The race that never happened

So its been a while since i wrote on here sorry, i suppose not much happened in Feb with all the cold weather. I did get out for the odd ride mainly in icy cold snowy conditions haha. We did do lots of digging at Bickertrax our local trails though which was great, Baz had not been down with his leaf blower this winter due to his broken arm so the trails were covered in slop and took a lot of hours to clear it up. We have also had good feedback from the council at last and they have realised without us the trails would be no more. Fingers crossed they find us some funding soon.

Sam & Chris wanted to enter a few downhill races this year, even though we are all on enduro bikes at the moment along with Ant who has a downhill bike and has raced before. I wasnt so keen, only been riding a couple years properly and at my age (42) your first downhill race is very daunting. I said i would go along and be the support, you know be race manager and cook there meals and help with repairs sort of thing haha. 

Cris said why dont you just sign up and treat it like an uplift weekend, you dont even have to race if you didnt feel up to it. So i did, I signed up for round 1 at Hamsterley a track i have never rode before 😳 for my first ever downhill race 🙈😆 

Coming up to race weekend they got over there for some practice but between work and Luca i didnt get the chance, and then the week of the race they started to forecast beast from the east part 2 on the weather ...... great ! 

Race weekend comes and ive packed the van up to head up with the boys, on the word of one of the organisers that was already on site all week that “we wont get any snow here” well snow we got ! And it came down while on route across the A66, which closed due to snow about an hour after we came across it. 

But im here now i may as well give it a go, we managed to park up at the top in the pits area..... we did have 4 racers in a van full of stickers and a tent awning so as far as i was concerned we were a race team haha. We set up in the dark, in the snow, as quick as we could ! Thank god for blow up tents and the van being insulated and carpet lined. 

One of Ants friends Tom showed up and said he had a tent to set up, we agreed it was best he didnt bother setting up and stayed with us. We set in for the night anxious as to what would happen on practice day.

I took ages to get to sleep in a van with 4 lads in, up for a pee, 30 min later someone else, snoring and Ants dreams shouting woah woah woah all night ment it wasnt a great nights sleep.

We woke to a bit of snow and cooked breakfast, we shouted at Tom to see if he was alive as he slept in the tent while 4 of us slept in the van. I reckon he got a better sleep than i did ! 

Practice day:

Bit of faffing about getting the bikes out and set up then we went to sign on and get our plates, Cris had 118 and Sam got 911 so it was all jokes about Sam crashing and Cris (118) would call 911 for Sam 😂 Sam did get another plate as his didnt have his name so realised he had the wrong one. We went into the hut to warm up and chatted with Danny hart for a bit before getting ourselves ready. 

Some of the lads set off before i was ready and they took there bikes, i rode around to the start to see people putting grit on the first section as it was just ice, i presumed the lads rode down as couldnt see them. Tom came over and i said im locking the bike up and walking it m8 as ive never been here before.

We only got half way down the track walk then they opened it to riders so we had to get off, I had met up with a friend from Sheffield Aidan and he said its ok the bottom section gets steeper but youve rode Wharncliffe haven’t you .... nope ive only rode greno woods haha. So back to get the bikes and head down a track i had no idea what to expect. 

1st run was just a role down at crawling pace, it was still icy and i didnt hit any of the drops, i stopped at every section to have a look at it. Near the bottom i kept stopping as didnt know what to expect beyond the drops and couldnt get myself back on the bike as it was too steep 🙈 this was looking like a nightmare ! 

At the bottom we waited for ages for the uplift as some buses got stuck in the snow and the ones that came were not set up at all, bikes falling straight through as no pins in place and no straps, after 1hr we decided to walk up and still beat the bus that was trying to set up the pins and straps when we left.

Run no2 was a little better, i did stop a few times to let people past as i was going slow but i did hit all the drops this time so that was some progression. I was still thinking though that i was too slow to do a race run as surely someone will catch me up and i will have to pull over.

At this time it was dinner time and i had only done 2 runs, not great but thought ive hit all the sections ok i just need to put them together into 1 full run now. We went the cafe for burgers and cake and tried to warm up before we hit the afternoon runs.

