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National
Points Series 2007 |
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Caersws,
Wales Rnd 5 |
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13th
May |
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September has arrived and the sun has been has been showing itself a fair amount recently, so hopes were high that we could be in for a good weekend’s riding for the 4th round of the 2007 National Points Series held at Caersws, Wales. Last year’s track contained a good mix of flowing jumps, tight technical singletrack, dusty steep chutes and a fast grassy field finish, was this year’s track to be the same. Craig, Stefan and myself were representing the Rapids team, and off the back of the Moelfre round results, hopes were good for a repeat performance. Stefan and I arrived on site in the A Team van (after a near miss with a racing juggernaut!) early Saturday morning and set about walking the course to see what was in store. The start was the same as used for the national there 2 years ago, a quick sprint and your first obstacle, two ramped up logs creating a step down into berm then straight into some tight off camber paths to navigate, tight steep switchbacks then more off camber paths. Drop onto a small road crossing and get round a tight right hander and drop into a long section of very steep loose dusty switchbacks with some straights in-between corners to gain speed and a log launch for good measure. Fly out of the woods and onto the fire road and jump double, double, step down then hip jump into more woods. A succession of fast chutes to hang on then, get fired out of the last and over a long table top jump. Then followed a fast bus stop and over a gap step down followed by a large step down into the final field which was immediately preceded by a sharp right, this was tricky as the landing was dusty and you were turning as you landed, it was then pretty much straight line to the finish. Craig really got on well with the large step down into the finish area managing twice to go straight on through the tape in practice making the crowd scatter for their lives. Funny to see!!
Craig railing the berm Practice was going well with all three of us getting to grips with the course and increasing our speed with every run (sometimes too much as Craig was rarely making it to the bottom without eating dust at least once usually twice!). Saturday afternoon and it was seeding time, Stef was off first and made a bit of a misjudgement as standing on the start hill he pulled his front brake to the handlebar..ooops!. He decided there would probably be enough oil to see him down one run and chose to set off, first obstacle…no brake!! It turned out on the uplift another bike had knocked his bike and loosened the nut on his brake hose causing the leak. Without a front brake and the steep nature of the course, it was plain scary apparently, and so a time of 3:24 put Stef dead last as he had to walk much of the steep stuff, but with starting first for the race was this a tactical move incase of unfavourable weather conditions for the race!?! Craig was next and hoping to hold it together for one run, he did and put in a good run clocking a 2:06, getting close to the sought after 2 min barrier and placing him 10th, another great result for the boss! I was next for the team and wanted to put in a solid run, it was clean with no risks taken and I saved myself on any pedalling sections. I crossed the line and stopped the clock at 1:56 and placed 4th content I had more in the bag, it was just a case of how much effort did the other three infront of me put in? Some comedy brake bleeding on Stef’s bike then some beers and chinese then bed, ready for race day. Sunday we awoke to mixed skies but quite a breeze blowing about, would the weather hold out or turn nasty? We all practiced together, pushing each other to go faster and faster putting in some quick runs. I managed to crash on a steep section braking for a rider in front, Craig behind me had nowhere to go and crashed into a tree with one leg either side…ouch! The wind was now picking up and becoming a bit of a factor on the last large step down into the field, Stef kept getting blown about and Craig wasn’t making the downslope because of the strong headwind, he again went into the crowd after landing front wheel first on the flat before the downslope and shot through 2 sets of tape. Race time was soon upon us (after some comedy football on wet grass to warm up). The weather had been blowing in some light rain for a while but the track was still dusty, besides the finish field. Stefan was off first, Craig and I could just watch the dark clouds above us cursing the fact that Stefan would be sitting at the bottom all done! As it turned out Caersws has become a bit off a cursed venue For Mr Gleed as he was pushing hard but went off course and over the bars on a steep section and had to climb back up with his bike and get going again, fired up he kept attacking and posted a 2:06 placing him 18th. Craig was off next and hoping he could ride like he was in practice, he went too steady in some sections to be safe, however this paid off as he broke the golden 2 minute barrier with a 1:59 placing him 9th, two top ten results in a row now making Craig a real competitor. We need to start watching our backs! I was off next for the team, knowing Stef was fast in practice, I was expecting to see him sitting in the hot seat waiting so I needed to hit my lines, stay clean and ride hard. My run went as planned no major mistakes it was a pretty solid run posting a 1:51 and taking the lead with 3 to go. The next rider pipped me by 0.06 of a second (how frustrating!), my nemesis of the season Tally went two seconds slower than my time, he is human!! Then the old school Mr Whitfield came into view on a good time and managed to take the win by 1 second, leaving me in a close 3rd spot. Overall a good close weekends riding and racing, for Stef a case of what could have been as he would have been on the pace had he not have fallen off, racing’s a bitch! Craig has stepped up his game and is putting in good results and should be happy with himself. My overall is National Points position is back on track now I’m back into 2nd spot after everyone drops a round, consistency has paid off. 1 Chris WHITFIELD Leasure Lakes
1:50.841
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Special thanks to all our sponsors who continue to support our team throughout 2007.
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