Leigh Douglas and her bike 2009.
Photo: Leigh Douglas

Tasmanian rider Leigh Douglas recently won the final race of the Australian National Series, and in what some publications have described as an ‘upset’ she finished ahead of National Champ Claire Whiteman in the series points. But all the Aussie riders seem to be great mates who inspire each other to ride faster with a bit of friendly rivalry. It’s unlikely the riders themselves are getting upset about wins and losses, they’ll just be getting faster for next time!

Leigh Douglas is a 30 year old former-Canadian who is now based in Tasmania. She did a few races last year but found it hard with her job, so she quit! She now works part time in Treadlies bike shop in Kingston and part time as an assistant surveyor, and rides bikes LOTS. Great priorities!

Martha Hucker caught up with her to get the lowdown on how her season went and how she rides so fast….

So, how stoked are you to win the Australian National Series? And how did your races go?

Very stoked! Because I get along with Claire Whiteman so well, in an odd sort of way it felt as if I was “stealing” something from her! It was more of a personal challenge to do my best than it was to “beat” someone else. But in that final run, I was coming over the last jump and I heard the announcer say that I was the new Series winner and I must admit I let out a fairly loud yell cause I was so excited!!

I was lucky enough to have strong results all season long, and perhaps the fact that there are a few of us up on the podium that kept swapping positions it was more incentive to work harder to stay up there. I think us girls are unique because we work through obstacles/jumps/lines together – this in turn makes each one of us faster – then the girls coming up into the elite category know they have to strive to be quicker yet again – maybe one day we’ll be fast like the boys?!?

Leigh Douglas winning the Australian National Series.
Photo: Leigh Douglas

What’s the best luck you’ve had this season, and the worst? Any gnarly crashes?

Staying on my bike for the most part! But as for luck, it has to be the Illinbah, QLD race where the wooded section seemed just unrideable. It was horribly frustrating! I fell about 10 times in my qualifying but then in my final run I miraculously only went over the bars once! The rest of my run was clean and I went into the hot seat until was bumped out by my fellow countrywoman, Claire Buchar. Two Canucks on the podium!

How did you get into riding DH?

I have ridden mountain bikes since I was a teenager and since I come from the west coast of British Columbia, it was a natural sort of progression (If you can call it that!) to begin freeriding. It was only since we arrived in Tasmania in late 2005 that we (my partner Jay and I) started racing – purely to try and meet people who ride! It was really only this year though that I made an attempt to take it relatively seriously – I began focussing on my actual riding skills, instead of just trying to do bigger jumps and go faster. Slowing things down and working on the basic skills makes all the difference in the world.

Have you raced any World Cup rounds yet?

2008/09 was only my first full season. I was lucky enough to weasel my way into the World Cup in Canberra last year via Canada as a “discretionary rider”. I was the sole downhiller there, and that just shows the lack of support for DH racing in Canada when they can’t even support riders to race down here. I came 16th overall, sandwiched between Claire and Cara!

Leigh Douglas, 2008 World Championships.
Photo: Leigh Douglas

What’s the riding like in Tasmania, do you have more actual hills than, say, Canberra? And who do you ride with there?

Ha ha yes the riding here is pretty good! We have a good variety of tracks but most are spread out around town. Even though some trails are getting closed, other legal ones are starting to open up. I hope with the media attention that the last National race had, there will be even more support for more tracks in the Hobart area.

99% of the rides I do here are with my partner, Jay. He’s ultra-supportive and I’m so lucky to have him there to be the coach, mechanic, driver, masseuse, water bottle carrier, and well, he is my sugar daddy!! Ha ha ha! I also get a lot of “coaching” from my friend Josh – the way he teaches me just seems to work, you know? Some people you get a lot from, and he’s the first one I call when I’m looking for some tips! There are a lot of people we ride with here, but as for girls that rip, it’s Emma (aka the Grasshopper), Edwina (aka Crackers), and Jill (aka DH Mom!).

What bike(s) do you ride? How did they go this year?

This year I had a slight change with my sponsor and had to ride Intense. I debated with the Socom or the M6, and opted for the latter as the geometry on the former just didn’t seem to suit me. I must admit, that bike is bloody FAST! It accelerates out of corners and the geometry is so race-y. It pedals amazingly for having nearly 10 inches of travel, and it definitely makes up for a lot of my mistakes!

I also have an old road bike for training, and recently got a Charge Duster Mid with a SRAM build kit – today should be my first ride on it! I’m going to aim for more XC riding than road as I’m getting sick of all the close calls with Tassie drivers!

Who/what inspires you to ride better?

Trying to catch that bunny out in front – Claire Whiteman!! Seriously though, maybe it’s a lack of skill that inspires me… That sounds weird but when you’re riding behind a fast boy and he drops you on a corner, it’s your cornering that is lacking isn’t it? Better off to go and practice corners for 2 hours than just do shuttle runs down the same track once in a while. That’s what I focussed on this year and it obviously paid off! As someone here once said, if you’re gaining half a second every corner, and there are 10 corners, that’s 5 seconds isn’t it??

Elite Women riders at Geelong, 2009.
Photo: Leigh Douglas

Any thank-yous?

Definitely to Jay – without him the series wouldn’t have been possible. He’s kept me positive through the whole season and has pushed me into the garage to get on my trainer while he makes dinner!! My sponsors: Dion from 4Shaw Agencies and Leigh from Treadlies Bike Shop. Thank you to Dave and Elle from The Training Fix (who taught me the importance of weight training), the “SRAM boys” (Trent, Dillon, Hyson) for all their support at the races, and to all the girls for making the Nationals so much fun… It was so great this year girls!

Older: Martha Hucker interviews Fionn Griffiths

Fresher: Tracy Moseley wins round 1 of the 2009 Maxxis Cup

Published on 15/03/2009 by Martha Hucker.