The Bright kids of mountain biking

Interviews and images by Matt Rousu

Teagan Atherstone (18) and Aaron Gungl (17) have a a few things in common; they are both from the small town of Bright in Victoria’s North-East, both placed 2nd at the 2018 National Championships and both have been selected to represent Australia at the 2018 Mountain Bike World Championships held in Switzerland this September. Oh, and both of them are genuinely really nice people to be around.

Although this remarkable situation is hard to imagine, the similarities pretty much stop there. Teagan spends most of her time climbing hills on her super light-weight XC bike where as Aaron spends most of his time bombing down the steepest hills he can find on his Downhill bike. Sure Teagan does ride down hills and Aaron does actually pedal his bike sometimes, but the training, preparation and perception of their chosen area of mountain biking is vastly different.

I wanted to find out how two young, talented athletes who are separated by 4 months in age and live 4km away from each other can end up being apart of the 16 person junior team to be selected for the World Championships. I caught up with Teagan in Bright and chatted with Aaron who is already in Europe ahead of the big event in 2 months time.

What do you know about Teagan Atherstone?

First things first. How did you get into mountain biking?

Well, my Dad started mountain biking a while ago and one day when I was about 10 we rocked up to this race that he had entered. The organisers announced that there was a kids race but I didn’t have a bike so they ran around the carpark looking for a bike and a helmet, they chucked me on this random bike and I went in the race and won it! It felt pretty good winning against all these kids dressed up in lycra. I’d say that was my first actual experience with a mountain bike…

It seems like your family has been doing stuff in the outdoors for ever, so did mountain biking just evolve from that or where there any other sports that you were drawn to?

Mum and Dad both worked for OEG (Outdoor Education Group), so we were always kayaking, rafting, hiking and skiing. I did a bit of ski racing but mountain biking was the best because I could do it by myself and we didn’t have to travel anywhere. When we first moved to Bright it was great, there was a group of about 10-15 people that went out every Tuesday night, we would jump through puddles and see who could make the biggest splash, it was just a lot of fun.

Did you continue racing straight away or did you want to just ride and have fun?

Well, my first real mountain bike ride was a race so I pretty much just kept going in races. A Bright RAMBO (Riverina Alpine Mountain Bike Open) was my first big race, it was really muddy but really fun with heaps of puddles to jump in. Then an Inter-school mountain bike round came to Albury, so I raced that and won which qualified me for the school state championships, which I also went on to win! So I pretty much kept racing (laughter).

Now, You’re in Year 12 at school. How has it been juggling your final year at school and training for a World Championship race?

Um.. it’s been… challenging. My routine is to get up in the morning at 5:30am, go training, get home for breakfast, go to school, get home, train, do a bit of homework and fall asleep by 8pm. But the teachers have been really good, they’ve helped me work through all my studies. When I have a race coming up, they’ll give me a months worth of work to do beforehand so I can get away. There have been times when I get home from school and just fall asleep, I’ll get up to have dinner and then go back to bed, so it’s been hard.

Is school a big focus for you? Do you have a career path planned out or is you career choice going to be mountain biking?

I’d definitely like to give mountain biking a red hot go, because I do love it. But, school is definitely important to me, I’m working really hard at my studies and looking at going to University in the next couple of years. So yeah, I would like to do well at school as it’s important for my future but at the moment mountain biking is really important to me.

With you’re mountain biking it seems like your peaking in the junior ranks at the right time and you still have the U23 category at World Cup/Championships to look forward to over the next few years, what are your goals for this upcoming World Championships and over the next few years?

I would love to get on the podium at the Worlds, I think I’d cry if I did that. I’m also really looking forward to moving up into the Under 23 category next year, keep pushing and see how I can go. I watch the World Cups on RedBull TV and it’s amazing to see the young girls like Kate Courtney and Yana Belomoina battling with the older ladies like Gunn-Rita and Sabine Spitz, it’s amazing. Almost double their age and they’re still up near the front. That for me is a really big inspiration!

Who else is an inspiration for you on the World Cup Circuit? Who have you looked up to?

I really like Annika Langvad, she seems really cool. Her being able to study and ride is amazing. She looks so strong up the hills and, watching her stomp up those hills in Nove Mesto, that was incredible. I wish my legs were that strong! Hopefully one day…

Tory Thomas (Aussie mtb legend) was my idol, I’d always try and get a photo together with her at the finish line of the races, now I get to race against her, I still want to get a photo with her at the finish line though (laughter).

How was last years World Championships, your first big international race. A tough stage up in Cairns, the heat and humidity with a massive local crowd. How was the experience?

It was an amazing race and event, I feel like it was a great learning experience. It was a lot more that I expected… I went into it thinking ‘oh yeah, cool it just another mountain bike race’, but then I lined up at the start and their were 45 of us and everyone wants to win, everyone had trained really hard and come from all over the world.

Then there were all the people on the sidelines, it was really daunting… People were coming up to me wanting me to sign their shirts and taking photos with me, I has never done any of that before. It was just next level.

I think this year I’ll be more prepared and focused, I know now what it’s like at these events, even though it’s overseas and people say it’s a lot bigger over there. This year I feel like I’m more prepared so hopefully I can go and smash it out.

The Australian team seems like a pretty tight nit group this year, you all know each other, do you all get along or is it a bit of a rivalry?

