Ben
03-04-06, 08:54
Midland Summer Series
Yeah right! :rolleyes: summer is maybe taking it a bit too far, the weather at the weekend was worse than that at the winter series, still a top laugh and great weekends riding and racing.
Setting off Saturday morning, got off to a good start, met up with Ken and James only got lost once :D , it started raining about 4 miles from Hopton as we were just entering the Craen arms, still moral was high and we were all up for a days riding.
Hoptons course was a winner for everyone with wide open rooty sections, steeper towards the end and it could be as technical as you made it with allternate lines everywhere. (For those who went to winter series Rnd 1 this course shared the same top half and a portion of the open bit until it branched off right onto a new track)
Practise was delayed due to the rain and miserable conditions :rolleyes: this gave us time to get sorted, sign in and meet up with a few old freinds, some of which had already caught a sneaky uplift to the top and were now soaked to the bone and covered in Hoptons clingy loose mud. After the first run i had decided that goggles werent an issue, although very muddy i found vision wasnt too bad, nor was it for james, as we all came outta the woods at the line next to the finishing double which looked way too gluuupy to ride James comes tearing outta the woods hitting it sky high and getting some cheers from the crowd (Kenny looked a very proud dad indeed :D ) During Saturday it kept showering, just as thing were looking up the rain would pelt down leaving the open sections pretty shady, on the second to last run i managed to prize my seat round using just my leg in a dodgy corner which was very painful, getting it caught in between the top tube and saddle :( ,that and a nice shin burger from my V8's and them terra pins :rolleyes:
After a good nights sleep in th travel oldge we decided to head off early, only to be greeted with a massive down poor of rain which eventually stopped as we pulled up in the field, (i say pulled up in the field but i think it was partly to do with the helpless cadet who insisted on standing directly infront of our path even though we were into a partial drift heading straight for him! crazy :warning: . Just the one practise run in the morning and the conditions were very similar, the uplift took quite a while one time we all had to get out as the tractor was wheel spinning roung this corner! .
Onto racing, first runs i think went OK for all of us, both James was first down as i was on the uplift, next was myself with a pretty good run apart from having to let Nikki Whiles past on the most tech corner of the track, the Ken who came bursting otta the woods at a pace with running comentry :D , and later Jay with a good first run. Second run, a big delay up top meant Ken and I walked down the track and watched James come hurtling by (expect a juve podium some time soon!) then it was my turn, better run than before beating my original time by 5 secs. Next was Ken, now, before we went up Ken pointed out the best crash at the bottom would win a £250 helmet cam, with this in mind i think Ken decided he wanted one, as i watched on Ken comes storming outta the woods, over a step down and straight over the bars! pretty specatular, after seeing stars quickly picks up his steed and sprints off to the finish line with pride still well intact (good one Ken maybe next time :D ) Jay was left to come and with us all watching at the side line shouting at him to pedal we saw the xc rider within with a mad dash to the finish :cool: and a better time than before
Results will all be up on pearcecycles shortly unless you guys can remeber your positions :confused:
4.20 Ben
4.32 Jay
thats all i can remeber (i'm useless!)
Yeah right! :rolleyes: summer is maybe taking it a bit too far, the weather at the weekend was worse than that at the winter series, still a top laugh and great weekends riding and racing.
Setting off Saturday morning, got off to a good start, met up with Ken and James only got lost once :D , it started raining about 4 miles from Hopton as we were just entering the Craen arms, still moral was high and we were all up for a days riding.
Hoptons course was a winner for everyone with wide open rooty sections, steeper towards the end and it could be as technical as you made it with allternate lines everywhere. (For those who went to winter series Rnd 1 this course shared the same top half and a portion of the open bit until it branched off right onto a new track)
Practise was delayed due to the rain and miserable conditions :rolleyes: this gave us time to get sorted, sign in and meet up with a few old freinds, some of which had already caught a sneaky uplift to the top and were now soaked to the bone and covered in Hoptons clingy loose mud. After the first run i had decided that goggles werent an issue, although very muddy i found vision wasnt too bad, nor was it for james, as we all came outta the woods at the line next to the finishing double which looked way too gluuupy to ride James comes tearing outta the woods hitting it sky high and getting some cheers from the crowd (Kenny looked a very proud dad indeed :D ) During Saturday it kept showering, just as thing were looking up the rain would pelt down leaving the open sections pretty shady, on the second to last run i managed to prize my seat round using just my leg in a dodgy corner which was very painful, getting it caught in between the top tube and saddle :( ,that and a nice shin burger from my V8's and them terra pins :rolleyes:
After a good nights sleep in th travel oldge we decided to head off early, only to be greeted with a massive down poor of rain which eventually stopped as we pulled up in the field, (i say pulled up in the field but i think it was partly to do with the helpless cadet who insisted on standing directly infront of our path even though we were into a partial drift heading straight for him! crazy :warning: . Just the one practise run in the morning and the conditions were very similar, the uplift took quite a while one time we all had to get out as the tractor was wheel spinning roung this corner! .
Onto racing, first runs i think went OK for all of us, both James was first down as i was on the uplift, next was myself with a pretty good run apart from having to let Nikki Whiles past on the most tech corner of the track, the Ken who came bursting otta the woods at a pace with running comentry :D , and later Jay with a good first run. Second run, a big delay up top meant Ken and I walked down the track and watched James come hurtling by (expect a juve podium some time soon!) then it was my turn, better run than before beating my original time by 5 secs. Next was Ken, now, before we went up Ken pointed out the best crash at the bottom would win a £250 helmet cam, with this in mind i think Ken decided he wanted one, as i watched on Ken comes storming outta the woods, over a step down and straight over the bars! pretty specatular, after seeing stars quickly picks up his steed and sprints off to the finish line with pride still well intact (good one Ken maybe next time :D ) Jay was left to come and with us all watching at the side line shouting at him to pedal we saw the xc rider within with a mad dash to the finish :cool: and a better time than before
Results will all be up on pearcecycles shortly unless you guys can remeber your positions :confused:
4.20 Ben
4.32 Jay
thats all i can remeber (i'm useless!)