Write-Up, March 2010
This months session saw only 47 riders make it out to the hill, our lowest turn out in a long time. I think it would be fair to attribute this to the last moment date change; due to working and family commitments on our event crew and nothing to do with anyone being scared away by the dreaded rain! Our apologies to those who missed out because of the change of dates. We are taking steps to try and make sure this doesn't happen again.
Ok, down to business...
Trail : Ridge Run, with alternate corners after the ski jump.
Conditions : A mixture of slop, wet roots and a generous helping of loam.
Check out the results here: Results
The week prior to the March Guild was a sunny affair, with just about every trail on the hill dry and very gripy for about the first time this year. Everything was looking great for the weekend until the nice weather girl came onto the tele' and told us all we were going to get wet! Some of us pulled our fingers out and fitted spikes, the rest of us sniffed at it thinking it wouldn't be too bad, sticking with the dry tyres we had just retrieved from a dusty corner in the back of the shed! As it happened the trail was a mixed bag getting more slippery throughout the day, thanks to the showers. But the variety of surfaces gave grip at some point whatever choice of rubber you were touting. The top section was a slimy tram line of a rut all the way down to the gas line drop The moisture in the loam elsewhere actually seemed to help hold it together and other spots more sheltered from the wet stuff maintained their surface.
N. Carson coming down hard from the gas line drop. Photo credit Stu Hopkinson.
With longer days we were able to push the practice start time back to the later 1 o'clock start time we aim for, allowing more of a warm up for the riders and a better chance to check the track out. The riders used this extra time wisely and most spent time sectioning the lower fresh and loamy corners to get them dialed before timing started. Time well spent that would prove its worth on the stopwatch later in the day. Most notably on the off camber tight line option on one of the final corners that got so worn away by the end of warm up that a completely new complex of roots had appeared in place of all the loam that was roosted away.
Andy Hughes mastering the off camber loam. Photo credit Thomas Gaffney.
Not everyone managed to ride the slide to success. Rider after rider through the warm up met their match and ended up taking soil samples. Unfortunately not everyone came away from the corner un-harmed. Lee Gratton of the Squadron managed to tear a big hole in his arm whilst getting chucked off the bike, a quick trip to the hospital and some embroidery later he was discharged with a cool future scar and a lolly pop. Event Leader 'Stinky' Harry took the time to drive his car back and everything went smoothly... If your reading this Lee, Harry says he likes you car, but you might want to look at your bumper and to expect 6 points to appear on your license!
Unknown rider taking time out to test the soil PH. Photo credit Kitman.
Time to move onto the best results from the categories. This month we had no 'rippers' or women participate.
Youth (15 and under)
1st - Tom Austerberry
2nd - Dan Summers
3rd -Tom Goodwin
Tom, Dan and the other Tom were the only youth riders to break the 1 minute barrier. Tom Austerberry, on his brand new Orange rig was 6.7 seconds faster than Dan Summers and Tom Goodwin was only 0.3 of a second behind Dan.
Senior (16-39)
1st - Sam Maddison
2nd - Aaron Tolly and Andy Hughes, joint
4th - Elliot Machin
Sams first run down the hill was interrupted by a sit down on the last corner and in usual Maddison manner resulted in anger and shouting once over the finish line, so he marched back up the hill to have another go! Sure enough, later on in the session Sam came down and put in the fastest time of the day: 47.3 seconds. Aaron and Andy managed to score identical times and Elliot would up 4th only 1.6 seconds behind Sam.
Veteran (40+)
1st - Mick Whyte
2nd - Dale Laywood
3rd - Bob Dangerfeild
For most of the session Dale was the fastest 40+, but as is getting to be a common result, Mick got his act together and took fastest Veteran with a 55.6 . Bob was 3rd fastest 2.3 seconds behind Micks time. Can anyone knock Mick off his high horse and take him to school this year? Only time will tell...
Ian of team boons video is worth a look as always, this time further improved with his recent purchase of a new camera!