I think we’re all friends (laughing), It’s hard not to be when there’s only us two girls (Zoe Cuthbert) and then there’s five boys. It is a little bit competitive sometimes but it’s all pretty relaxed. Going to Japan was a good experience for that, It was just going to be myself and the boys, but then Zoe came along which was great for us to work together at a bigger race before Worlds. The team dynamic between the XCers and the Downhillers is pretty funny though, all the DH boys have their grunge hair cuts while the XC boys are telling me the best way to shave my legs. (laughter)

You and Zoe have had a pretty big rivalry going this last Aussie Summer. She’s always just sneaking away from you.

She’s always just up there in the distance, I was only 6 seconds behind her at National Champs which I was pretty happy with, but… She’s still got me, I’m working towards it (laughter), coming after her..

On the look out for Zoe at Nerang,

Who are the people behind the scenes? 

My support group is the best that I could have I think. A few years ago I was picked up by Cyclepath (a local Bright bike store), they helped me for 2 years, then I got picked up by Giant and now more recently I’ve had support from Liv. Liv have organised my new bike and it looks very pretty. They’ve all been amazing, I can’t be more thankful to them. Also Greg from Halkswood Training and Donna from Progressive Coaching Systems, even the town, everyone in Bright got together and organised a fundraiser for Aaron and I which is amazing. The mountain bike club (Alpine Cycling) has a junior program which helped start my career. I feel like I’ve been planted in the best place thanks to Mum and Dad, they’ve started my journey and driven me to a lot of races and helped with my training. Mum has recently been driving out to the bottom of Mount Buffalo, reading a book in the car while I do my efforts up the mountain, Dad still comes out riding with me in the mornings, its an amazing family…

Photo: Matt Staggs

Get to know Aaron Gungl

What got you into riding mountain bikes and then into racing Downhill? Over the years you’ve always seemed to be super keen on the DH scene, where did that come from?

Since I was a kid I’ve always loved playing sports but funnily enough I was never really into riding bikes. Mum and Dad rode XC a fair bit and I guess when I was about 11 I first started riding with them. One day I watched a youtube clip of the Coastal Crew shredding some insane trail in Canada and from that day onwards I was hooked on riding. I’ve always been a competitive person so I knew I wanted to get into racing. For my 12th birthday I got my first Dh bike and the following year I did my first race season in the Victorian Downhill Series in the u15s category.

Over the last year it seems like you’ve kicked it up another gear and found more consistent and solid speed. Culminating with a close 2nd place behind factory sponsored Key A’hern. Can you tell me what has changed? Any influences, motivations, training techniques or coaching?

I think spending a lot of time riding in Whistler and just being on my bike everyday as well as racing in the local Aussie events has really helped with my consistency. I train at a local gym called “Bright Boot camp” twice a week and ride my moto as often as possible to build up my strength and endurance.

You missed out on national team selection last year for Cairns World Champs, was that a bit of a kick in the guts?

Yeah definitely, I feel like I was riding well and in good form at the time. Not making the national team definitely gave me motivation for the 2018 Aussie race season.

What does it mean now to be selected to represent Australia this year at the World Championships in Switzerland this September?

I’m super stoked to be representing Australia at the upcoming World Championships. I’m really looking forward to getting there and catching up with the rest of the team and hopefully achieve some goals with them.

Do you get along with your team-mates? Are you all friends or more rivals?

We’re definitely more friends than rivals, I obviously still want beat my mates but at the same time I’m happy if they lay down an awesome run. It’s good having a group of us now that are really fast, at every event it pushes us all to find that little bit more speed.

Who are the people/racers that you’ve looked up to most over the years? Any stories on meeting your childhood heroes?

I’ve always looked up to the Aussie riders, I remember going to Mt Buller to watch a DH race for the first time and getting Troy Brosnan and Sam Hill’s autographs. I was pretty awestruck seeing all these pro riders for the first time. I like watching the taller riders such Jack Moir and Luca Shaw because I'm fairly tall on my bike so i’d like to be able to ride like them one day.

What about your local community around Bright, whats your support network like at home?

I’m so lucky to be able to live at a place like Bright. It’s cool seeing how big the bike community in town is getting. There are heaps of younger riders getting into MTB scene so we should have a lot of talent coming out of our small town in the future.

It’s crazy how supportive people are in the community, they ran a fundraiser for Teagan and myself to help us with our dream to race at the World Champs this year.

You’re currently overseas in Europe traveling to some big races with your Dad. Chalking up some stellar results along the way, how has it been following the World Cup and Crankworx circuit around?

Its been amazing, we’ve been travelling around Europe just riding, racing and living the dream really. So far I’ve raced the Crankworx’s at Innsbruck and Les Gets which was awesome. I will be racing at the Le Bresse World Cup prior World Champs which I’m super excited about.

What is your goal for the World Championships this year?

My goal for World Champs this year is a top 5 result. The Aussies always seem to go well at Lenzerheide so I think I’m up for the challenge, it's a fairly short track so it will suit my strengths well.

You’re now getting to the age where you’ll no longer be a junior racer. Do you have any career paths planned out or are you going to try and give Mountain Biking a real crack as a profession?

My dream is to to be a mountain biker as a profession. I know its’s going to be a tough couple seasons moving up to the Elite Men category but I’m still young and feel if I work hard I’ll get there one day.

I’m just super grateful to be able to pursue my dreams. Massive thanks to Mum and Dad for all their support and everything they do for me.

I’d also like to thank my sponsors Lusty Industries, SRAM, Yarra Valley Cycles & Blue Dirt mountain biking for their amazing support.