UK Gravity Enduro - Hamsterley Forest, 1st & 2nd August 2015

Hurrah, it's my summer holiday and race time all at once! 

Heading up to the North-East is always a pure delight and having raced at Hamsterley earlier in the year I knew what I was letting myself in for. It's a mint place to ride catering for both families and professional riders with its plethora of graded trails, you won't be stuck for ideas with advice from the forest's friendly bikers to guide you on your way.

The event, with its 20km loop taking in five stages plus the extra seeding time added from Saturday, had some people thinking it was too short however I disagreed. The transition times were tight and a shorter loop really levels the playing field for the riders who could only make it there for the weekend.  Having said that though, I was lucky with having a bit more time to spare, a plus side of being a teacher, and got some good practice in on the Friday which meant I could have a couple of warm-ups on the seeding runs. 

Seeding and Stage 5 - Despite its deceptively gentle appearance it's a long trail that demanded hard pedalling to ensure that you put in a decent time. There was a freshly cut section at the bottom of the trail that I hit too hard and came off my Five, thankfully I didn't lose too much time. Speaking of times, fair play going out to Elliott Heap who put down the fastest time of the day whilst still in the junior category, wowzers! 

During Gravity Enduro events riders seem to favour one or two of the trails over the others and for me these were Stages 3 and 4 which were slap bang next to the Descend Hamsterley Bike Park, the full-bore downhill side of the forest!  Here, it normally costs 5 quid to ride and you can book on the uplift system too, it's a really rad day out with friend and I recommend going!

Anyway, back to the racing, both of these stages really challenged my riding where you needed to be really switched on and focussed in order to rail the best lines, keeping up the pace.  Despite all of my stages going smoothly I wasn't up to a full-on race pace due to the onset of fatigue and this was reflected in my times, onwards and upwards to the next event.

Robyn

x

Will Olson 1975 - 2015

Edit by Lee: The weekend was over shadowed as news came through that a fellow mountain bike brethren had passed away following a tragic accident during the Enduro World Series at Crested Butte in the 'States. Through respect to the rider and his family the event was cancelled and in honour of his memory his number 139 has been removed.  Lee and all of the team's riders hearts go out to Will Olson's family, a fund has been set up in his memory if you wish to donate: The Will Olson Memorial Fund.

Borderline Events - English Downhill Championship, Hamsterley Forest, 10th May 2015

Nick: Although Hamsterley Forest's my local riding spot I hadn't been there for a fair while and was looking forward to seeing how the track chosen by the Borderline Events posse flowed, quite literally at first as it turned out. 

It's a fairly short course by today's standards however it's physically demanding with no time to rest between sections, you take one big breath at the start gate and then it's a full on hammering until you cross the finish line.  Guess Danny Hart was at home with the weather that morning as it was absolutely pouring down, I was being kept warm and dry under my Berghaus coat so there was no grumbling from me mind! 

'Tommy Gun' Newrick arrived early Saturday morning and walked the new section of the track, he was at home from the word go as he practically lives on these courses!  Tom's had the new Manitou Revox shock fitted to his FTW, no bedding in required he was straight off ripping the course up with his mates.  

Both of us got more than enough runs in, the course is a game of two halves, keep the cadence up down the top section and then keep it loose across the technical sections down below.  It's a hard course to make up time due to its short length even if you merely clipped a pedal that would be the end of any winning run there and then.  Both of us were running Sun-Ringle's 650b A.D.D. Pro wheels for a bit of advantage over the rocks, power to the dark side of the force.

As Saturday progressed the track was drying out nicely making it a claggy in places I was building up pace and starting to blitz my lines.  Tom was absolutely nailing the course down, six runs in and he was on fire!

Come Sunday morning I squeezed in three steady runs and chilled out 'til race time.  Tom was a purple and red blur as he shot past me whilst I spectated on his first race run, I later learned he accidentally unclipped from his pedals before the table top and couldn't clip back in, unlucky.  I stalled near the finish on my first run and turned the air blue as it had all gone perfectly up until that point.  Hit my second run full on but just couldn't make up the time and took the fourteenth place in the Masters.

Tom had a little embarrassment through the new section on his second run when his foot slipped off the pedal, that said he still crossed the finish line in a respectable 7th place in the youths.

Next up, the big bad Fort Bill with the British Downhill Series.


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Northern Downhill - Hamsterley Forest TT, 19th April 2015

I was just down the road at Hamsterley Forest this time for the Northern Downhill Time Trial event, opting for my shorter suspension bike as the big FTW is overkill for these events.

