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Welsh Champs - Caersws - July 09

We were told that this was to be run on a new track, specially for the event. And what a track it was, walking it Friday afternoon I was really impressed. Steep dusty section in the remaining few trees towards the bottom but the top 3/4 all in the open thanks to the logging. The track was real fresh and unridden, a real change from the beat up motor-ways we get to race all too often. The weather stayed pretty good all weekend with a few small showers here and there and the biggest only arriving as we were packing the vans up on Sunday. Practice Saturday went real well as I got used to the big (for me) jumps, specially the big road gap near the top were the landing was a 90 degree right-hand berm. The course was laced with line choice nearly all the way down, a few lines got blown out but most remained ridable. Come race time I started off well but got a red flag part way down as one of the women in the category before had had a major stack on one of the final jumps in the field. I used the end of that run as a final practice then  back to the top for a re-run. Finished my re-run with a reasonable time of 2 minutes 3 seconds which put me 15th with one run left. Gave it everything in run 2, blew a couple of turns but it still felt a bit faster, 1 second slower. Ended up 18th at the end of the day, wanted to be in the top 20 so quite happy. Another good race at Caersws, last one of the year. Roll on Kidland Forest for the last round of the Northerns on the 12/13th September.

Chris Lazenby.

Llangollen NPS

This race must be one of the most talked about races I’ve ever done.

Internet forums and word of mouth were spreading rumours of the steepest race in the UK.

“It’ll never happen if it rains,” “there’s nowhere to pass,” “no access for medics.” With all this hype some people were bound to be disappointed.

When driving towards Llangollen I couldn’t see any particularly steep hillsides and thought it wasn’t going to live up to expectations. Then following the signs for the race down narrow back roads we arrive at a hillside that must have been the venue. Steep.

Walking the track from the bottom there was a nice hip jump in the field at the bottom, and then it got steep straight away. Everyone coming down said that it just got steeper and steeper towards the top. Could it really get much steeper? Yes it could. Walking the top section  I said, “Wow, there’s the sky” pointing through the trees. “No,” a friend shouts, “that’s heaven.” This track does not just have a few steep shoots into corners; it’s just steep all the way down. There are no arrows to warn of drops half way down the track, just 6 big ones at the top to tell you it’s all steep.    
Practice started off cautious but ran better than I expected without huge queues half way downthe course. The gaps left between riders in practice helped with this, although the queue at the top was usually pretty long. I had a reasonable qualifier, steady but smooth and knew I could go faster in the race.

The race came and I was ready for it, loving the track, super weather and a brilliant atmosphere with big cheers from the crowds down the track. My run felt pretty ragged and it showed with three big stalls but I stayed on the bike and came in with a 26th at the end of the day. Quite pleased with that result at my first national in a long time, could have done better but the perfect run doesn’t come very often.

I really hope they use this venue again next year as it opened a few eyes I think and showed some people what can be done. Speaking with the commissaire on the Sunday morning he knew of quite few people that had left and gone home, giving up before their race run. This type of track should be used, it is a good variation from the long pedally courses around the country.

Innerleithen
The last NPS at Innerleithen was a good event and a brilliant track even though I did really rather poor. I just couldn't get it together in practice and didn't get the flow going until my race run when it was too late. The course was superb, nice and long with lots of lines to choose from and not too many jumps. The only problem I had with the weekend was the 1.9 mile ride to get to the buses for the uplift. 
I'm not averse to some cross country now and again but when you're on a DH bike it is a bit different and the rather steep and long push from the top of the uplift finished me off completely. So I managed to get a bit of flowing going on my race run but it was too late to improve and didn't finish very far up the field.

Scarborough
I had been looking forward to the Fat Face Night race in Scarborough for months and when it finally came I was super excited. I walked the track on Friday night and got even more excited as I'd just bought a new Hope Vision 4 light and couldn't wait to use it. The course started up in the castle and finished on the harbor wall by the seafront. The builders were busy Friday night until 2.00 in the morning building the large wooden features just down from the castle. 
Unfortunately the security people were not happy with the felting on the wood and delayed practice so we only got three runs before seeding (I know people that managed to blag them selves extra). In seeding I took a big dive off the scaffolding over the roundabout at the bottom (only crash all day), managed to pick myself up and crawl to the finish line 20 metres away. The weather just got worse and worse and the accidents stacked up and the spine board got plenty of use. Just the accidents that I heard of included - dislocated hip, dislocated arm, broken arm, broken leg and several broken ribs. It got to 10pm and I was out in the pouring rain by the castle waiting for my run when the decision was made to halt all proceedings and cancel the race. So a mass descent of Scarborough it was and I did get to use my new light at least once. Unfortunately this means that they take the time from my seeding run as my race run. One of my worst ever results in my history of racing.
I did intend to use this year as a bit of a test and to get myself back into the racing scene but was hoping to do a little better. Its the Decision DH at Moelfre next and hope to do ok there even though the tracks there are not my favored style, roll on tight, wooded courses rather than the open hill sides of Moelfre.