Round 4 of the DH National Points Series headed to Moelfre, Wales on 9/10 August. Si Paton reports:
Friday morning setup and will anyone believe me when I say we had tops off, shorts on and were basking under the sun? It’s true. The team laid the timing cable and then went up and down to prod 600 poles into the ground for the course tape as there is only one tree on the whole course! The finish gantry goes up, banners, flags and was pretty much done as everyone starts to park up. Fires are lit, BBQ’s smoulder and the sky was crystal clear and full of a billion stars.
Saturday morning and whoosh, heavy rain falls in what still remains a calm and warm finish arena. Maxxis WetDreams sell out within minutes at the Descent-Gear store as do those RRP Mudguards. It’s going to be a wet one. What nobody realised were the wind conditions up top. In the pits all was calm, then we ventured up the hill VIP style with the UCI Commissaire (it’s a UCI Cat 2 Race) inside one of those huge Monster trucks.
At the top it was almost impossible to stand up, 40-50mph gusts meant the UCI Commissaire immediately made the decision on safety to drop the start to a stone alcove some 200-yards further down that would provide slightly more shelter. Practise continued though come seeding at 3pm found visibility was reduced to the end of the nose, due to thick mist and fog. Therefore practise was extended leaving one race run for Sunday.
Racing took part on Sunday after open practise with full runs between 9am to 12.25pm, Experts and Elites get 30mins to themselves from 12.30pm to 1pm to let them have some full clear runs. Then we went racing at 13.30pm sharp.
The weather on Sunday was so much kinder to us, the sun shone and the wind was lighter yet still blowing which meant many riders took off their in order to combat the gusts that destroyed your legs. I also hear that many riders also cheated by riding something called ‘Spuds.’ Surely this should be stopped…
The track itself as previously mentioned is 99.9% open to spectators and the elements. One tree on course means this is a high speed shuttle from top to bottom. Rolling grass up top followed man made doubles and switchbacks cut into the hill side. Get any of these wrong and a soft landing was guaranteed into razor sharp and prickly gorse bushes. A huge road gap followed, that only a handful cleared due to the wind conditions, before scooting around the hill and towards the finish. Natural whoops and greasy corners meant many a comedy moment before we launched off the BC jump and onto flat out wet and grassy corners (Thank God for cut down Wetscreams). A Mach 10 right hand corner, the long jump and a fine Olympic style sprint to the finish.
Results
Youth Men
1 Arran Gannicott Santa Cruz 02:24.3
2 Mark Scott Ecosse Dh Racing 02:24.8
3 Jamie Maller Knox 02:25.9
Junior Men
1 Alastair Wilson Ancillotti Uk 02:16.5
2 Harry Heath Morewood/Derry Air Cycles 02:18.6
3 Bernard Kerr Marzocchi/Millyard Racing 02:19.0
Veteran Men
1 Rich Simpson 02:27.5
2 Alastair Maclennan Off Beat Bikes 02:29.6
3 Jerry Twigg Cycleworld 02:30.1
Master Men
1 Andrew Titley Kona Sombrio 02:16.4
2 Alan Lewis Aw Cycles 02:20.6
3 Mark Milward Swinnerton Cycles 02:21.4
Women
1 Emma Wareham Trek-Extreme Medics 02:46.1
2 Monet Adams Solid Electric Cwmdown 02:51.4
3 Kerry Wrigglesworth Mtb Bitz 02:58.1
Elite Women
1 Helen Gaskell Halfords Bike Hut 02:31.7
2 Katy Curd Giant 02:35.8
3 Haby-Blu Cann Embc/Cf3 02:44.1
Senior Men
1 Ben Whitehead All Terrain Cycles 02:18.0
2 Damon Smith Mtb Direct 02:18.7
3 Richard Challinor 02:18.9
Expert Men
1 Rich Thomas Ancillotti Uk 02:15.5
2 Richard Cheetham 02:16.8
3 Peter Williams Descent-Gear.Com 02:16.9
Elite Men
1 Joe Barnes Mtbcut.Tv/Orange 02:10.2
2 Ben Cathro Mojo Orange 02:11.0
3 Matt Simmonds Crc Intense 02:11.6
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