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While most people are either out partying, spending time with family members, or chilling out with friends, we were at Pearl’s Hill City Park with a crowd of about a 1,000 people training our calves and feeding the mosquitoes. This might seem like an absurd idea but really, we were there to catch the Red Bull Dark Knights 2013 that was organised by the European Red Bull.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

The Red Bull Dark Knights is Singapore’s only night-time mountain bike downhill race and ever since its debut in 2011, the Red Bull Dark Knights has gained much popularity and its comeback this year at Pearl’s Hill City Park has attracted quite a number of riders from all over the world.

I have to say this, although I have been living in Singapore for the past 25 years, I have never been to Pearl’s Hill City Park and it was my virgin trip there. A look at the National Parks Website reveals that there is a restricted reservoir on top of the hill and if you’re clueless about where Pearl’s Hill City Park is, it is tucked away in the corner of Chinatown. It’s location is rather accessible as there are a couple of buses that serves the area and the nearest MRT Station is Outram Park Station, NOT Chinatown Station [unless you don’t mind walking a longer route].

Pearl’s Hill City Park.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

The Restricted Reservoir at Pearl’s Hill City Park.
[I bet not many people know that there’s a reservoir in Chinatown.]

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

The walk from the carpark to the event ground was really quite a distance and there wasn’t any signages around to guide us.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

This was the one and only signage that we spotted on our way to the event ground.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

When we arrived at the Race Village, it was bustling with activities, and tentages that sold food, drinks, and bicycle gears were set up.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013
From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013
From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

The rider in the lead gets to sit on this hot seat!

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

Visitors were also entertained with a special screening of Red Bull Media House’s feature film, “Where the Trail Ends”. The 81 minutes long movie showcased the world’s top freeride mountain bikers search and ride unraveled terrain around the globe, making their expedition the most progressive and ambitious mountain biking ever attempted.

The DJ for the evening was electrifying. The music that he played were heart-pumping and groovy.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

When we checked out the profiles of the riders whom were competing in the competition, we were quite surprised to find out that a majority of the competitors were Singaporeans.

Honestly, capturing photographs of the riders were extremely difficult as there was insufficient lighting and the riders were moving really fast. Although we were cleared to use flash photography, we decided against it as we do not want to affect the performance of the riders. Thankfully, we managed to get some good shots as we had access to the restricted zone.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

Keeping in the theme of knights and castles, the obstacles were interestingly named arrowhead, slingshot, and the dragon’s back, and each of the obstacles tested the tenacity of all the riders whom participated in the competition. In fact, we witnessed quite a number of riders falling off their bikes but their sheer determination and perseverance pushed them beyond their physical limits to complete the entire course. For that, we salute all the bikers whom took part in the race.

One of the riders completing the dunes obstacle.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

The ballista obstacle is definitely a tough one because riders must have a solid control of their bike in order to prevent themselves from veering off-course.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

An overview of the slingshot obstacle.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

One of the riders completing the slingshot obstacle.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

The saddleback and pitchfork were perhaps the hardest obstacles for the riders.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013
From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

Truly, the obstacle-filled race that is part urban part trail isn’t easy and one must have loads of guts to tackle the challenging obstacles.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

Rider Ng Chee Keong sitting on the hot seat for a moment.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

The champion for the Red Bull Dark Knights 2013 is none other than 37-year-old Daniel Sprague from Australia. Daniel has been competing in off-road cycling events for 31 years and he has won 2 World Amateur BMX Championships, 7 Australian Championships, and 29 Western Australian Championships across both gravity MTB and BMX. He was also the champion for Red Bull Dark Knights 2011.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

In second and third place respectively are Ditra Pranata, a 23-year-old professional biker from Indonesia, and 20-year-old Agung Fambudi.

Ditra Pranata, winning 2nd place at the Red Bull Dark Knights 2013.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

Agung Fambudi, winning 3rd place at the Red Bull Dark Knights 2013.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

A photo of the top 3 riders at the Red Bull Dark Knights 2013.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

Although we didn’t have quite a lot of good shots, we did managed to video down portions of the event and if you’re interested, you can check out the following video.

Truly, the Red Bull Dark Knights 2013 was an eye-opener and the Singaporeans didn’t fare that badly because most of them are in the top 10 positions. In fact, we were quite impressed by a 16-year-old Singaporean rider, Shadiq Putra, whom gotten 7th placing for the race.

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2013

Well, although we pretty much fed the thirsty mosquitoes, the action that we caught at Red Bull Dark Knights was definitely way more exciting than watching the Formula 1 Race and we hope that this blog entry will create a greater awareness of the local mountain biking scene. Cheerios~!

Last year October, we covered the 1st ever Red Bull Flugtag Event in Singapore and it was really a rare sight to behold.
If you missed out on last year’s 1st ever Red Bull Flugtag Event that was held in Singapore, check out our previous Blog Post about it here: https://awinsomelife.org/2012/10/28/1st-red-bull-flugtag-singapore-2012-was-a-resounding-success/

Well, this time round, we have an interesting piece of news for all of you and that is, the European Red Bull is bringing back the exhilaration of Singapore’s ONLY night-time cross-country and downhill mountain bike race on the 18th of May 2013 with the Red Bull Dark Knights.

Check out a video of the Red Bull Dark Knights to know what the event is really all about!
[Credits to Red Bull Content Pool for the Video]

This is not just any ordinary mountain bike race and mountain bikers in Singapore will soon hit pay dirt with Red Bull Dark Knights staging a comeback on the 18th May 2013. Promising to intensify the complexity of the race, the course is one that is part urban and part trail and it will take even the most experienced of riders about a minute to complete.

[Credits to Red Bull Content Pool for the Image]

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2011

Participants will be flagged off at the summit of Pearl’s Hill City Park, right next to a restricted reservoir and they will ride a course that features many obstacles from wall rides, stairs, big jumps, rock gardens and even a jump at the finish line from a height of over 10 feet.

[Credits to Red Bull Content Pool for the Image]

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2011

The Red Bull Dark Knights will be held at Pearl’s Hill City Park
[Credits to Ariffin for the Image]

The main event occurs after night fall, adding an element of difficulty as competitors will navigate their way to
the finish, being guided only by their helmet light and obstacles which are dimly lit.

[Credits to Red Bull Content Pool for the Image]

From Red Bull Dark Knights 2011

This year, the European Red Bull will invite up to 40 elite local and international riders at the event and expects that the open category will feature no less than 100 riders who apply to compete.

If you’re intending to join the mountain bike race, here’s what you need to know about the race format:

The qualification run for the 100 Open Category riders will begin as early as 4.30pm where only the top 20
fastest times will qualify. These 20 riders from the open category will then join the 40 elite riders after a series
of seeding runs to compete in the top 60 shootout.

The shootout is a process of elimination, where after 3 single runs, the top 30 riders with the fastest times will
progress into the next round. This shootout process repeats itself until the top 10 are selected. The top 10 riders
will then compete in the final race at 9.30pm to determine the top 3 riders of the event.

Prizes for the Top 3 Riders are as follows:

1st Place: SGD 1,000 cash prize + champion trophy + accompanying prize vouchers
2nd Place: SGD 500 cash prize + trophy + accompanying prize vouchers
3rd Place: SGD 250 cash prize + trophy + accompanying prize vouchers

To get your adrenaline pumping, applications for the Red Bull Dark Knights is now open on www.redbull.sg/darkknights and registration will close on 25th April 2013.

Even if you’re not intending to join the mountain bike race, the Red Bull Dark Knights is open to members of the public with NO ADMISSION FEE and you can get right up to the action with prime viewing spots. Personally, we feel that the event is also a good training ground for photography enthusiasts seeking to hone their skills in sports/action photography under low light conditions.