Chch teen wins big MTB race
A teenager from Christchurch has beaten some of the top mountain biking talent in the world.
Billy Meaclem, 19, took out the Mons Royale Dual Speed and Style in front of a screaming crowd in Rotorua on Thursday night.
The knockout-format race sees two riders try to get through a short track full of turns, bumps and jumps as fast as possible while performing tricks on the jumps.
But impressive tricks are worth time deductions, which means the first person across the line is not always the winner.
Meaclem was relatively unknown internationally compared to the host of international riders he was up against.
He said the key to his success was consistency and a focus on speed, while doing ‘‘nothing to crazy’’ for his tricks – though he did get both hands of the handlebars over the big jumps. Meaclem was up against Swedish mountain biking legend Martin So¨derstro¨m, who won the event last year, in the finals.
Meaclem said he had been looking up to So¨derstro¨m for years; ‘‘It’s a dream come true just to ride with him, let alone take the win over him’’.
So¨ derstro¨ m crashed in the final run while performing a particularly difficult trick, handing Meaclem the victory.
So¨derstro¨m said it felt like ‘‘a faiytale story’’ for Meaclem, and could be the start of a big career.
Meaclem also made it through to the Pump Track World Championship in Arkansas, USA, last October. He finished 10th.
Crankworx is one of the biggest mountain biking festivals in the world. It also has stops in Canada and Austria.