See this article and others in Hurly Burly 2016.
Words: Mike Rose || Photos: Sebastian Schieck and Duncan Philpott
The Danny Hart story is one of guts, dogged determination and sheer brilliance on a bike. It is also one of passion and desire… Hart loves to ride bikes. I first came across the diminutive figure of an 11-year-old Danny Hart whilst shooting a feature called ‘The Hardcore’ for Dirt Magazine back in 2003 (issue #38) at Innerleithen (Scotland). It was one of the Winter Series races – cold and miserable – but even at that young age you could tell that Danny was special. He just had natural talent on a bike. He was fluid and stylish too.
Fast-forward eight years and Danny was on the run of his life at the 2011 Champéry World Championships. ‘Oh God, Danny stay on your bike’ came the screeching call from guest commentator Nigel Page as he slashed his way down the mountainside in a swashbuckling style. That run, and almost 12-second victory, will go down in the history books as one of the greatest of all time.
But that elusive first World Cup win was seemingly out of his grasp. He was so close on many occasions – numerous fourth, third and second places, but that top spot, well it seemed like it would never come. That frustration may eventually crush some people, but not Danny. With grit and focus, and the help of his family, friends and team, he carried on – workmanlike, never giving up, always dedicated, always aiming for that top spot.
On a hot day in July, in the rarefied environment of the high Swiss Alps, Danny sat in the start gate at the final of the Lenzerheide World Cup preparing for a full-on attack. I have no idea how he was feeling, but having qualified in first position the pressure must have been on. Gwin was in the hot seat as Hart started on his finals runs he was slower at Split 1, then 2, then 3 and finally at split 4. He was close, but it really didn’t 100k like it was going to happen. I had that sinking feeling in my stomach, that ‘not again’ thought going through my brain. It seemed like it was not to be. But then something happened. Hart sliced across the finish line and the time went green. After a brief moment shock turned to hysteria.
He’d done it, he’d won his first World Cup. It was mayhem. The winning margin of 0.096 of a second seems so abstract now, an unimaginable amount of time. And of course this was just the start… the ‘Redcar Rocket’ was on a roll.
By Mike Rose, one of the sport’s ground-breaking photographers and lover of pottery and gardening.
If you enjoy reading this, you should check out the Hurly Burly. It’s got many features like it, plus round-by-round accounts of the UCI Downhill World Cup and pore over hundreds of the best images of the season in Hurly Burly Book.
