Redbull Foxhunt 2017 - Dyfi Forest

With it being my second year at the Redbull Foxhunt, I already had a taste and hunch of what was in store - wet weather, 250 ladies in a mass start, plenty of laughs and some lovely food by the brilliant caterers. Truthfully that's only a snippet of what the weekend was all about. Redbull & Trek hosted a brilliant weekend from start to finish, as always catering for all needs from the food through to the riding.

My weekend started by arriving at a little lodge on the outskirts of Dyfi on Friday night. This was due to our campervan wanting a spa weekend in the garage instead. Who could blame it! The weather heightened on Friday night and the wind and rain howled. Upon arriving in the morning to the site, there were a few familiar but tired faces at the riders briefing. As I stood at the doorway of the giant bell tent, signing on, breakfast and briefings were happening. Prepping the riders for what was about to come. I tootled in and got my board, jersey and signed my life away.


Practise started and the ladies went up the hill by the lovely gents at Antur Stiniog, they had brought their vans and trailers over for the weekends event to run the uplift service. There was a short pedal from the top of the uplift across to the start line to warm the legs up. Upon reaching the top, the view was breath taking. You could see the whole town and a long way down the course, some what daunting and yet captivating. Soon we set off down the hill in a small group, stopping at various points and looking at the features and routes round them. Katy Winton was on hand at various points on the hill, giving ladies pointers on the routes and techniques which was a lovely touch. Further down the trail Rach Atherton was talking to ladies and giving them tips, charging them up ready for the rest of the course. Little did we know how much the track would change on the seeding and race run!


Seeding started just after lunch, ladies were told to go up gradually and seed which would then determine where they would start in the race. You could feel the slight tenseness in the air with the seeding taking place, people aware that this could make or break them in the race. We went up to the top and signed on for our seeding run. In no time we were counted down, sent down the hill by hook or by crook. Parts of the track had changed and line options that were there in the morning had since been rutted out or gone, the only option was to ride it almost blind but at flat chat. The top open section with a rock roller was okay, slightly slippery with the recent rain fall. Then came the woods... The woods were carnage, even if you were riding alone. My mind suddenly though to, 'how the heck are 250 women going to speed through here and come out unscathed?!'. I pushed my thoughts to one side as I was gracefully sliding through the trees, trying to avoid a collision with DYFi's finest woodland features and the ruts that had appeared in only a few hours. Getting to the bottom of the wood section is all I cared about. The next bit to come was carnage corner. The most well known slippery chute on the track with a few bends in, it became like an ice rink. Down the cute i went and down through the bends, my bike clogged up and chain fell off! Disaster! If only there was a quick fix. I flipped the bike onto its side and unearthed the forest that was growing in my back wheel and replaced the chain on, not even a minute later the same thing happened again and again. I finally got out of the bog and onto the narrow straight, mud flying out from everywhere, stuck to everything. The toughest bit of the track was the end straight, it was like pedalling butter. Churning through to the finish I sealed my fate with a 52 in seeding.


Race day soon came, and a rain-less one at that. Lots of riders were hoping for heavy rain to wash away the sticky mud, not a chance. Practise started and the track was the same as yesterday, just thicker in parts with mud and bog. The race time started soon after and ladies were once again called to jump on the uplift to do the race. One by one we loaded our bikes on the trailers and headed to the top of the hill. As we huddled up with cakes, redbull & water in our hands, we discussed tactics on how to get to the bottom of the hill - both in one piece and the fastest way possible. Soon Colin arrived with his list of ladies in his top 60 to line up for seeding, calling the top 60 ladies who seeded one by one to line up. Drones flew ahead and pictures were taken, the ladies all lined up and looked nervously at each other. You could hear the distant bleeps of GoPros being switched on and the classic question - 'is my GoPro flashing red?' Suddenly Colin started shouting, counting up down... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Go! Off went the air horns and whistles, the frantic pedalling of 250 women from the top of the hill. The clattering of bikes hitting each other, ladies shouting words of encouragement to each other & the squealing of breaks from ladies avoiding tumbling participants and bikes weaving in front of one another. A few off camber switchbacks came up ahead, and a large majority of the ladies got their feet out ready as they were drifting across the wet off camber grass. The first obstacle soon came, the rocky grassy decent with only a few lines to chose from, ladies flew either side down the hill into the overgrowth and down the course. Spectators roared and cheered, all I could think was stay up right and pedal! The wood section was next and then the carnage corner. Coming into the wood section a flash of blue went past me on the left, Katy had passed us! As she steamed through the ladies and went down the A line, I slipped off onto the 2nd B line. A lady in front of me went over her bars as her front wheel found a deep 27.5 inch hole. I slid to the bottom of the forest and somehow caught up Katy, following her line through passing a few ladies who were queuing. Sadly my manners had gone by this point, and so had my breath. I wiggled my way down to carnage corner, hearing Winston my other half blowing his Vuvuzela and Minnie shouting words of support. Across and down to the infamous board walk where again... the bike clogged up. Over the bike went and I unclogged it and tried to carry on, knocking ladies as i swayed and slided. Soon came the final straight, and breathing now felt like a potato had been lodged in my lung. All my energy had gone, and the bike had given up with the slow moving pace and mud. She was clogged and I had no energy to un clog her. There was an instant where I had to decide how to get to the finish line, it was clearly in sight and ladies were passing me all around. I pulled up my helmet and slung my bike over my head, arms out stretched and walked across the line. The sound of the crows cheering and people coming to offer words of support and congratulations were amazing, and in plenty. As I looked around there were women in huddles everywhere, hugging and laughing. Friends, Family, dogs, photographers... you name it. Everyone possible was there, the feeling was next to none and made it all worth the effort.




I look back on the event and think to myself, it was possibly one of the most difficult races I have done to date. For the variety of women that attended and raced, every single one should be proud. Redbull no undoubtedly try to make the women's Redbull Foxhunt accessible to all abilities as possible, however the weather made it nearly impossible for that to be so. For all the women - some only ever rode at trail centres previously, it was a giant achievement. Truly I believe myself it was one of the best and challenging Foxhunt's I have done, and I for one will be attending many more. A huge well done to the Redbull and Trek team for putting on a great and memorable event!



P.S. Top marks for the uplift drivers for always having a sneaky stash of loo roll! There's always one woman in need at a desperate hour.