NIL VOLENTIBUS ARDUUM
Words and Photos ~ Dan Barham

Nil Volentibus Arduum - "Nothing is insurmountable for those who want" - must surely be the new motto for the trail builders and event organisers of the brand new Arduum Challenge . Who else could organise a full-blown DH race on a trail that's barely 3 months old?


The shuttle awaits

I first heard about the event just last week, after a tip-off from Muddbunnies honcho Ryan Peterson, who were co-sponsoring the race. She didn't need to do much to convince me to turn up, simply by describing the course as "steep, techy and super slippy in the wet", I knew it'd be worth my while to go shoot.

I wasn't disappointed; not that I'm trying to show off, but in my profession you get to see (and walk down, sometimes even RIDE!) dozens of DH courses, so I have a pretty good handle on what makes a tricky route. This was like a regular course turned up to eleven - the steeps were steeper, the roots rootier and someone seemed to have thoughtfully mixed Teflon with the mud to create a new frontier in the fight against friction. Just when you'd gotten your head around staying upright for more than ten metres at a time, you then had to deal with drops and gap jumps, high consequence features that'd be tough enough in the dry, let alone while wallowing in the Speed Sapping Goo From Hell (tm). Get the picture? This course was hard, hard enough to make me glad I'd left the bike safely at home, but then I am quite the chicken when it comes to stuff like this.

I handled the race the same way I work any top-to-bottom event - start at the top and work down, snapping riders as they passed. I had 48 riders to get through, if I timed it right I'd catch the last one just as they crossed the finish line, and I'd have a nice set of shots showing the entire course to its best. Braving the howling wind and lashing rain at the top, I made my way down between the tape, everything was going to plan; inching my way through the slop, stumbling to safe spots in the 2 minute intervals between riders, knocking down rotten trees in a mad scramble to make sure I wasn't in the way at the crucial time.
It was dark, my gear and clothes were saturated, but I was getting shots and was nearly halfway down the course when I heard the one thing that strikes fear into race photographers hearts, "Last rider on course."

It's the radio message you never want to hear when you've still got another mile of course to take pictures on, it's the rookie mistake, it's the reason magazine editors don't return your calls. Despite my oh-so-careful calculations, I'd blown it all way early (story of my life), just before I'd reached the bottom half of the course. Of course, that half that just happened to have more light for better pictures, the drop and gap jumps, the awesome green mossy foliage, didn't it? Sod's Law in action once again. You'll have to use your imagination for those bits, or hey, maybe check out some other photographer's shots who knows how to pace themselves better.

All in all the race seemed a huge success - there was a great grassroots vibe to the event, even the crappy weather failed to dampen the enthusiasm that everyone had for performance mountain bicycling. Word on the streets (make that fireroads) is the organisers are looking to push the race into the regular calendar for the coming years - all I've got to say is I'll be there, working my way up from the bottom.
Dan Barham

Click here to download a pdf of the results.