Ellie Smith is the reigning Australian National DH Champion (having won the race on an Enduro bike, no less), and that was just the start of her 2022 season. So we sat down with Ellie to chat about her breakout year and what she learned over the course of the season; racing many different disciplines; bike setup and European vs. Australian DH tracks; her mental approach to racing and what does (and doesn’t) work for her; welding food manufacturing equipment for Mars Foods (!?!), and a whole lot more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Getting introduced to MTB at school sports day (2:42)
• Clicking with racing (6:23)
• Australian National Champs & winning on an Enduro bike (8:39)
• Crankworx & forming a plan for the 2022 season (13:09)
• Bike setup (20:41)
• European vs. Australian DH tracks (22:42)
• Norco Range DH (25:06)
• Racing Enduro vs. DH & the mental side of both (28:23)
• Lessons learned from 2022 (35:16)
• Coping with pressure (37:53)
• Crankworx (39:17)
• Ellie’s 2023 plans (41:47)
• Privateer life (43:29)
• Welding & working on food equipment (47:59)

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