This year the Inter-Services
Downhill Mountain Bike Championships were held over the 22nd - 23rd
October at Revolution Bikepark in Wales, and the event saw higher levels of
attendance by service personnel than ever before. Organised this year by the
Army, this standalone event in which 60 competitors took part is a clear sign
that Downhill Mountain Bike racing is going from strength to strength, and this
was echoed in the skill levels of the riders, all pushing it to the limit to
make it from the top of the course to the finish line in the fastest possible
time.
(Report by Si Ward)
This season the RAF dominated the
Combined Services Racing Series; the top 3 competitors all riding for the RAF
Cycling Association. This success was something the team were keen to continue,
with riders putting in the hours on the bike and in the gym to make sure they
were in the best possible form coming into the event.
(Pops Larkin styles it up in Vets)
RAF Riders from all over the UK descended on
Capel Curig AT Centre the day before the event; this was to be our base for the
next few days. The anticipation was obvious as riders prepped their bikes for
the coming race. All talk was of tyre choice, the weather, and the track – a
real test of skill, fitness and courage; it had high speed jumps, and a good
mix of technical, steep, and rooty sections, along with the occasional flat
sprint in case your legs weren’t already exhausted!
(Close inspection of the track from all angles is essential)
Practise day came, and having
rained all night, the track was lethal. Riding quite fast at first, as more and
more riders came down, the ruts began to form and the mud began to get deeper;
and eventually riders were being chucked off the bike by the sheer amount of
mud clogging their wheels in “that middle section”. The uplift on the other
hand was incredible, one of the quickest in the UK without doubt, riders could go
from the bottom to the top in no more than 15
minutes, all without a scratch on their precious bikes! Andy MacMillan managed
the most runs of all during practise, notching an impressive 14 runs, and due
to the failure of his goggles, doing some substantial damage to his eyes in the
process. All in all, Tuesday was a fantastic day’s practise with some witty
inter-service banter (or not in the Army’s case), unfortunately Matt Cook had a
nasty off and seriously hurt his ankle, ruling him out for racing the following
day.
(Slip sliding away)
The following day was race day,
and despite patchy rain throughout the day, the sun was drying out and changing
the track, making the mud thicker and the track more difficult to ride, and
maintaining good momentum through the dreaded tight, steep, and gloopy section
to keep the tyres clear was paramount to ensuring grip.
First race runs came around and
the RAF senior category (aged 19-29) were the first to go down, laying down
some quick times. Andy Lochhead was sitting in first place for some time after
his first run with a time of 3:36. This time was eventually beaten by Army
riders Brian Anderson (3:19) and Matt Forster (3:30), but with second runs
still to come and the track drying out by the minute, it was all to play for. Lewis
Wighton put in a great run with a 4.05, showing his dirt jumping influences
with some serious style over the fast flowing finishing section of the track.
(Si Ward on course to 3rd overall)
The masters category (aged 30-39),
turned out to be a much smaller group than anticipated; the benefit being that they
all managed to squeeze into the Defender uplift together! With experienced
riders such as Gaz Lake and Ste “Tinks” Taylor representing the Army, and an unknown
Navy rider, only Chris Penneck and Kris Benson were out to fly the flag for the
RAF. The track had certainly seen far too many wheels from the senior category,
and the gloop from the 1st runs dragged almost all of the masters
into the muddy abyss. It was hard not to chuckle at the start line while
witnessing Gaz jump onto Brian Anderson’s turbo trainer and bust out some leg
circles – the last laugh of course was not shared by Kris, as a mistake in line
choice led to a standstill on a very unwelcomed sharp rise in the track,
followed by the remainder of the race run being breathed through ones rear
hind!
Times were looking average from the masters, with Kris Benson sitting in 2nd
place, and Chris Penneck posting a 05:24:89, it was Gaz filling the top spot
with a time of around 04:05
(Tough race conditions)
Second runs came around and most
riders went quicker. Having crashed in his first run, Si Ward came down with a
3:27, enough to put him into second place. Andrew Lochhead’s second run didn’t
go to plan and a crash saw him come in with a 3:48. All eyes turned to the Army
riders to see what they could do. Brian Anderson went even quicker, laying down
a blistering time of 3:09, leaving everyone in no doubt as to who is the
fastest rider in the Armed Forces. Matt Forster shaved 6 seconds of his first
run, and his 3:24 was enough to take 2nd place and bump Si Ward down
into 3rd.
The race was on, and everyone in
Masters was keen to get on it. There was talk of a few folk missing their
second run, but with a full wagon like before, not just riders and bikes but
mud too, we were off to the top like a rocket.
Once again Chris Penneck was the first to head off down the track, previously
finding his chain incorrectly routed through his rear derailleur, this time
round all was in order and off he went at race pace. Then it was Kris’s turn,
and being the remaining RAF racer left at the top, there was only a few seconds
for reflection before the stopwatch ticked down and he was getting hot on the
gas for the first few tabletops of the course. The pace was rapid (for a master
with a bag of excuses that contains minimal race experience, skill, fitness and
the list continues), but an unfortunate off still left Kris well and truly
wrapped up in race tape and trees to end any chance of beating his initial time.
Yet again the RAF were bumped down into 3rd place, with Gaz Lake
taking second place with 03:51:71 and our unknown quantity in the Navy, John
Bennett taking the top spot with a cheeky 03:51:68. Chris unfortunately didn’t manage to beat his
first run with a second run time of 05:27:14 but still beating two of our Army
competitors all the same!
Usually the veterans (aged 40-49)
are one of the first categories to race, but here they were the last and after
grumblings of cold old bones, runs started to take place. Perhaps prior
knowledge from a coaching event at this very location earlier in the year led
to the Army guys all putting in good runs and taking the top two spots: Justin
Revell first with a 4.01:21 and Zak Needham second with a 4.05:45. Andy MacMillian
capitalised fully from his exhaustive practice day by putting in 2 nice runs
and finishing third vet and fastest RAF Vet with a time of 4.06:14. After
having to stop and unblock mud and slate choked wheels, with time bleeding away
on the first run, Pops Larkin managed to improve slightly and get down the
course in 5.14:54 on the second run, which included a couple of crashes in
‘that middle section’, finishing sixth vet and second RAF vet. Martin Parsons
also fell victim to the middle section on both of his runs, with a couple of
frustrating spills, finishing seventh vet and third RAF vet with a time of
5.43:45.
("Did anyone else notice mud on the track?")
Unfortunately, some team riders
were injured in the run up to the event, but they still came along to support;
Phil Ashcroft and Paul Rogers were instrumental in the timing on race day,
which ran smoother than it does at most national races, thanks very much guys!
The RAF Downhill team has had an
incredible year, and this is due in no small part to the support we have
received from our sponsors, so a huge shout out to Decade-Europe, J-Tech
Suspension, Burgtec and Haven Distribution.
The team is now heading into
winter training time full of motivation and looking forward to competing at
races throughout the UK in
2014, and a training trip to Malaga
as well! Here’s to another great year!
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