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In the afternoon i was with Aidan again as kept loosing my mates i went with as they were faster than me haha, but Aidan was brill and gave loads of encouragment and waited for me at the bottom. Funny taking encouragment off a teenager it should be the other way round 🙄 

So run 3 i got down with only stopping once, little bit more progression. Aidan said why dont you go first and i will sit at the start ramp for 30 seconds and hold people up before i set off, that way you will know if you can get down without stopping. So on the start ramp i was ready and a little bit more relaxed that no one was going to be breathing down my neck, i set off and felt a lot more comfy straight away (im sure a downhill bike may of helped me feel even more comfortable though haha) 

I got down to the bottom section before i started to hear double whistles (the marshal will blow when you pass then the next person, so if you hear 2 whistles you know someone is behind you) but as it was Aidan i carried on, it was only right at the very bottom on the last Marshall that the 2 whistles got closer and there was only 1 more turn and the finish drop. I hit it and stayed off the brakes for the first time and squashed the finish jump to turn around expecting to see Aidan but he wasnt there. I apologised to the guy i had held up and he said “no worries, it was only on the last turn anyway” 

I waited for Aidan and asked him why he wasnt behind me, he said he was chatting and someone went in front of him behind me on the start ramp, the guys name is Tom and he is pretty quick but he only left about 15 seconds after you.

I was made up, a proper racer only caught me at the bottom after a 15 second head start ment i was defo ok to race on Sunday seeing that i had a 30 second gap between riders. I was happy to get top to bottom without stopping and we continued to do a few more runs.

I did come off on the drop that went straight into a sloppy berm and Tom nearly landed on my back and stopped his bike by shoving it up my arse 😆 but the next few runs the Marshall at that point gave me loads of encouragment each time i went down he shouted “that was a bit better keep going” then again “thats better boy well done” then on the last run Aidan said when you go off the drop put your back brake on and leave the front alone, thats why the berm is so cut up and slippy as everyone is slamming there back brake on, i know i need to stay off the front more so made a conscious decision to try it. This time the Marshall shouted “yes boy nailed it that time” i was made up.

The snow had started to come down pretty thick at this time so me and Aidan called it a day, said i would see him tomorrow at race day and i headed back to the tent. Sam Cris & Tom followed not long after then Ant came back as well. The snow was coming in thick now and there were lots of people saying they wont get back tomorrow as the roads are very bad and there its lots more snow forecast for tonight but we decided to stay. 

I made us all a curry and we settled in for the night in the van and watched the untold British story of mountain biking on the ipad, we had to rotate gas canisters in our sleeping bags as they were freezing and would work in the heater, even warmed up they would only last 5 minutes before freezing again it was that cold. Tom said he was sleeping in the tent again as he gets more room and me Sam and Cris were on the bed with Ant on the floor of the van. We all chatted about the course and was hoping the race would still be on before going to sleep. 

I had a dream the tent / van was collapsing under the snow and was rubbing Sams face in my sleep as in my dream i was saving his life..... sam wasnt impressed with my dream heroics 🤣🤣🤣 

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Race day:

It was bloody cold, we knew that. I bravely opened the door to the van to be treated by lots of snow.....

Pretty sure racing is called off ! We got dressed and went down to race HQ where they confirmed it was all off. Gutted ! But no way could Marshalls stand in these conditions all day, i was surprised they did it on Saturday. 

We started to pack down and got ready to leave and get everyone out and onto the main road, bit of a struggle but we all got out and convoyed through the country lanes and villages until we hit the main roads then motorway. Quick services stop to get some food and i had a melt down when i went to wash my hands and realised I hadn’t felt the touch of warm water on my skin for 3 days so stuck my head in the sink at the services to warm up and wash haha. Some people must of thought i was homeless 😄

Back home again Sam and Ant washed the bikes while me and Cris set the tent up in my work to dry out and took everything out the van.

We were all gutted that we never got to race our first downhill event but the conditions were awful, i do think the whole thing should of been called off on Friday as the weather we got was forecast to hit us anyway but the organisers said no race is still on. I guess its all down to them loosing money setting up to be cancelled the day before the event but that is the risk you take as an event organiser and some thought should of gone to people traveling from all the country to get there when snow was forecast. But hey ho lesson learnt, we wont pre book one again i think we shall just see what weather is like on the Friday then set off if all good and pay on the day.

I would like to thank the Marshalls for standing there in those conditions making sure we had a safe track to go down in very bad icy sloppy conditions, thats mountain biking for you though. Everyone pulling together and helping each other out regardless off conditions, just get on with it attitude ! 

I did get a couple cool photos posted on roots and rain from practice day, and all though the weekend was a disappointment i think we shall be back for another shot. I am slightly scared as ive never rode the other tracks they are racing at neither but im pretty sure they put a chicken line in most of them so if anything i can pounder down the track at my own pace and be happy i got from top to bottom with no mistakes or crashes and completed my first ever downhill race at the age of 42 ! 

I have started a downhill bike build so hopefully that will be ready before the next one. 

To be continued at another race soon ............