Urban Assault - Cape Town DH

Oct 25, 2011 at 3:36
by Eric Palmer  
Cape Town DH was in full on action mode this weekend. Riding down from Signal Hill into the top of Bo Kaap with a little urban section to end the run off. I went through on Sunday for the race & snapped a few shots. It was a bit of a different vibe with guys riding down in teams, some working together well, others in it for the individual times, while it was funny to watch some of the guys giving each other a hard time on the way down.

Theo amp Dan Urban Assault Eric Palmer

I made my way up into the mountain for the 1st run and observed that not a lot, if any maintenance was allowed, not even to cut the grass. I stopped at some log rollers & most people were quite cautious there until Adi flew past me at about shoulder height. There were a few crashes, but nothing too serious. Rob managed to do a good one rolling with his bike & taking his shoes off at the same time.

Urban Assault Eric Palmer

Urban Assault Eric Palmer

Some brave guys were giving it a go on hard tails & Ian, one of the BMXers was flying through and managed to take the win in the HT class and last, but not least the sprogs came through. I always enjoy seeing how much faster they get at each race.

Urban Assault Eric Palmer

Urban Assault Eric Palmer

Urban Assault Eric Palmer

From where I was I could see a little section of the track going down into the trees, so I got out the 70-200mm so that I could catch both spots and gave a it bit of a different perspective which was good for a change.


That was the end of the 1st run, so I made my way down to the school to get some of the Urban side. The stairs were it. The school had changed slightly & made some spots a bit more tricky to shoot. I went to have a look, but the light was a bit tricky & the spaces were a bit tight for me to sort that out with flash, so I decided to stick to the stairs & try a few angles. It was interesting to see everyone's lines through there. There was a bit of a gap between some of the runs & then all of a sudden 4 riders came through together. Later heard it was to slipstream through the speed trap, but unfortunately it didn't work out for them in the end.

Luke Theo Roman amp Dan Urban Assault Eric Palmer

Urban Assault Eric Palmer

Urban Assault Eric Palmer

Urban Assault Eric Palmer

Urban Assault Eric Palmer

That was it and now time for prize giving. Andrew Guess was doing a trials demo, but unfortunately I missed that.


Urban Assault Eric Palmer

Speed Trap Winner Urban Assault Eric Palmer

Stefan took it through the speed trap at 62.5km/h


Urban Assault Eric Palmer
Top Three

Check out the full results here.

Thanks to Chris Nixon & Paul Morris for organizing the event & Red Bull, Mongoose, cSixx, Action Cycling & Leatt for making it possible & all the prizes.

Author Info:
ericpalmer avatar

Member since Feb 6, 2008
58 articles

30 Comments
  • 65 0
 i salute to the hardtail guy.....
  • 9 0
 what a boss!
  • 28 0
 hardtail with one brake - brave.....
  • 5 1
 !!!! HARD TAIL PRIDE !!!!
  • 13 0
 What he lacks in budget he makes up for with courage. Big Balls!!
  • 4 0
 he would just slow down by using his ball sack as an achor (considering the size of it)
errrr probably I mean.
  • 1 0
 I don't know about you tho, but I def wouldn't wanna drag my jewels through the dirt to stop... *shudders*
  • 2 0
 When you have balls that big you don't want to stop.
  • 2 0
 The guy's legs were built by fox and pushed!
  • 9 1
 hahah i see a lot of morewoods...i wonder why Wink
  • 2 0
 sick photos! real awesome that you got that many angles of the race in here . Nice work E
  • 2 1
 Is that Table Top Mountain in the Background? I was there this past Summer, briefly, and saw some guys riding down a portion of it.
Is that where Signal Hill is? Cool event.
  • 1 0
 Yeah, it's Table Mountain in the 1st fisheye shot of the finish section. Signal Hill is pretty much behind me there. It's the hill above Sea Point where the noon day gun is. Was a good day!
  • 3 0
 seattle washington needs to do an urban dh race!
  • 1 0
 yea dude. Start at the top of queen anne hill and race down to the waterfront. Tons of steep and stairs and hobos to jump over!
  • 2 0
 there's enough hobos, you could even get a hobo gap going! lol
  • 2 0
 They need to have a hardtail DH class
  • 1 0
 they did.
  • 1 0
 Is it common to have a hardtail class? Add that to list of reasons to go back... I miss my NS
  • 1 0
 Damn... Giant STP and single brake? I might have to turn in my Man Card to that guy...
  • 2 0
 i want to see a vid
  • 1 0
 if I find one I'll post the link
  • 2 1
 Awesome shots! Whats a sprog?
  • 1 0
 A little kid... not sure what the age cut off is for them, but think they're around 10
  • 1 0
 Can't miss these number plates
  • 1 0
 hardtail beast!
  • 1 0
 nice johan!!







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