Taming the Red Mamba
Scribed by Amon Shaw
7 minute read
This year’s World Mountainboard Championships were held in the north-east of South Africa, in the mountain town of Sabie. It’s around a four-hour drive from Joburg and sits right next to Kruger National Park (more on that later).
The excitement to see lions in the wild was just as high as the nerves of riding a BoarderX track called the ‘Red Mamba’.
As usual, there was a keen bunch of Britons eager to prove the UK is one of the most decorated countries in mountainboarding. A few days before the event, nine UK riders and some dedicated supporters jumped on a flight to the land of the elephant.
This year’s event ran from the 18th to the 20th of June and saw riders from all over the globe: USA, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Australia, Brazil and of course South Africa.
Team GB was full of the usual suspects: Matt Brind, Emlyn Bainbridge, Amon Shaw (myself), Sonnie Dibben, Ash Mulholland, Mark Bishop and Paul Sloggett. We were also lucky to have someone representing the girls, our very own Sarah Watson, and last but by no means least, we took with us mountainboard royalty and a pioneer of the sport – Pete Tatham.
The Downhill
The track for the downhill was vicious. At around 2.5km long and full of steep sections, roots and rocks, it finished on the BoarderX track (more on that later), which made it a very tough run for any rider. Beiran Martlew would call it a proper downhill track, and he would be right.
It started with a tight chute to get you up to speed almost instantly, then dropped into some fast, flowing corners. Within the first 15 seconds you had to thread the needle through some tight rocks and a big hole, and then you were straight into the standout feature of the track, a rock drop. Before you got there you had to shake off some speed (you had a lot by this point) before hitting the rock and getting sent into a blind right-hand corner. Get it wrong and you’d become very close friends with a South African pine tree.
The next section was the fastest on the track, a steep chute littered with rocks and roots, before you were met with yet another horrible corner, very similar to the last one. From there it was all about carrying the speed you had (again, a lot) all the way to the exit of the woods, where you joined the BoarderX track. As scary as it sounds, most people found the downhill a lot of fun.
In the Pro, I (Amon Shaw) managed to come 1st with 2:50.3, Pete Tatham wasn’t too far behind on 2:57.9, and Polish rider Dawid Rzaca took 3rd with 2:59.4. In the Open, Sonnie Dibben grabbed the top spot with 4:05.3. Ash Mulholland came 2nd in Masters with 3:41.8, and Paul Sloggett brought it home for the Veterans with a respectable 6:25.5.
Click the pic below for a videos of how RAPID the track was.
The BoarderX
As I mentioned, the boardercross track in South Africa was called the ‘Red Mamba’. Partly because the dirt is red and it snakes down the hill, but also because it’s a nasty bugger.
There was a lot of chat about whether it was faster than the Serbia track from a previous world championship. I haven’t ridden that one myself, but I can confidently report this was the fastest track I have ever ridden.
It started with an extremely tight, somewhat last-minute four-man start gate, into some rollers and a small step up. Then you hit the first right-hand berm and the speed picked up.
From there it was hold on until you reached the halfway point, where you’d find the recently added section (built purely to give riders a break from the speed). This was a line of slightly uphill rollers leading into three consecutive tight berms. They were much slower than the rest of the turns on the track, but no less punishing thanks to how tight they were.
After that the speed picked up again and brought you to the final corner, where (if you didn’t skid to scrub some speed) my guess is you’re going around 35mph. The final feature was a huge 11-metre table top right before the finish line.
The racing was as intense as it always is, if not more so with the big snake involved.
Results for the UK lot are as follows:
In the Pro category, behind Dawid Rzaca of Poland in 1st, Pete Tatham took 2nd, and Matt Brind grabbed 3rd, putting two UK riders on the podium, with Mark Bishop coming 7th. In the Womens, Sarah Watson took 2nd with Erica Leafe of the USA taking 1st. The Open was also a big one for the UK, with me (Amon Shaw) taking 1st and Sonnie Dibben grabbing 3rd. Ash Mulholland brought it home in the Masters with a solid 3rd, and Paul Sloggett topped the Veterans category in 1st!
The Freestyle
The freestyle course was a little less vicious than the other disciplines, but the stunts being thrown were just as gnarly as the animals down the road in the nature reserve.
I was lucky enough to be asked to help build the jump line back in April this year (check the video out below).
We had big ambitions for it, but with limited time and work still needed on the Boardercross track, it ended up being just two big booters, with a standout feature of going under a bridge on the run-in.
Having just two jumps actually levelled the playing field, letting riders of all nationalities show off their best tricks to a crowd of locals on the final day.
Unfortunately, due to the weather and the light fading (it was winter in South Africa), the pro freestyle finals were cancelled, and the results were taken from the previous day’s qualifying.
In the Pro, I (Amon Shaw) took 3rd behind Nicky Geerse of the Netherlands and Poland’s Dawid Rzaca. Ash Mulholland came 6th, and Mark Bishop 8th. In the Womens, Sarah Watson took the top spot with 1st. The Open saw Sonnie Dibben grab 2nd behind Polish rider Tymek Szot. No UK riders made the top four in Masters, with Brazil’s Alex Lampada taking the win. Pete Tatham then brought it home in the Veterans category with 1st place.
Overall Results
In the Pro, I (Amon Shaw) finished 2nd overall behind Poland’s Dawid Rzaca, with Pete Tatham coming 5th, and Mark Bishop 8th. In the Womens, Sarah Watson topped the standings in 1st. The Open went to the UK too, with Sonnie Dibben taking 1st. Ash Mulholland rounded it off by winning the Masters in 1st place.
Touristing
Now, we couldn’t go to South Africa without checking out some of the amazing things the country has to offer (besides the mountainboarding).
It goes without saying, South Africa is one of the world’s best safari destinations, and everyone from the UK got the chance to witness it first hand, with the event around an hour from Kruger National Park.
We got to drive around and see the animals in the wild, which really is incredible. My words can’t do it justice. Between us we saw, but were not limited to, lions, leopards, giraffes, rhinos, elephants, hippos, crocs, buffalo, monkeys, hyenas, wild dogs and much more.
Vibes
We spent around 12 days out there and it was a trip of a lifetime. Meeting and hanging out with international riders is always such a treat, and it reminds us why we love this sport so much.
All the laughs, parties, crashes and pranks have left us all very much looking forward to the next one.
Massive thank you to all that made this event possible!
Click the pic below for a lil edit of the South African adventures by Emlyn Bainbridge
Videos & Photos by Jereme Leafe, Amon Shaw, Caio Dourado, Filipe Andre Vieira, Erica Leafe, Ayla Sergeant,
Shannon Lusk, Emlyn Bainbridge.