The Hardest Line
Issue 50 / Wed 25th Oct, 2017
From a hillside in Wales has emerged a monster. Created from the warped mind of Dan Atherton, Hardline is the toughest downhill course in the world. We catch up with Adam Brayton and Craig Evans and try to understand what it takes to survive the track.
Ewen Turner takes an in depth look at the Red Bull Hardline event, created by Dan Atherton a few years ago it’s arguably the most difficult race on the planet to win, and rightly so. Ewen chats to Adam Brayton and Craig Evans, this years winner, about what motivates them to lay it all on the line.
Hardline isn't something that occurs by accident. It happens when you let an Atherton loose on a hillside in Wales with a shovel. In an aim to produce the ultimate test for downhill riders Dan Atherton disappeared into the woods and created a monster. Back in 2014, Dan has six weeks to put together a course of his dreams for the inaugural Red Bull Hardline. The start list consisted of nine hand-picked riders that Dan thought would survive, and Hardline was born.
Without the restrictions of World Cup rules, this track could push the boundaries of what was possible on a bike and challenge riders far beyond their usual race day limits. With enormous jumps mixed with exceptionally technical riding, the course has evolved over the years, and the event has now earned legendary status in the mountain bike race calendar. The field is now bigger, but it's still an exclusive event, with a start list for 2017 of just 23 riders. This was reduced by the start of the event, and further reduced through the process of practice, injury and riders coming to their senses and calling it a day!
Adam Brayton comes back time and time again, but what keeps him coming? 'I'm not sure, to be honest, the money is pretty good if you do well, so that's a good incentive. I guess this event is more than a test of skill'. It's hard to know quite what that means, but more than a test of skill would suggest the mental game is a huge one, and being comfortable over those jumps is critical. Having come close in 2016, Brayton was keen to come back and finish things off for 2017.
This year's conditions were far from ideal, but is that the most challenging aspect? 'A lot of things make this place tough, definitely the mental aspect, the sheer size of the jumps, it's always that unknown and every year it feels different. Throw in some wind, rain and mud like this year and hard just gets harder'. And how much did the weather affect the race? 'We got away with the weather as bad as it was. It was a shame the rain came in for the last three, but the track coped with it no problem considering how much we had' Adam tells me.
In the end, the riders chose to start the finals from a lower start point in the woods as the wind was too high, but still provided more than enough action for riders and spectators alike. Attracting a big crowd, Hardline is a fan favourite, coming to watch their heroes ride the hardest lines on the planet. However, shouldn't all races be this hard at World Cup level? Adam has his reservations. 'I'm not sure, it's difficult to compare the two, and I'm not sure how many riders would be left by the end of the season if the World Cup was like this. Although it would be great to see some bigger features at the WC, the bikes and riders are more than capable.'
Given how many riders fall by the wayside before the final runs, perhaps there is a sensible limit to how far the levels of danger and risk should be pushed in the quest for the ultimate track. For us mortals, it looks preposterously dangerous, but for the guys on the ground (or in the air!) is it that dangerous? And can it still be justified? 'Yes and No' Adam tells me, 'if I didn't feel I was a top 3 guy at that event I don't think I'd bother going, the appearance money isn't enough for what's on the line. Having said that if you have a perfect day, it's definitely justifiable! I make it sound like I don't enjoy it, I do, it's just a unique race that's hard to put into words!'. So what do you need to succeed here? What skills do you need on the Hardline? In his opinion; 'Confidence is definitely the foundation. This race is all in your head'. Could it be Hardline is a mental game? I think both literally and figuratively.
This year the racing was tight, with plenty of thrills and spills. With Brayton qualifying in 1st and returning champion Bernard Kerr looking strong, they were both odds-on favourites for the win. On the day, Dan Atherton made it onto the podium with a solid run, watching the architect of the course look so comfortable was great to see. In the end, Bernard Kerr had issues near the top of the course but managed to slide neatly into second behind the slightly surprised Craig Evans who, with an immense run managed to secure the win. Brayton was indeed up at the splits, but near the bottom of the course had an argument with a tree dropping him back to 5th. The tree likely came off worse, but the damage to the time was too much to overcome.
