| Riders battle to tame "slippery slide"
Over 165 crazy mountain bikers converged on Lithgow over the weekend to battle it out in the NSW State Downhill Championships, held at the extremely popular State Mine Heritage Park & Railway venue.
Conditions leading up to the weekend left the track packed down and looking very fast and Saturdays practice had the top riders talking about a sub three minute run.
The weather, however, had different ideas.
The overnight rain slowed the track down considerably and fog reduced visibility on the top section of the course to mere metres.
Sunday morning practice produced numerous slips and spills as riders tried to come to grips with the different rack conditions.
Despite some of the best known riders in the state being on hand, the star of the weekend was definitely 11 year old Alice Minahan, who showed absolutely no fear as she tackled the whole course. That included the A lines over the road gap and down through the rock garden.
As the only junior girl to ride more than one round of the series, Alice was not only crowned State Junior Girl Champ but also took out the under 19 Women's series win.
It was great to see an all local podium in the Junior Hard-tail class with Jarrad Anlezark ignoring a broken finger to take third.
Callum Boyd finished second and Cody Strickland took out the championship medal in his first state level race.
Joanne Fox had no competition in the senior women but still put down a great wet track time of 4.25.78 to become the Elite Women's State Champ.
As always, the elite men's category was hotly contested as the riders pushed their bikes and skills to the limit.
When Citrus Speed Imports, owner and series winner, Ricky Boyer, wiped a massive 12 seconds off his qualifying time to post a 3:16:94, everyone thought he had it in the bag.
Everyone, that is, except the final two riders down the hill.
Adam Smithson slammed down a 3:12:92 but the day belonged to Brad Kelly who stormed over the finish line and stopped the clock at 3:11:21.
This was an unbelievable time in the wet and boggy conditions and a fitting reward to a rider who has improved no end over this year's series to prove he is a rider to be reckoned with.
Congratulations Brad Kelly, 2005 NSW State DH Champion.
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