Downhill is on the rise in WA, and a steadily growing crew from Byford has been riding the surge and bringing in the bling.
Byford riders cleaned up at this year’s maxed-out Downhill State Series with seasoned speedster Alan Forde taking the top podium place in the Masters 1/2 division and long-time mate and riding buddy Matt Garrett finishing up second in the Masters 3/4 division.
Alan’s daughter Asten proved her mettle this season and finished up third in the U15 Female division.
But it was newcomer Brock Williamson who really turned heads this year after smashing his 59-rider strong competition to take out the U17 Male division.
In his first full season, Brock podiumed in six out of seven rounds, with three firsts, two seconds and a third.
“At the season opener in Albany he just screamed down in a flash of black and white on this tiny-wheeled bike that’s pretty much obsolete, and left everyone wondering where this kid had come from,” Matty said.
“And we were all just jumping up and down cheering him on – we were stoked,” Alan said.
Brock finished off his near-perfect season with another win at the Peel Downhill State Championships at the newly-minted Tom’s Crossing trail in Dwellingup last month.
Alan just missed out on a similar shutout performance, coming in second place to a first-time rider from the east coast: “I was stoked for him though”.
While Alan’s son Roman – “an absolute weapon” – came in third in the Under 13 division.
Rob Brown, who fell into the sport when he ventured out to “see who his son was hanging out with”, also finished in third in the relatively new e-bike division. His son, Lucas, was unlucky not to podium this season, but he’s one to watch in 2025 after setting himself up as a consistent top 10 rider this year.
This is not the first time Byford has seen results. Alan and Matty have done alright for themselves over the past three seasons.
“Compared to other crews Byford is right up there,” Alan said.
And the Darling Scarp above Byford is famous as being the training ground of two-time world downhill champion Sam Hill.
“He’s the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). He’s inspired pretty much everyone,” Matty said.
“But for a while it was just us old guys. And now we’re seeing all the young ones come up and dominate,” Alan said. “And there’s been a lot of local support too, especially from Foothills Cycles”.
He said he sees mountain biking as a safer alternative to motorbikes, and is thrilled to see his kids take up the sport.
Rob, too, picked up the sport as a compromise to himself after a motorbike accident.
But downhill is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Far from the image of lycra-clad dads pedalling serenely through wooded glades, downhill is packed with thrills and spills.
“When you’re at the gates getting ready for the drop, you’re putting your life on the line,” Alan said.
“You end up with grazes on your shoulders from skimming trees. And you’re doing jumps sometimes as big as a two-storey building, and drops taller than a truck – if you come off that you’re breaking bones in both legs for sure.
“You’ve gotta be wired; your reaction times have to be so switched on.”
“One mistake and you lose three seconds, and often there’s only three seconds between the top 15 riders,” Rob explains.
“People ask us all the time why we’re doing this still at our age – it’s the rush,” Matty said.
“And the atmosphere is unreal – it feels like you’re a superstar. You’ve got hundreds of people lining the track banging and crashing, revving bladeless chainsaws – the feeling is just like nothing else.”
But it’s not all about the high-adrenaline antics. The crew explain there’s a real sense of camaraderie found riding trails together set against a backdrop of exquisite natural beauty.
“There’s something about being out in nature like that – it’s the biggest mental relief ever,” Alan said.
“And it’s awesome because there’s no drama about age gaps – everyone’s just as passionate. You can be a 14-year-old kid riding the same track beside a 40-year-old dude and it’s not weird,” Matty said.
“And there’s good banter – there’s no sledging. It’s just a really welcoming sport. I reckon that’s why more people are doing it.”
The boost in popularity in mountain biking disciplines has been pretty even across the board since COVID, making it one of the fastest growing recreational activities around the world.
Regional towns across Tasmania and Victoria have been banking their buck on mountain biking as a lucrative future for local tourism.
WA has been following the trend, with the state government splashing unprecedented amounts of cash on new trails, particularly in the Perth Hills and the South West.
And the gains are starting to show: in two weeks Collie will host the AusCycling Mountain Bike Enduro National Championships, bringing more than 1000 riders to the coal town.
But as the flattest state in the country, there has been a general perception that WA simply can’t compete with the downhill potential of the east coast and its Great Dividing Range.
The epicentre of the nation’s downhill escapades is in Cairns, geographically as far from here as possible.
But Alan explains that what WA lacks in elevation, it more than makes up for in “technical terrain”.
“We’ve got the gnarliest tracks around,” he said.
“It would be good to see the downhill nationals here next year at Tom’s Crossing and some outside industry sponsors come on board.”
