Dragon Rd3 - Rheola

Rd3 of the Dragons was back to Rheola which inevitably meant the end of all this nice hot sunny weather and the onset of heavy rain and high winds. Luckily the forcasters were a bit keen and sunday ended up being dry, although the track was thick with mud from rains the previous night. Being a cheapskate I missed qualifying and so only hit the sunday.

Getting to the venue I bumped into Ian Woodley from Hardtail Nation. It seems Hardtail DH has moved up a level since I last tried with Lee Husky setting an insanely unfeasable qualifying time of 3.43 which considering the fastest qualifying time set by our own Sion Whitecross was 3.25, is absolutely bonkers!! Ian also let me know that the infamous starwars was no longer an issue as the trenches had been filled in, first practice run lead to me confidently approaching starwars hitting a root and getting flicked over the bars towards a tree, ha no longer an issue!!

Lee was on fire again come race run following him off the start was going to be tough and I knew there would be little hope of catching him!! First run was a little too calm and in control but set a reasonable time leaving me ranked 3rd in hardtail. 2nd run was full on and absolutely mental, I managed to scare myself a lot on the top section but was hanging on. Reaching the gulleys near the half way point and my wheels got ripped out from under me sending me into a slide under the tape and down the side of the hill. The run finnished with a huge grin but unfortunately no improvement in time.

Swansea boys did really well this weekend. Will Soffe made the podium in expert showing some impressive consistency and outright speed. Sion Whitecross won Juniors and as ever is looking insanely quick and stylish on a bike.

Photos are courtesy of Ian, he also has a full report up on Hardtail Nation that is a well worth a check. I really enjoyed the hardtail scene at the Dragon. Its small and definately not as serious as racing a big bike but loads of fun with friendly competitiveness and a load of banter. This is how racing should be in my opinion so thanks to all the hardtailers making it a wicked weekend.

Check out Hardtail Nation its a new but quality resource for the hardcore hardtailers!!

www.hardtailnation.co.uk

...Read more!

Rheola National Champs

What can I say but bit of an epic weekend. Driving back up to wales was an event in itself, torrential rain most of the way set the scene for the rest of the weekend. So far this season all the races have been dry hot dusty tracks, personally I prefer the challenge of a wet greasy track its what UK downhill is about, Rheola is always a washout! The forecast had issued a severe weather warning for Wales with persistent and thundery rain. I was feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement. Swansea got a bit frantic, I was trying to get a hardtail sorted out for the race, unfortunately mine hadn't arrived due to the postal strike, after a bit of blagging, trying to mix and match bits from a few different bikes and several trips to the bike shop it turned out even my bodging skills weren't up to the task, eventually decided to swap to the open category and ride the full suss.

Seeding runs took place on the Saturday. Rheola is definitely a gnarly track and more than worthy of holding the National Champs, Julian and Jason have done a great job of getting it ready for the weekend. The top section is flat out loose drifty rock then lower down there are tight channels between trees, huge numbers of roots, the infamous star wars section and a fair bit of welsh slimy mud. Definitely a scary track to ride. My Seeding run was super fun, I was riding really ragged and blowing most corners but it did put a huge grin on my face. I ended up going over the bars at star wars then again off the bridge jump landing too far to the left in some real soft mud and almost taking out a few spectators. Dumping the bike and grabbing the camera I legged it back to the track to catch the fast guys go down. Got there to hear Jason on the mic saying that racing was stopped due to an injured rider, who was most likely Jack Malone or Alex Roberts, the 2 guys I had come with from Swansea. It turned out the had both had mechanicals but didn't find out until after running up the track to check if they were ok. Watching the star wars section was mental, the speed that the pros hit this section was scary, very few riders looked in control. There was also a good crowd providing a bit of friendly abuse and amping up the atmosphere. Last rider down was Steve Peat looking super quick coming in but he came unstuck on the first lot of roots dabbing and getting pitched over the bars straight towards my camera. First thing he said was "f*@k Ive done my ankle" it was clear to see it wasn't pointing in the right direction. From what Ive heard it was a rare dislocation and nothing was actually broken. I hope he has a quick recovery and wish him all luck in getting back on it by the world champs.

Sunday was very wet, after me and Alex eventually got bullied out of the car by Julian and Jack I had 3 real fun practice runs. The track was running a lot nicer but it was too wet to be able to see much of it! After Saturday and with the thought of a holiday in france in less than a week, the aim was to get down in one piece. I managed to stay upright the whole race run but probably took it too easy, I only gained 10 seconds on qualifying which was pretty disappointing especially when this meant I was at the bottom of the open cat. Congrats to Julian taking the win in the masters, I watched him leave the start a few times and he was absolutely charging plus he managed to have a mental grin on his face all weekend, inspiring. Marc Beaumont ended up taking the win in senior and Tracy Moseley claimed it for the women.


Cheers to Jason putting on a great event, everything was really slick and the best uplifts Ive experienced at a race yet.

...Read more!