Date of ride April 2nd 2011; Bike used Commencal Supreme; No. of persons Multiple; Weather Sunny; Ground conditions Dry
And so we began our race season, three of us travelling from London and Kent, linking up at Godstone to transfer all our kit and bikes into Jay’s freshly converted, giant VW LT35 campervan. Chris Lewis, Jay Shaw and myself settled into the four-hour journey in an excited mood, despite the single CD we’d brought with us. The weather forecast was promising and we were looking forward to a great weekend of dry weather racing.
Loading up the campervan at Godstone
It was midday by the time we reaced Hopton Castle in the depths of the Shropshire countryside. Quickly kitting up we made for the main campsite and race finish down a small dirt track as we’d arrived late and were directed to the overflow carpark. We signed on and in return received our race-cards which were affixed to the front of our bikes, before learning that the uplift had been suspended due to a fallen rider. This did mean that once resumed, the uplift would be running until slightly later than the four o’clock finish. Soon enough the medics came down from the hill after attending to the injured rider and we made our way back to the start of the uplift, just above where we had set up camp.
The queues were pretty lengthy and it took about 20 minutes to get onboard one of the 10 Land Rovers lugging us up the hill. Once onboard however the Landy soon had us up top and unloading the bikes ready for our first descent. The uplift from a couple of weeks ago had set Chris and myself up pretty well, as the track taped off for the race was the one we’d been practicing on at the end of March. It only took a couple of runs to get up to speed and were all soon enjoying the track immensely (see last post for track description).
Only one particular corner was catching riders out. Just after the small gully gap there was a straight over some huge roots, then a left turn followed quickly by drop off a root about 18inches deep with a sharp right just after, then a sharp left almost straight away just past a tree. Many riders were hitting the first corner too quickly then dropping off the root into the sharp right and being bucked over the bars as the forks compressed and the rider tried to turn at the same time. The trick was to hammer over the roots, brake hard then take the left early to set up so the root drop would not be so steep; then there would be plenty of space to thread the bike round the tree and away we go. Tricky.
Race organiser, Dave Pearce, dining out on the podium
Soon enough the uplift was closed and we headed back to the van to change. I needed to get my rear brake bled so we all tramped back to the main arena and I booked the bike in with Ginger Rick, the resident mechanic. Practice day wasn’t over yet as Jay insisted we walk the track on foot, which I must say I’m surprised we haven’t done before in previous races. Still, learning curve and all that.
Jay and Chris discussing line choice
It was a great idea. We got to see the track from a different angle and it was interesting to discuss choice of lines with the other guys walking it too. There was however ominous mutterings about rain the following day, and discussions of alternative lines due to poor weather. I quickly dismissed this as the weather was beautiful. We all retired to the van for pasta, beer and bed, I think quietly confident that we were fairly well-prepared for the next day’s racing.
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