Monday, June 26, 2006

P.O.R.C - by riders for riders race 25th June


Luckily the Medic didn't have to much going on.



The course. One of the fastest of the “by riders for riders” series. A pedal at the top to Mikes hut and again at the very bottom, the course tiring in the heat. However most of the track was straight down the hill, going flat out!

Liam Mason won the race with a 46 second run. Being half a second in front of Olly Medcalf. Two races in a row after his performance in expert at Bala the last week. Well done mate.

Sam Chucksmith came 8th with a 48.5secs just beating myself 48.7secs and Ali 48.8secs… all of us being in youth. Well done doods. Its always good to see us up there with the big guys!

Bill on start tower Starter man Mophead

Fast flat out mid section


Race winner Liam Mason

13 can be unlucky for some but

not Liam, well done mate

nice one !

Bala Midlands Super Series 18th June




Veiw from the top of Bala













Wooded section towards the bottom of the track The two trees you can see inside the tape, can be jumped through for a better line. near the bottom of the tape in the photo.









Open grass section towards the finish




Sorry about the late report; I have been busy with exams and my internet has been down. Really enjoyed Bala. The track was long, fast, steep, very challenging and dusty. Everything I like in a course. With some hard technical sections and lots of crucial line choices, there was plenty of time to be made on previous runs. The track was extremely fast at the top section and in the fields at the bottom.

I came 11th in the youth category with a 3 min 9 seconds, Josh Brycland winning the category with a 2 min 49 seconds.






The little white bits to the bottom left corner of this photo, is the campsite at the finish just 3 minutes away by bike or 45 mins by up lift.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

4X Race Chicksands 4th of June

Chicksands one off 4X race, 4th of June

I went back to Chicksands after finding out the first 4X race was this weekend, got there early morning at around 8:30 and saw the beginnings of racers arriving in the car park.

After just a few minutes, riding friend, James Dower turned up. Together we went over to the track to see what was occurring, and to get in a bit of practise on the course.

It all started to kick off at about 9:30am with many riders beginning to practise their different techniques and skills on the course.

Gate practise started around 11am. I got myself in with some good people, trying to copy techniques, having very little experience of gates.

I went over to see who I would be up against in my 3 moto’s. Main competition in the 1st round was James Dower, 2nd round Tom Dowie, and third, Scot Roberts. However someone wasn’t printed out on the sheet and a re-draw of the moto’s had to be made. I was still against James in the first moto but wasn’t up to race Tom or Scot in any of the moto‘s.

Racing was very slow going at first, starting at around lunch time.

My first race I came 2nd. James Dower coming a well earned 1st place, beating me out of the start gate. My second race I came 1st. Just overtaking the leader on the last corner of the course. However my third race went slightly different to how I was expecting. I battled for 2nd place for the main part of the course. Proceeding to the last corner in second, I tried to take the inside on the corner to gain a place. Ended up washing out in the corner and getting my foot caught in another competitors bike… I came 4th.

I waited for the finals list to appear on the board, anxious to see if the fall had ruined it all. I got in the B final, being slightly disappointed, but getting to pick the lane I wanted.

I came 2nd in the finals being able for the first time in a race to do the triple.

James Dower managed to get into the A final. Excellent considering it was his first real 4X race. He came 4th but still put much pressure on the other 3 competitors. Tom Dowie coming 1st in every race, absolutely in a league of his own.

Prize giving was for the top 3 of each category. T-shirts were given as prizes as well as some very good cash prizes… £300 for Martin Ogden (Oggy) winner.