Dome Valley, North Auckland. A place that has been the stronghold of the Auckland Downhill Scene for the last 14 years. It's also the track which the likes of Sophie Tyas and Veronique Sandler cut their teeth on as Juniors. Riders tend to have a love/hate relationship with the Dome due to it being brutal on bodies and bikes, its history for being the track which ends peoples seasons and the place which you don't want to race if the heavens open.
Dome Valley's history of breeding top level races is strong, but in recent years it hasn't been used as a national level race track due to unknown reasons. The last time a nationals level event was hosted here was back in 2007, and since then has only been used for North Island NZDH series races once a year. One of the steepest tracks with some of the biggest and most challenging features in the North Island, so riders were more the happy to see top level racing return to the hills of Dome Valley once more.
A weather warning had been in place all week, with a so-called "weather bomb" due to make land on Friday. As per usual, the forecasts were slightly off the money and thankfully the weather gods blessed us all once again with no precipitation during the race. In previous years Dome Valley has turned to utter carnage in the wet, being labeled as near on impossible to ride; little surprise to see the smallest turnout of the series so far with such a weather system looming.
| The battle between me and Finn has been going since we were young(er) kids back when we raced BMX. It was the perfect way to spend my birthday getting one over on Finn. I loved the track, felt strong and the wind made for some testing situations. - Blake Ross |
| The track conditions were fast and dusty today, although the wind was catching a few riders out. There was a crash that delayed our race runs for a while and it was hard to keep warm and keep my head in the game. Despite that, I had a clean race run and am stoked to take my second win of the series. Overall it was a great day. - Shania Rawson |
| Another good weekend away racing with a solid crew. The track was sick! Last time I raced here was about 6 years ago and it hadn't changed much, it was good to get back and ride a solid track -Brook MacDonald |
| My race run was riddled with mistakes, which you can't afford to make when the competition is so tight. I'm looking forward to racing the steeper, longer South Island tracks! - Sam Robbie |
Elite Men
1st - Brook MacDonald
2nd - Louis Hamilton
3rd - Keegan Wright
4th - Peter Bethell
5th - Cole Lucas
Elite Women
1st - Shania Rawson
2nd - Ashley Bond
3rd - Sarah Fox
Full Results
Here
MENTIONS: @cameronmackenzie
www.facebook.com/theperfectline
It's really great to see some of the top level UCI lads racing with the local guy (and ladies) and the up and comers.
It does wonders for the sport, and i'm sure it means a lot to the groms coming up to be able to hang out with and race with the sports top dogs.
Keep that sh*t up.
my video www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSiduSIepN8