jump in full sight of both the official World Cup downhill course and official event venue.
"It was definitely very different to what I am used to as we usually have very calculated training, everything is taken into consideration, but this was a lot of fun."
Dubbed the “Rumble in the Rainforest”, the World Cup begins on April 25 with over 300 of the world's best mountain bikers from 28 nations descending on the Far North region of Queensland. They will contest the Olympic Cross Country (XCO), Downhill (DHI) and Cross Country Eliminator (DHI) events over three days.
Sydney's Barlin, 27, is part of Australia's first home-grown Australian UCI downhill mountain bike team co-created by himself and Lachlan McKillop. The team aims to bring support to young Australian downhill riders by giving them the opportunity to race at a professional level both nationally and internationally.
Barlin is joined on the team by 2013 UCI World Championship junior women's downhill silver medallist Danielle Beecroft (NSW), and former junior Oceania champion and 2013 worlds representative Brent Smith (NSW).
"I had thought about this for a while, I wanted to further the careers of younger athletes, and I saw a potential for a lot of Australia's junior talent to progress after the junior ranks," said Barlin, who contested the World Cup opening round in South Africa last week. "It all came about very quickly, but it has snowballed now, so we are very excited.
"And having a Green to Gold team with Australian riders with an Australian race at the start of the season was going to be a really great thing for us. We are really happy to be in Cairns."
The Downhill competition at the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Cairns commences on Thursday with official training, before qualifying on Friday afternoon. The finals will be held from 12.30pm on Saturday April 26.
The Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland is proud to support the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup as part of a growing calendar of sporting, cultural, business and regional events across the state.
--------------------About the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Series

  • 2014 Series will feature nine events in nine countries, across four continents from April and August.
  • The opening round was held in Pietermaritzburg (South Africa) April 10-13. Results
  • Seven rounds are held in the Olympic Cross Country, Downhill and Cross Country Eliminator events across the elite, under 23 and junior categories. More info
2014 Cairns World Cup Online

2014 Cairns World Cup Event Info

 
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