National News

 

Day 2 started with a wake up call from the resident dog at the Back 2 Basics camp site. He snuck into the tent and started barking, almost as if he was excited that it was race day.

Everyone gathered in the kitchen for bacon and scrambled egg rolls sharing stories of the previous day and joining in a communal stoke that was with us the whole weekend. There was a great vibe of excitement and anticipation for the day ahead.

Upon arrival at the High Rising course, we were met with a very chilly East wind which meant there was a tail wind charging directly into "carnage corner." All thoughts of pre drifting immediately turned into the thought of hard foot braking.

There was a little trick skating early on to keep warm while marshals cleared the track for race day. Practice runs were slow to start as riders got a feel for the tail wind and became progressively faster with carnage corner earning it's name. Luckily there were no serious injuries with the worst being a knee cartilage injury to Bradley Barham which unfortunately ended his riding for the weekend.
 

High Rising Extreme Full House  Photo: Sharon Le Grange
 

It was great to see the number of riders this year in the overall event, with the street luge category boasting the only woman rider in the competition, Maryka, earning her stripes on this gnarly hill.

Shortly after midday, it was decided that carnage corner needed to be re-packed with hay bales due to the amount of crashes into it. Riders took this opportunity to grab a quick bite to eat and think about their riding set up.

As the shuttle went up with all the riders to get the racing started, spectators and media started flowing in and it looked like it was going to be a spectacular day for racing.
 

Skateboard Final  Photo: Sharon Le Grange

Skateboard started with a lot of 2 man heats as some riders had to pull out of racing. The wind had picked up by the time 2nd heats began. This didn't stop anyone from charging harder and created a very interesting playing field for riders.
 

 

 

Luge got underway first. It seemed like the pace was increased as riders cranked down into the last corner with smoke bellowing from their shoes. Glen Phillips came out on top after Russell Naude crashed into the infamous corner 3. Russell redeemed himself with a victory in Classic Luge. He coasted over the finish line with a big lead on Glen.

 

The top 8 riders looked extremely good all weekend which created a great vibe for spectators. The consolation final saw Alex Duss taking it with fellow Stellenbosch rider, Paul du Plessis placing 6th. Attila Hery came in at 7th and newcomer Dean Engel placing 8th which was the highest placing by a newcomer in this race which won him a brand new set of wheels. It was time for the finals and everyone gathered on the last corner to catch all the action. Richard Dweza defended his title from last years High Rising by holding off Matt Adrene to claim his throne on the High Rising hill once again. Raoul van den Berg came in a close 3rd with Amin Gray right on his heels in 4th.
 

In conclusion, the weekend was one of great excitement, hard racing and above all a brotherhood was shared among all the riders. To see how stoked everyone was to ride with each other was a great feeling.
A big thank you to SAGRA for organizing a fantastic High Rising Downhill Extreme 2010.

High Rising Downhill Xtreme Street Luge Podium  Photo: Sharon Le Grange