National
Points Series 2005 |
Cwmcarn
Rnd 2 |
23th
and 24th April |
 |
RapidRacers struggle
to make their mark in the mud |
The weekend started off pretty pants with rain and an easyup position in the way of everybody, Dave Morgan plonked us right in the walkway which p*ssed everyone off ....still we paid our do's so there's nothing we could have done. It was raining and we could already see the mud on this course was going to give everyone some issues, any new course in the mud is going to be a challenge as ruts begin to develop, this course was going to be no exception. |
Stefan
Gleed, Paul May (Gummy),
Greg Pickles, Phil Mowatt, and myself
drove to Wales for the 2nd round of the National Points Series held at
Cwmcarn, Aidan was still out with a snapped collar bone and Stef was STILL
awaiting the birth of his second bundle of love....sorry bundle of sh*tty
nappies and puke! |
Saturday |
Although there was very stiff competition at this round I felt confident we had a good prospect for the race, despite the organisation which was a little shady to say the very least. As far as I could tell there were several trucks out of action....one had ran out of fuel, another was pouring dangerous fumes into the rear, and to top it all off one dipstick slipped off the road and into a ditch. Had it been the other side of the road down the very steep drop, then there would have been serious casualties. |
Practice was
made up of a mile long uphill ride to the uplifts and nearly an hour long
wait in the queue ...PANTS! This meant everyone only really got 2 practice
runs in before seeding was due to start, the organisers then decided to
cancel seeding for more practice and give double points on the Sunday....in
principle this was a good idea but in reality most were so fed up with
the rain, deep slippy ruts, the push up to the uplifts, the wait at the
uplifts that most like us only did one more practice run anyway. |
The course however was very very good, it had everything for everyone....fast, technical, gnarly, big jumps and loads of pro lines ....perfect and a big advantage to anyone who knew the track. |
 |
Anyone for a whip? |
| Sunday |
| Race day came and the sun had checked in to Wales for the day which was a nice surprise, this meant things were going to get sticky and very challenging...well at least we weren't drowned all day. I was really struggling as everyone kept talking about lines they had seen a week earlier that had completely passed me by.....all I could here was "oh that pro line will save 5 seconds"....which was great if you knew the course or walked it prior to running down it. |
 |
Craig keeping it
on the ground..... |
Most seemed
to like the course but everyone was still having problems, every run riders
were finding new lines all the while so the atmosphere was subdued. Come
our race runs and despite my total lack of knowledge of most of the shortcuts
I set off with gusto, I felt pretty fast and clean through most sections
but struggled with the sharp right hander that was littered with what
seemed like massive un-rideable roots ...still I was still cooking on
gas until I got to the tight slippy woods and then it all fell apart.....4
crashes later and it was time to cruise to the finish in shame....4:20
was the time giving me 34th in masters which was an awful result....do
or die one run systems never really suit my style of riding, I could do
with around 8. |
Stef was up next and I was hoping the teams performance would cheer me up a bit, Stef crashed on a right hand pro line just before the short uphill section which killed his time, especially having to start off going uphill, he persisted on but unfortunately crashed again in the woods slipping off the high line....he crossed the line and things looked grim....a time of 4:04 and 23rd position, Stef's usual consistecy deserting him. It was left down to Gummy to pull something back for the team so fingers crossed I thought .....Gummy seemed to nail the top section until he came to that tight right hander that caused me so many problems, it all went bad and he went over the bars....this cost him dearly as collecting your bike and getting going again takes valuable seconds. Gummy got going again and recovered by nailing the bottom section pretty well crossing the line with 3:51 and 9th place. No podiums in the masters this time but you can't race flat out every race and keep getting it right. |
| Phil Mowatt was racing in the seniors and with the bottom section so full of jumps and hips this should really suit the "Fly"....the course had beat us again as Phil went over the bars on the switchbacks killing any chance of a reasonable time....he crossed the line with 4:22 and 41st position, he was extremely dissapointed and so he walked up the course to console himself and watch the action.....could it get any worse? |
 |
Phil in his usual
postion....airbourne |
Greg was up next and it was down to him to nail a clean run and bring it home for the boys ....would he rise to the challenge or fall foul like the rest of us? Greg started well and had been taking a pro line jump that cuts off one of the switchbacks....he slammed the landing and went over the bars, more disappointment was to follow when he crashed in the woods.....he stopped for a chat writing off the run totally. He did manage to please the massive crowd with a monster whip off the final hip so it wasn't all for nothing! |
| So there you have it ....a complete disaster from organisation to race results and a weekend to forget ....quickly. Bring on Fort William the greatest test in the UK, we will hopefully re-group and start to enjoy downhill racing with the best track in the business that also has a chairlift ....I think I 'm gonna need a tissue! |
| The following day I went to the hospital for some planned knee surgery to both knees, here's a pic of the caps a couple of days after.... |
 |
The next race is
Fort William, good recovery track then? |