As a viewer, I feel that at the top level of racing the technicality of the courses should be extremely challenging. Providing things are not unnecessarily dangerous, it's great to see riders unclip and struggle (something we can all relate too) on a track and as a viewer, it becomes much easier to appreciate the difficulties and understand the sheer skill when a rider manages a section cleanly. I'm sure that world cup racing could learn more than a couple of lessons from the success of Hardline.
Having recovered from the event, we caught up with winner Craig Evans and found out more about another of Sheffield's mountain bike exports.
Who is Craig Evans? Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Steel City born and bred, I used to work in a steelworks, now I'm a window cleaner. I grew up in Sheffield living next to Wharncliffe woods, a small wooded hill in the north of Sheffield where the tracks are about a minute long max, but they are so awkward and techy it's an excellent place to learn to ride a bike. I looked up to Peaty, he just lives over the hill, and so does Josh Lewis, so we've got a good crew. I spent a couple of seasons in Whistler drinking Growers cider and nearly getting scurvy and started racing in 2014. I've met some fantastic friends and love riding bikes.
I get the impression you were not expecting the win. What were your expectations coming into the race?
This was my third year at Hardline but last year I blew up my knee on the first day of practice so didn't get to race. I didn't have any expectations coming into the race I honestly just like going to the event because the practice days beforehand are so much fun, sessioning with some sick riders and it's a chance to ride big jumps. There aren't loads of those opportunities in the UK.
How do you prepare for Hardline, is there anything else like it in the country? How does it compare to your local trails?
I don't really do anything special; best to just throw yourself in at the deep end haha. There are a few spots with big jumps in the UK like the 50 to 01 line at Revolution Bike Park, Woody's and Black Mountains but I didn't manage to get down to any of them beforehand as they are a bit of a drive from me. I was just trail riding in my local Wharncliffe Woods which is really sick, loads of slippy steep tech and rocky so probably helped on the steep rocky bits at Hardline.
How do you go about practising the track? Do you break it down into sections, analyse it, or just go on feel and send it?
I went into the first day just ticking off the big hits by sessioning, trying to feel comfortable being in the air for that long again. After the first day, it's a bit less of a session and more like doing proper downhill practice. I wasn't really trying to ride anything overly fast, I kept just trying to link smooth full runs together, carry good speed out of turns, nothing specific and just trying to breathe well, it's easy to hold your breath the whole way down haha.
What is the atmosphere like for you as competitors? Does it feel like a competitive event, or is it more casual?
For me, it feels more casual, but that might be because I didn't put pressure on myself to do well there. It's so good getting to the bottom safely on race day and having everyone be buzzing just to be down in one piece, everyone bonds over the practice days and you just want to see your mates safely at the bottom.
Do you feel that World Cup races should take note of Hardline and make their tracks harder? Should this be the standard for WC?
Yeah, I think it would be cool to make the World Cup tracks more technical, natural stuff with big jumps mixed in and less bike park and I think some people would agree.
What are the skills needed to compete at Hardline? Are they the same as World Cup downhill?
Yeah, it’s the same really I think, just some big jumps thrown in to mess with your head, I wasn't very competitive at World Cup downhill, so I don't know really haha.
Which sections of the track are the hardest to ride? The jumps look enormous, but are they the most challenging once you know your speeds?
The jumps were the easy bit once you had practised them, always scary but technically pretty simple once you had them worked out and got comfortable the hard bits to ride were the slippy rocky bits in between, so steep and awkward but so much fun.
Thanks to Red Bull, Adam Brayton and Craig Evans. Props to Dan Atherton for creating such a monster!
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By Ewen Turner
Ewen Turner is a self-confessed bike geek from Kendal in the Lake District of England. He runs a coaching and guiding business up there and has a plethora of knowledge about bikes with an analytical approach to testing. His passion for bicycles is infectious, and he’s a ripper on the trails who prefers to fit his working life around his time on the bike.
