Aston Hill- Lovelo MTB Racing Team at British National Downhill Round 1 – Rheola – Last man Standing!

1st round of the British Nationals and it was a trip to South Wales for the team. With Josh still away it was down to Tom, Alonso and a surprise return for team manager Joe to fly the Aston Hill- Lovelo flag.
Joe returning from surgery in November 2018 wasn’t due to be riding until May let alone race but was here ready to lay the demons to rest as it was at Rheola 2018 where he got injured.
It was the 1st time for Alonso and he was excited to test out his skills on a proper downhill track.
Forecast for the weekend was dry and after a track walk, it was looking fast, wild and dry. The famous “Star Wars” section still had some damp sections and many a rider would fall foul of this rooty technical section over the weekend.
This year the team are on Intense cycles with Tom and Alonso on M16’s and Joe on the new M29. We can’t thank Saddleback enough for helping us out this season.
Saturday practice, apart from the cold wind the conditions were perfect. Super-fast uplift run by Pearce’s meant lots of runs.
Alonso had managed to crash whilst training during the week and was nursing a sprained wrist and Tom arrived at Rheola with a damaged bearing on his bike, but they were both keen to race.
Unfortunately, after two runs Alonso could not hold on as the pain was too great in his wrist and had to go home, Tom was looking good during practice, but his bike was getting worse and he also decided to pull out and not race. This just left team manager Joe who despite his injury and lack of riding was enjoying the track and gaining more and more confidence with each run.
Early afternoon there was a long delay due to rider injury but thankfully we have since heard they are ok and will make a full recovery, this limited the number of runs Joe could do but with his shoulder and the rough track he still had to pace himself.

Words by Alonso Barbour- Youth
Came into the weekend with a sprained wrist from a crash earlier that week from training which caused some soft tissue damage. Turned up on Friday to walk the track, expecting to be able to ride. The track looked mint, dry, fast, Rocky and fun. I spent some time talking lines with fellow teammate Tom Shakespeare. Saturday was practice day. I headed up for my first run looking forward to riding the track, I taped up my wrist, put a brace on it and took some pain killers. First practice run didn’t go well, I had to stop about 7 times because of my wrist and every time I hit an impact I felt a sharp pain in my wrist. When I got down to the bottom I rested the wrist for an hour or so and then went up for another one. Second run was even worse, it was at this point I decided not to race. Gutted I missed the first national of the year, I’m looking forward to fort William in a month
Seeding: DNS
Race run DNS
Words by Tom Shakespeare -Youth
The lead up to Rheola was certainly a positive one and I was excited to race on a big track and Dry weather was expected, my previous experiences of Rheola were wet and tough conditions. On the Thursday leading up to the race I had broken the lower linkage on the intense and I was very nearly unable to ride Rheola. Lovelo cycle works came to the rescue and fitted some new bearings and cleaned it all up, unfortunately with such short notice it was only a temporary fix but enough to last me the weekend. Arriving at Rheola I went for a track walk eager to see the track in its prime dry conditions. Practice day came, I followed my schedule and went for a practice run leaving it a half hour late, so the track could clear of the loose rocks. During my first run I could feel the bikes problems from Thursday begin to creep back in, I tightened everything up once I got to the bottom and went for another run determined I could work around the issue. Another run in and the problems got worse 30 seconds into a run and the play in the back end would only increase further, although it felt like I was progressing and gaining speed on track it was difficult as I was missing out on practice and mechanical issues made it feel like 1 step forward 2 steps back. I spoke with the Intense team and their mechanics and there was little they could do, eventually a decision was made, it was time I got home before I broke it even further. It was a difficult decision to make as at first glance the bike didn’t look broken, but it was the right thing to do and now the bike is getting fixed ready for the next race. A big thanks to everyone who helped me this weekend.
Seeding: DNS
Race run DNS

Words by Joe Killner- Grand Vets
Track walk done Friday and I had two things on my mind, where I crashed last year and the step down.
1st run down Saturday was very nervy but the new bike was making it all feel so much better. I stopped and looked at the step down and this year the knuckle that was previously there was now gone.
2nd run I was more relaxed, shoulder felt ok, but I could tell the lack of muscles wasn’t helping.I stopped before the step down and fellow Grand Vet Rich Simpson trained me in, I did the drop and it wasn’t that bad, such a relief to get that out the way. There was now a long delay, and this didn’t help the nerves or the shoulder but once the track opened I set off for some more runs. I managed 6 in total and felt I was ready for Sunday.
Sunday morning it was dry but again cold, I only did one run as the shoulder was feeling it after Saturday practice. I took some pain killers and chilled out waiting for seeding runs.
It was strange waiting for the beeps as it felt like it had been ages since the last time i raced. I set off and worked my down through the track, as I arrived at the step down I decided to not risk anything and went around it, this annoyed me, but it was the best decision. I wiggled my way through Star Wars and crossed the line in 6th. Not the best of times but I was very happy just to be even racing.
Race time and with a very small delay it was time to go. I set off and felt quite relaxed, the run was going well, and I managed to keep the speed and momentum consistent which is key at Rheola.
Through Star Wars and into the final section, I crossed the line still in 6th but nearly 3 seconds quicker.
I was happy to get through the weekend and now know what work I need to do for my next national which will be at Bala in June.
Seeding: 3:58.849
Race run 3:55.950

Thanks to MIJ for organising a good race and next up for the team will be Pearce’s Kinsham for Tom and Alonso.

Many thanks to all our sponsors
• ION
• Ison Distribution
• Troy Lee Design
• Mudhugger
• Lovelo Cycle Works
• Squirt Cycling Products
• Invisiframe
• Firecrest Mountain Biking
• Friction Media
• Decade- Europe Ltd
• Spy Optic
• Intense Cycles
• Hope
• Dexshell
• Unior Tools
• 2Pure
• Michelin Tyres
• Sprung Suspension
• Saddleback



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MENTIONS: @TeamAstonHill / @saddleback / @IONbike / @Spyoptic/ @troyleedesigns / @Mudhugger / @intensecyclesusa / @Friction-Media /@michelintyres

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