English Champs 2011 | Moelfre

When it comes to racing in October you’d be forgiven for expecting rain, wind, and in a good few places around the world, snow. And if recent years have been anything to go by, Wales would be just such a place. But not this weekend. No, this weekend gave us blue skies, warm sun and dust. Yes, you heard that right; dust! Here's the story from the 2011 English Championships.

Moelfre is one of those venues that is a bit different from the British norm, fast, loose and very, very open. As a result it tends to polarise opinion as it really is one for balls out speed where the smooth becomes rough, braking bumps quickly begin turn to craters and the consequences of a crash can be big. It must hold the record for the most air ambulances called out to an event with five in one weekend at one last year. Whilst not featuring huge features, the speed does lead to big crashes and with the first thirty seconds or so running clean down the ridge of the tallest hill in the area can lead to some hefty cross winds. Not ideal when you’re ten feet up in the air and in the middle of gapping the quarry from a newly built lip.


It may be time to start thinking about new lines through the gorse as it’s now straighter than ever and the off camber section the other side of the road having not been off camber for several years but there’s still fun to be had and for a race at this late stage in the season, ideal. Serious racers can enjoy some chilled out riding, even with the pressure of it being one of the last double points races of the season, and newer riders can come into the sport and enjoy an introduction with a more welcoming atmosphere than some of the more stressful events.


With the relaxed atmosphere it was the ideal opportunity for more girls to give racing a try with Fionn Griffiths and world champion Emmeline Ragot in attendance to offer support, tips and advice to help new racers get to grips with what happens at a race as well as those more acclimatised to the racing world with more advanced tips. Talk was positive and it was an amazing turnout of fifteen racers. Track walks with them to get the inside scoop on lines, their own uplift at the start and the end of the day, and freebies meant that all the girls left having gained something from the weekend. It seems that lots of girls want to race but it’s understandable that it can sometimes be an intimidating prospect to those not already in the loop with the male dominated downhill scene so events like this are an ideal opportunity to overcome some of those trepidations. Head on over to GirlMTNbiker’s facebook page to be kept updated on the latest girls events across the UK.


So to the results from round five of the WDMBA series and the English Championships (yes, English, even if the event was held just over the border in North Wales). There were a few red flags during racing which added various delays but at Moelfre it's almost inevitable. The last of these came about after six of the last ten Juniors had huge crashes on the new top quarry huck and as a result it was decided to remove the kicker. It's a shame that this happened as it was certainly faster to hit it and in removing it it made it a lot more challenging for riders with bad first runs to compete on a level playing field in their second runs. Still, sometimes needs must and the call was made by the commissaires on the grounds of safety. In the hardtail class there was more than enough for a full podium which meant that Aaron Chorlton took third with a 3:09 and Ash Brown second on a 3:07. But it was Richard Acott who fairly smoked the opposition with a run of 2:51, a time that would have beaten a fair number of more fully suspended riders on the day.


Next up were the Juveniles and Brad Swinbank was the one in third place for RST having crossed the line in 2:53 with Escape Bike Shop’s Rowan Carpenter in second on a 2:49, the win being taken with a 2:44 set by Psyclewerx’s Laurie Greenland. Callum Havard took third in Youth with a 2:29 just over a second back from Phil Atwill on the next step for Madison/Saracen. The win however went to Team Bicycle Doctor’s Mike Jones who was just a few hundredths shy of a full two second margin. Sam Wakefield pulled out all the stops and very nearly broke the 2:30 barrier to take third place in Juniors, just behind second placed Matty Stuttard for Ride-On/Slik graphics who crossed the line with a 2:28. The win in Juniors went to Jono Jones.


In Veterans Ian Sanders took third place with a 2:50 for North Nibley racing, six seconds back from Niall Ingram in second place for Red Mist Racing. It was Adrian Bradley who took the win though despite having turned up just for the Sunday, his time of 2:42 just under two seconds clear of Niall’s. Moving to Masters and George Job was the man in third for Bikeworks on a 2:40, just a quarter of a second down on next man Davy Ledgerwood. Dan Haines was the one to take the win though with a flat out 2:33 for another hard earned Red Mist Racing victory.


With fifteen women racing there was enough for more than the usual token single podium. In the under eighteens Jess Greaves was just pipped for the win by local Charlotte Hughes whilst in Masters Laura Bratley took third behind second placed Janine Wolstenholme and winner Jaymie Mart. In Seniors Rosie Smith took third for Swiss & Swallow, Traharn Chidley second for Leisure Lakes and Kerry Wrigglesworth for Electric/O’Neal with a near ten second margin which also left her with the title of English Champion.


In Seniors Devinci’s Brad Sheehan put his first run to good use, posting a 2:36 dead for third, just behind the 2:33 of Alex Moss. Guy Gibbs took the win for Southerndownhill.com with a 2:32. Into Experts and James Swinden was third for ThisIsSheffield on a 2:29, just a few tenths back from the time of Will Soffe. Leisure Lakes’ Joel Chidley took the win on 2:28 making it two podiums from two for the Chidley family. Given the fast nature of the track it wasn’t surprising that there was some close times and the seven tenths separating fourth to second in Elite was no exception. Leon Rosser took third with a 2:28 just two hundredths back from second placed Stu Jenkinson which left Harry Molloy well placed to take the win with his first run time of 2:26.


Even with severely slack motivation it was still easy to get huge numbers of runs in as ever with the quick uplift, although it would be faster still if some riders were able to stack their bikes quicker. They’re of course expensive and easily damaged but it’s not difficult to stack them properly and quickly. It was sometimes difficult to get perfectly clean runs in but then that is sometimes expected at regionals and some riders would do well to remember that everyone starts somewhere and it just isn’t acceptable to go chasing down slower riders and shout abuse at them. Perhaps a disqualification threat may sort these riders out? Aside from that it was a good weekend which was undoubtedly helped by the fresh and dry autumn weather, a welcome change from some of the more torrid offerings recently. Seeing more new girls at the race was welcome as was the efforts of Team GR to help them all out. Thanks to Borderline Events who made things happen.



www.borderline-events.co.uk
GirlMTBiker facebook page
Full Results.

Thanks to Luke for the video and Tom Towers for the images.