Last, but not least, the massed media was on the hill on saturday! Have a look through these great galleries:
Thomas Gaffney Photography
Paul Grocott (SXbegins)
Kitman
Stu Hopkinson
Gaz
Ok, down to business...
Trail : Ridge Run, with alternate corners after the ski jump.
Conditions : A mixture of slop, wet roots and a generous helping of loam.
Check out the results here: Results
The week prior to the March Guild was a sunny affair, with just about every trail on the hill dry and very gripy for about the first time this year. Everything was looking great for the weekend until the nice weather girl came onto the tele' and told us all we were going to get wet! Some of us pulled our fingers out and fitted spikes, the rest of us sniffed at it thinking it wouldn't be too bad, sticking with the dry tyres we had just retrieved from a dusty corner in the back of the shed! As it happened the trail was a mixed bag getting more slippery throughout the day, thanks to the showers. But the variety of surfaces gave grip at some point whatever choice of rubber you were touting. The top section was a slimy tram line of a rut all the way down to the gas line drop The moisture in the loam elsewhere actually seemed to help hold it together and other spots more sheltered from the wet stuff maintained their surface.
N. Carson coming down hard from the gas line drop. Photo credit Stu Hopkinson.
With longer days we were able to push the practice start time back to the later 1 o'clock start time we aim for, allowing more of a warm up for the riders and a better chance to check the track out. The riders used this extra time wisely and most spent time sectioning the lower fresh and loamy corners to get them dialed before timing started. Time well spent that would prove its worth on the stopwatch later in the day. Most notably on the off camber tight line option on one of the final corners that got so worn away by the end of warm up that a completely new complex of roots had appeared in place of all the loam that was roosted away.
Andy Hughes mastering the off camber loam. Photo credit Thomas Gaffney.
Not everyone managed to ride the slide to success. Rider after rider through the warm up met their match and ended up taking soil samples. Unfortunately not everyone came away from the corner un-harmed. Lee Gratton of the Squadron managed to tear a big hole in his arm whilst getting chucked off the bike, a quick trip to the hospital and some embroidery later he was discharged with a cool future scar and a lolly pop. Event Leader 'Stinky' Harry took the time to drive his car back and everything went smoothly... If your reading this Lee, Harry says he likes you car, but you might want to look at your bumper and to expect 6 points to appear on your license!
Unknown rider taking time out to test the soil PH. Photo credit Kitman.
Time to move onto the best results from the categories. This month we had no 'rippers' or women participate.
Youth (15 and under)
1st - Tom Austerberry
2nd - Dan Summers
3rd -Tom Goodwin
Tom, Dan and the other Tom were the only youth riders to break the 1 minute barrier. Tom Austerberry, on his brand new Orange rig was 6.7 seconds faster than Dan Summers and Tom Goodwin was only 0.3 of a second behind Dan.
Senior (16-39)
1st - Sam Maddison
2nd - Aaron Tolly and Andy Hughes, joint
4th - Elliot Machin
Sams first run down the hill was interrupted by a sit down on the last corner and in usual Maddison manner resulted in anger and shouting once over the finish line, so he marched back up the hill to have another go! Sure enough, later on in the session Sam came down and put in the fastest time of the day: 47.3 seconds. Aaron and Andy managed to score identical times and Elliot would up 4th only 1.6 seconds behind Sam.
Veteran (40+)
1st - Mick Whyte
2nd - Dale Laywood
3rd - Bob Dangerfeild
For most of the session Dale was the fastest 40+, but as is getting to be a common result, Mick got his act together and took fastest Veteran with a 55.6 . Bob was 3rd fastest 2.3 seconds behind Micks time. Can anyone knock Mick off his high horse and take him to school this year? Only time will tell...
Ian of team boons video is worth a look as always, this time further improved with his recent purchase of a new camera!
Last, but not least, the massed media was on the hill on saturday! Have a look through these great galleries:
Thomas Gaffney Photography
Paul Grocott (SXbegins)
Kitman
Stu Hopkinson
Gaz
posted by Richie_Boy at
14:30
1 Comments:
Cool write up as usual Richie! Nice one!
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