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National
Points Series 2007 |
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Ae
Forest , Scotland Rnd 2 |
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27th
May |
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5th Place podium for Paul May (Gummy)
Well we're back in Scotland again for the second round of the National Points Series, Ae Forest is the venue a tried and tested favorite track. With David Tallontire taking the first round will he take the next round too? Ladbrooks would be taking no bets on him winning by a landslide as our Aidan was away awaiting the birth of his new child, and Tally actually runs the uplift at Ae so this course is like a old pair of slippers for him. Still we've all got the same course and we've all got to get down. Racing this weekend was Paul May (Gummy), Stefan Gleed, and myself. The last time Stefan was here at Ae he won (so no pressure then), but he hasn't been on his DH bike for some months and this was his first outing so a podium was unlikely, and Gummy....well you never know with him as he is always capable of an upset with his balls out style.
Stefan Gleed The track was pretty much the same as last year, rocky at the top followed by a tricky off camber straight after, this pushed many off the track (like me). Then some fast sections with tight turns and plenty of rocks to catch you out, then you bank over for a fast left hand berm which is great fun and launches you into a tabletop, then the usual small step down and run up to the infamous rock garden. The brave just pedaled up to this and launched into it come what may, there were plenty of big rocks here and tube manufacturers were kept in business for another 12 months as punchers were coming thick and fast. Next you were launching up some north shore stuff which demanded a very fast exit as this was your last chance for speed on the run up to the big coffin gap, such named because of it's intimidating double jump, this had a kicker take off, a short landing strip and massively dug out middle section which messed with your head, come up short on this jump and you were in very serious trouble, nothing less than total commitment would do. It was so intimidating that ex Expert and Kona rider Darren Howarth rode around it all weekend....puff, he claimed there was another faster line on the right hand side, knowing he was 10 times faster than me it gave me and Mark Weightman just the excuse we needed to throw insults and question his sexuality. Yeah okay Gee Atherton took this line too which gave it some credibility but that won't stop us.
Steve Peat on the big step down
Nathan Rennie
After the coffin gap you shot round another fast and rutted berm and into the new off camber woods, when this section was wet it was very tricky, you needed to carry your speed round the last turn to have the speed to clear the big step down, this is synonymous with Ae and great fun, not difficult to clear but a big drop none the less (although the pics make it look tiny), this shoots you into the massive left right flat out berms before the next double. From here it was a strange uphill bit before a stupid wooden north shore section that left you dropping 5 foot off the end to a flat landing, why I don't know but you had no time to gather yourself as you then seem to drop of the edge of the world on a new near vertical 60 foot straight down faded drop, some were pedaling off this and landing right near the bottom but caution was called for as the very steep drop was a little bumpy as well....then this fired you at 40mph over the finish line, as Gordan Ramsey would say.....Ae Forest DONE.
Gummy
Practice was wicked fun, it was dry and dusty so speeds were high, then after practice had finished it started to rain before the timed seeding run.....bloody typical! Stef, Gummy and me went up for seeding not knowing what conditions to expect. Stef was off first and he had a scrappy run eventually crashing in the woods, he set a less than astonishing time of 2:54 and was looking a worried man down in 25th position. Gummy came down with a reasonable run posting a credible time of 2:43 putting him in 10th position and still in the hunt for a podium. The times were very close and the competition is very stiff in Masters so any minor mistakes were very costly, I came down next and didn't adapt to the changing conditions parting company with my bike twice and posting a god awful time of 3:14 placing me in 41st out of 46, ouch. David Tallontire took a convincing 1st place seeding position with a fantastic time of 2:33. Sunday came and it was time to get in some brief practice before we race, it had been raining during the night and the course was very very slippy. The outlook for the day wasn't great with showers and dry spells all day, Stef seemed a little phased and just couldn't motivate himself to ride in the wet, he opted to sit out practice praying for a dry spell come race time, this was a very risky strategy and fundamentally flawed as we were in Scotland and you can't predict the weather, he also looked a little stressed at the prospect of racing flat out when he wasn't feeling it. Gummy was ready to fly and had already switched to mud spikes, this was a gamble as it was really only the last wooded muddy section that I thought you would benefit from these, I chose to stick with Comp16 tyres instead of switching to mud spikes, a decision I regretted immediately struggling for grip and confidence everywhere. I had to ride round the coffin gap and the step down at the end due to losing it just before both sections.
