August 31, 2009 (Canberra, Australia) – The DH course here in Canberra at Mt. Stromlo Park is super-groomed, pedally and features a few huge jumps where time can be made. The course drops a total of about 175m over 1.55km. While not the favorite course among riders, the organizers seem to have put plenty of effort into making the track as well-built as possible.

The few berms on the course as well as the dozens of jumps are rock hard and shouldn’t start to fall apart as the week progresses. The featured section of track is probably the upper rock garden, almost right out of the start gate riders blast over 75m of pointy, axle high rocks at full speed. Smooth riders on big bikes will make up time here. Slightly lower down is the triple threat – three big rock jumps in a row that can either make or break a run. The lower section once again includes a massive 200m+ sprint to the finish, and this year has been filled with jumps and whoops to keep things interesting.

The Course walk was today (Sunday), and the attitude among most riders seems to be that they did a good job with what they had to work with. All DH categories take to the course on Monday from 10am-2pm for the first practice session of the week. The Junior and Elite DH finals take place on Sunday, Sept. 6.