Guwahati, 20th December 2020 : On 20th December the third edition of Assam Downhill Championship was held at Guwahati on the Monkey Temple Trail situated on the Hengerabari Hills near VIP Road. 35 top riders from across the country participated in the race.
Athletes from different parts of Assam like Guwahati, Nagoan, Jorhat as well as from Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Maharashtra took part in the race. A big crowd from across the city gathered at the location to cheer and motivate the young sportspersons as well experience the action from close quarters.
The top position in the hardtail category was achieved by Meban Suiam of Meghalaya, second was Taitus Marak of Meghalaya and third was Reuben Nicol Kharchandy of Meghalaya.
In the full suspension category Ishmamul Howk of Assam won the top spot while Gautam Taode of Maharashtra got the second spot and Malav Dutta of Assam got the third spot.
Assam Downhill Championship, or ADC as it is popularly known as, was formed by Spokehub with a single minded mission to provide a platform for Downhill riders across India to meet for one common purpose – Gravity defying Racing. This year is the third edition of the race. The inaugural edition of ADC in 2018 had around 45 riders from different part of North East and Himachal Pradesh whereas last year’s edition had 50+ riders from the North Eastern States in addition to Maharashtra and Sikkim. Due to covid the participation this was lesser.
Downhill is a thrilling adventure sport that not many in Guwahati has experienced earlier. Here the skilled cyclists hurtle down the approximately 1 km long narrow hilly trails on their extreme cycles at speeds touching almost 50kmph over natural obstacles like overgrown roots, rocks, loose gravel and some man-made ramps, from where they take amazing 10 feet long jumps. Since 2019, the organisers have been developing the Monkey Temple trail professionally under the guidance of senior national champion Gautam Taode from Maharashtra. Participants from earlier editions has gone on to win podiums at National Events. With growing interest in the sport and lot of young talent coming up we are hopeful that Assam and the north east will become soon become a powerhouse in different formats of mountain biking. The natural terrain of the region offers us a huge potential that needs to be tapped.
From this year the race is being managed by trailnexus.in, a trail sports event platform focused on mountain biking and trail running. Spokehub Cycling, Pedal for a Change and Whacky Talky are the organisations behind the event.
