Rogate Downhill: Mini DH

Living in London can be quite hard if you like all things two wheeled and off road. Yet, if you know where to look, there is some top class riding within an hour or so from the centre of the English capital. We caught up with resident Londoner and Peak Leaders graduate John for his first mini DH race of the year, back in the UK from Whistler!

Some people may find the idea of getting up at 6am in the morning on a Sunday, the traditional day of rest, a little ludicrous. I however, was up at the crack of dawn to make sure I caught the train out in time to make it over to Rogate, for my first taste of English dirt since getting back from a season working as a guide in British Columbia for one of the 'mini DH' races held every year.

Catching the 6.57am to Guildford from Waterloo, I caught up with one of my best mates, and fellow Peak Leaders graduate, George. After loading up the fiesta at the station it was a short drive on the motorway over to Rogate. Thankfully the weather Gods had been kind and left us with blue skies and a sunny day, perfect autumnal day!

First train out of the big smoke

Who needs a van when a ford fiesta will do?

Suns out, guns out! Last of the prime autumn weather

After throwing our bikes together and signing on, it was straight up to first runs. Having ridden at Rogate before I had a rough idea of the track, but thanks to the awesome bike community at Rogate, it was in prime condition following a few dig days in the weeks preceding. The top section down to the fire road was steep and awkward with some tight corners, before opening up a bit after the fire road with some drops and jumps to finish. First run down I definitely felt like I'd had some time off the bike! Thankfully the push up isn't too long, so after a few more runs trying out some lines I felt confident for race runs beginning at 12. Having had some rain the day before, the ground was nice and tacky. You could almost describe the conditions as 'all time'..

First run queues..

Scoping the track

The start of the lower section provided the most amount of line choice!

Checking the start list, George and myself were off at 12.30 ish. So after a quick bite to eat we headed off to the start gate, throwing a few shapes to try and stay warm before dropping into our first race run. The 5 beeps were down and it was on! I managed to keep it pretty smooth, only making a few little mistakes in the lower section. The dirt at Rogate is pretty sandy, and although the rain had kept it nice and tacky further up, it was starting to rut up a little further down and get loose! Crossing the line I then headed up to watch George come down and smash it, and watch some of the other action before second runs started.

Heading up to the top to check times, George and me were both sitting in the top 10! A quick track walk review had found that everywhere was rutting up and getting a lot looser, definitely made for some more wild second runs! After hanging around a little longer for second runs, we both managed to push it that little harder both getting faster times; I ended up in 8th and George in 5th! Nothing quite like that "buzz" you get from racing. Big shout goes to Gravity Logic for their timing expertise for the day

Dropping into the lower section - Photo Credit: Olli Bhutani

George opening it up on the top - Photo Credit: Olli Bhutani


Anxiously checking the results...

Since racing had finished at 3, there was still plenty of light left to have a play on the other tracks coming down the hill. Definitely had more of a late August feel rather than start of October.

Golden hour one footers!

England in October, prime!

After warming down on the variety of other tracks on the hill, it was back up to the top for prize giving. Thanks to Crank Cycles there was a goody bag for the top three riders in each class. Oli Evans took the fastest time of the day in the Junior Men category, with Sam Kiddy setting a killer time on his hard tail with a 53.35!

All in all, a perfect race end to the summer! I’d like to give a big shout out to Simon Piley and all the guys at Rogate including the Marshals, as well as Gravity Logic, for all their effort in organizing and putting on a great race. Rogate is a prime example of one of the great cycling communities there are in the UK, providing these grassroots races and a place to ride, only an hour or so from the centre of London. I'm definitely going to be back soon, and stick the next race down in my diary!

Results
Ripper Boys
1. Jeremy Cole 59.28
2. Sion Margrave 1:01.49
3. Taylor Andress 1:02.60

Juvenile Boys
1. Charles Griffith 53.42
2. Robert Thomas 55.06
3. Josh Mead 56.20

Youth Boys
1. Oliver Crosdil 53.18
2. Ollie Hamilton-Fox 54.07
3. James Culley 54.87

Junior Men
1. Oli Evans 49.01
2. Matt Cooper 50.02
3. Macaulay Friend 51.78

Senior Men
1. Dan Black 49.33
2. Ben Deakin 50.10
3. Sam Marzetti 50.32

Master Men
1. Chris Spooner 50.74
2. Tomas Kupstys 50.89
3. Tim Kemp 52.02

Veteran Men
1. Rich Simpson 53.61
2. Graham Goodyear 53.86
3. Neil Kemp 53.95

Hardtail Men
1. Sam Kiddy 53.35
2. Matt Lynn 53.75
3. Nick Raby 56.64

Women
1. Rachel Powis 1:18.35

For more information on Rogate, check out their Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/rogatedownhill. If you live in London and fancy check it out, you can get the train from London Waterloo out to 'Liss', which is only a 2 mile pedal from Rogate. Permits to ride cost £6 for the day and are available to purchase online if you wish.

Be sure to follow Peak Leaders on Instagram and Facebook! For more info on the courses we run, check out our website at: http://www.peakleaders.com