Gummy was riding fast in all conditions but was having problems with the coffin gap, he was entering the corner before with so much speed that he was still turning on the upslope of the take off sending him into a tail whip in the air, he continued to do this all weekend and for the grace of god never binned it on the landing.
Stef in the drying woods
Race time and Stef's strategy paid off as the track had dried considerabley, lucky bugger. I was off early due to my legendary seeding run, I was feeling a little more confident now it had dried out but wasn't sure by how much, I shot off the line and made a good job of the first rock garden, the second is very tricky and there's a lot to get wrong, this I did firing off line and almost out of the course hanging off the bike on the off camber desperately trying to get back on, I'm almost at a stop, great start. I get the next section right and pick up speed but again struggle on the loose left hander pushing out wide, the next few sections I nailed as fast as I could and was back on form, I stormed towards the big rock garden contemplating not braking and going for it....I chose the balls out route and hit a big rock on the exit at mach 3....phew survived. I hit the coffin gap at full chat almost overjumping it, I also got most of the lines in the woods for the first time only suffering on the final steep turn as there was a large exposed root leaving seemingly nowhere to go, I pedaled hard and launched the step down. I lost the front end into the huge flat out berm but luckily it came back on it's own, I later realised that this was probably due to me not tightening up my pinch bolts on my forks after rushing to change my tires before my run, wow that was bloody close! I finished by crossing the line 26 seconds faster than my seeding run with a 2:48, this put me in 29th out of 42. Although it doesn't sound impressive, I was very happy with that given the mistake at the top which cost me several places.
Craig "Crash Master" Bromley
I waited patiently for the rest to come down, as I watched all of them cross the line I was once again reminded about the quality now in the Masters category, the times tumbled as the fast boys thumdered down, Stef had a similar mistake at the start as me pushing wide after the second rock section, he also clipped out over some rocks but made up for it over the rest of the course with some committed riding, as he launched in over the huge drop into the finish it was clear he also had a front puncture that just held on until the finish line. He went straight into the hot seat with 2:36, he sat there for some time and whilst he did it started to rain slightly, fortunately it never really set in so the rest of the Masters field came down without disadvantage.
Stef's front flat!
Gummy was up next and he had a great run dropping in of the edge sideways crossing the line with a very fast 2:32 taking the hot seat from Stef. They watched together as the rest of the fast boys all came down with similar times which eventually unseated Gummy, he was pushed down to 4th by a small margin with one more rider to go. Then came Tally who blitzed everyone with an amazing time of 2:28 which would have been credible in any category.
Gummy takes the hot seat from Stef Well that's it then, Gummy took a 5th place podium but chose not to stick around for the trophy, he deemed it as "not a proper podium"......seems mad when most of us would kill for any sort of trophy at a National event, but when you have a house full of silverware then a 5th probably doesn't carry as much credibility.
Gummy
Chain Reaction's Michael Cowan Stef left with 10th knowing that he wasn't far off the pace, a little more time in the chair would see him challenging for silverware once again. Thanks to Joozle & flickr for the pictures, visit their websites for cracking action footage from some of the premier events around the UK.
David Tallontire - 1st Place
Gummy - 5th
Darren Howarth - 7th
Michael Cowan - 8th
Mark Weightman - 9th
Colin Williams - 24th
Stefan Gleed - 10th
1 David TALLONTIRE Biking
Heaven/Ae-Up 2:28.35 |
