Halo British Downhill Series Round 3 | Llangollen

Under a baking blue sky the Halo British Downhill Series returned to Llangollen on the Welsh border for round three.

Read on for all that happened at the event, the predecessor to which left riders excited and wanting more just twelve short months ago:Llangollen first appeared on the UK calendar back in 2009 with what was possibly the most technical, certainly the steepest course to have been raced in the British Isles. In the woods it was fairly rooty, of course the aforementioned steep, and certainly a course with some very big consequences of getting things wrong. It was a real eye opener for many. Unfortunately, for now at least, that course is out of bounds, and instead a new course has been constructed on the hillside next to it but with one very real difference. No trees. And as a result, the course is now much shorter and less root infested but no less challenging in its own way. Fast, loose and with some fantastic corners it may be a different beast to that which created the legend just twelve months ago but it carries the weight of expectation just fine when you see how challenging a huge number of riders found the trail.


From the start tent, incidentally with some of the best views of any race start in the country, the track begins relatively normally with some hard pedalling along the traverse to the start of the steep stuff. In the wet of the Welsh champs this was a hard slog but not this time for the weather had been much kinder and instead of black rain clouds and bog had provided us with blue skies and dust. So it was fast, with the pedalling enabling you to go faster and faster rather than it being necessary for any forward motion. But turn into the left hander at the first tree and all thoughts of pedalling were soon out of your mind. Loose, dusty and some immensely deep ruts were all that it took for some riders to have the grins spread all across their faces, and the grins wiped off the faces of others. Make no mistake, the lack of roots and trees did not make this any less challenging for all but the very top riders, and even they made mistakes they’d live to rue.


From the point of drop in to the steep section it was definitely a case of riding the brakes, controlling the speed and not allowing the bike to run where it wanted. Precision was the name of the game, allayed to a little bit of lairy flare on the deep and loose dusty corners that linked you onto the fastest of the traversed with its drop into hairpin which tied neatly into the second traverse. The next steep bit was changed after the welsh champs to help slow riders down and prevent them blowing out the turns so readily and it helped, to a degree. Some maintenance work was still needed over the weekend but it was certainly a noticeable improvement, even if some lines did disappear by the time Sunday rolled round. But then again, that’s racing, and in racing you have to be prepared for changeable course conditions.


Entering the open deciduous woodland shortly after and the speed picked up as the gradient lessened. Some fantastic fast corners allowed you to lay the bike low and then the three step downs. There were big crashes here in the previous race and there were more this time round. A big step down was fast, the second flyer faster and the last jump into the field faster still, which meant that when riders were pushing it, they were running their margin for error close to the wire – huge mature trees and a stone barn wall were just two of the potential run offs you could choose from. Harry Philips found out to his cost the potential for injury in his seeding run and was airlifted off with suspected spinal injuries, thankfully suffering no more than a broken collarbone upon further inspection.


So that’s the course as it stands now but what else happened over the weekend? Well there was the ever present issue of transport which currently at best is passable, at worst is dreadful. It’s certainly not an easy nut to crack for, despite being so short, there are few places for vehicles to pass and is run on a public road which cannot be closed. It also isn’t helped when a local farmer gets it in his mind to cause as much intentional disruption as possible. All this means that the uplift can at times get a bit troublesome and leave riders struggling for runs which the BDS organisers accept and apologised to the riders for during the long queues. That said, riders did get enough runs to learn the track and racing has never been about the maximum amount of ride time. Hopefully things will be ironed out for the next event to be held here for that issue aside, the venue really is superb and the majority of the locals seem to be right behind the events, none more so that Martin who is the owner of the land and farmer behind the One Giant Leap initiative on the hillside.


Injured riders aside racing started with the Juveniles which saw Laurie Greenland take third spot for Psyclewerx with a 2:15 just two tenths down on the 2:15 of Bike It Cycles’ Taylor Vernon in second. Taking the win was PS Cycles rider Callum Havard.


In youth Joe Connell took third for Alpine Bikes with a time of 1:58, less than two tenths down on the 1:58 of Swiss and Swallow’s Phil Atwill in second. Fraser McGlone took the win with a 1:56 which would have placed him well overall for All Terrain Cycles.


Brian Rourke Cycles sponsored Jim Shaw saw his 1:57 net him third spot whilst Sam Webster was just ahead in second on a 1:56 for Team Skene. Jamie Maller, younger brother of Elite racer Ashley, took the win with a 1:53.


Veterans saw Peter Roberts sprint to the line with a 2:10 for third whilst Rich Simpson took second for BikeActive.com with a 2:09. Taking the win for Dragon Downhill was Jason Carpenter with a 2:03.


Masters is a competitive category, all the more so when it’s filled with ex World Cup and Elite racers. Alun Lewis took third for AW Cycles with a time just under a tenth from breaking the two minute barrier. Second was the tallest man in downhill, Dave List, with a 1:57 for Stourport Specialist Cycles. Taking the win however was Nigel ‘No Wage’ Page for Chain Reaction Cycles with a 1:54. His ever present excuse of having not ridden for years was no doubt being used until he realised he’d placed fastest!


Kurt Brain took third in Seniors for Diamondback with a 1:55 whilst just a tenth ahead was John Owen for Stan Jones Cycles. Joel Chidley took the win for Leisure Lakes Bikes with a 1:53.


In the non-Elite womens category there was a fair bit of attrition before racing even began with Ellie Maxfield fracturing her leg. With only two runners making it to the finals it was Rose Hindley who took second for Swiss & Swallow whilst Rosie Smith took the win with a margin of ten seconds despite a crash.


Expert men saw two Team Skene riders stand proud on the podium, Nikki Whiles in third and Emyr Davies on the top step, their times of 1:51 and 1:50 respectively sandwiching Ancillotti’s Jack Geoghegan with his 1:50 in second, just over a tenth back from Emyr.


The Elite women this year are missing Tracy Moseley who has elected not to race in the UK and additionally this weekend there was Rachel Atherton sitting out with an injury from Leogang. This meant that Emma Wareham was sitting pretty in third for Leisure Lakes Bikes with a 2:25 whilst Monet Adams took second in her first National this year with a 2:24. 2:14 was the winning time however, and it was posted by Rose Bikes’ Katy Curd.


Dan Atherton may have been having a torrid time on the World Cup circuit this season but he pulled third here for Commencal with a 1:43 whilst his brother and Commencal team mateGee sat one place and seven tenths ahead. Continuing his run of dominance on the steep welsh hillside was Monster Energy/Specialized rider Brendan Fairclough who now adds a BDS win on to the Welsh Champs the month before and the NPS in 2009 on the wooded course.


So Llangollen was round three, following on from Rheola and Fort William as rounds one and two. All have had fantastic weather and all have seen a great atmosphere. It’s a shame that the uplift at Rheola and Llangollen haven’t worked out as planned but that is sometimes in the nature of UK racing, especially for a National (BDS) where the best course doesn’t necessarily coincide with the best uplift. Llangollen isn’t helped by a local farmer who is intent on causing as much disruption as possible. With the National Champs now looking like they’ll be held at Llangollen in 2011 and with 12 months to plan, all concerned will no doubt be working hard behind the scenes to ensure a smooth uplift for all which really would seal the venue as one of the best in the country.



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www.britishdownhillseries.com