The year was 1994 and Australia hosted its first ever MTB World Cup. It was held at Smithfield in Cairns—the same site that that was used the 2014 World Cup as well as the recent Gravity Enduro National Championships.
While only the XC was a UCI ratified World Cup, they also held a National Series DH round at the same time (the course was used the following year for the World Cup DH round and for the World Championships in 1996).
Both the DH and XC courses were extremely steep, technical and challenging, so much so that it was quite a shock to many of the international riders. This however was the norm for the local Cairns ‘Hellmen’ and the World Cup thrust Cairns MTB culture into the international spotlight.
Cairns has produced a long list of top level gravity riders over the years including Mick Hannah and his sister Tracy, Michael Ronning, John Dallozzo, Berend Boer, Ben Bramham, Rodney Meares and plenty more.
I still hold vivid memories of my first trip to Cairns and many of the tracks we rode back then remain challenging today—even with the assistance of decent brakes and suspension. So here’s a flashback to the 1996 National DH round with two Cairns legends lighting up the trail; Michael Ronning and Ben Bramham. And while we’re at it, check out the video below from Ride Cairns which also features Ben Bramham, a rider who has been part of the Cairns scene since the early days.