Hamsterley is my local riding ground and I was fluent with the track that was being used by the NDH lads so got one practice run in on Sunday morning to see how it all rode and oh boy was it fast!  It was sure going to make for some good racing with tight times. I made my way up for my race run ten minutes before I was due at the start gate ensuring that I stayed focussed and ready to race. Out of the gate on the first timed run it was going well but not as fast as I'd have liked, a lack of warming up had left my legs feeling dead and I crossed the line bang on four minutes putting me into forth place which wasn't what I was looking for! Taking the first run into account I mentally prepared myself for the second shot and as soon as I was out of the gate I had the track completely nailed down.  However it didn't last long as I caught up with the rider in front which slowed me down as I struggled to get past. Carl Davison, the event's organiser, had noted this and thankfully allowed me to do a re-run so off I went back up to the top. It was now all or nothing, out of the gate I kept the bike pinned all the way down and managed to make up that second putting me into third however soon learned that I was just 0.3 of a second from taking the second place, but hey, that's racing for you! See you all at next race, Tom.

Into The Woods.... Northern Downhill TT Enduro, Hamsterley Forest 30th March 2014

Hi guys, it's Angie here again and you've caught me on the fly, it's a whirlwind of riding, rocking climbing and country scrambling with my new dog, I've hardly been able to sit still!  I reckon our Steve should write more blogs too!  Speaking of Steve, he's over in Wales doing some filming with The Tea Lady for a new video so keep your eyes peeled.

2014 is the Northern Downhill crew's first real stab at a series of Enduro events.  Being a single day format with practice in the morning and then racing throughout the afternoon it was set to be a tiring day however with just three stages it was enough time to master the courses and give it full beans!

The morning of the race I was excited to try out my Orange Five as had been fettling with various settings, as you do!  Combining the lowered front end with a set of Michelin's Wild Grip R tyres I figured that with a couple of downhill stages being soaked from the wet weather these bad lads would chew it all up really well, I was later proved right!

Stage one started down 'Section 13' followed by a fire road sprint off the left before dropping down onto some technical wooded trails and then onto the Descend Hamsterley's National Points Series downhill course to the finish.  The tracks were running sweet and it felt amazing to be back on some proper downhill stuff.  

(Photo copyright of Tom Harrison)

Stage two was down 'The Transmission' with the single track sprint at the end, this is always a fun track to race on despite it being completely man made, the bike was running incredibly well, keeping it nice and fast.

Straight back up the hill for stage three which started on the Phil Saxena designed 4-Cross track and then went went straight back into the woods, down over the fire road and finishing again on Descend's NPS downhill course.

(Photo copyright of Robert Blackburn)

All three tracks were very well thought out, quite varied and not too pedally which is always always a bonus!!  It would however be nice to have more trails of the forest being utilised as there's such a great scope in the area.

Unfortunately the timing hadn't worked on track one so times were based across last two tracks.  Helen Gaskell smashed the overall win with me taking 2nd.  Steve then killed it for 3rd place in the men's.

I've been inspired to ride more steep gnar again, watch this space!! 

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UK Gravity Enduro Rnd 3, Hamsterley Forest, 25th & 26th May 2013

Hey everyone, it's Angie here, let's get y'all up to speed......

After a wet and cold start across the first two rounds it was great to see that Steve Parr had ordered in the sunshine for Round 3 of the UK Gravity Enduro Series at Hamsterley Forest, County Durham, well done that man!

Hamsterley is our local stomping ground being only 30 minutes away.  It is the first place where I learned how to ride and indeed how to crash a bike..... back in 2005 on the back of an Intense M1, hardcore!  Even now I still love the place, there’s something there for everyone; cross-country trails, downhill track, dirt jumps a-plenty and one of the country's best 4-cross courses.

Steve and I were aiming to get some practice in on Friday afternoon but due to a few mechanical issues with Steve’s bike we never got out, it was actually chucking it down as well…it’s grim up North!  I was actually pretty happy that it was raining though, some of the tracks at Hamsterley get seriously loose in the dry, it’s like riding on marbles.  Fun to ride in general but scary as hell to race on.

(Photo copyright of Doc Ward)

Saturday morning dawned and after a good sleep we got to Hamsterley early to practice the five stages and allow enough rest time before seeding in the afternoon.  We started off by smashing Stage 4, called 'Special K/Brain Freeze', it's pretty trail centre-esque, with it's, dare I say, forged trails but it's also really fun to ride with a steep and sharp up hill sprint in the middle.  I remember last year when T-Mo overtook me up there, like a goddamn express train, she's so powerful! 

Stage 1, the 'Beehives', was next, this one has long been my favourite secret track in the forest.  A secret no longer after a National Enduro event has flung its way down the hill.  It starts off with some mint off camber rooties, awesome in the wet, and then into a pedally tight n'twisty section.  It flows really well and is a total hoot to ride. 

You need to head across the river for Stage 2's aptly named 'Route 666', by this time it was getting on for late morning and the sun definitely had his hat on, ooopht, sweaty!!  Stage 2 starts off being really flippin' pedally alongside a wall before dropping down into the rut-strewn tree cover.  There had been a new wooded loamy section cut in which I was loving however Steve couldn’t get his wide bars through easily and he was getting a bit sweary, hahaha!  Next up was Stage 5, the 'Transmission' route.  (Please don’t ask why we practiced in such a random order!).  The 'Transmission' is the longest, fastest and most Strava’d stage out of them all, it's an all out modern trail centre track.  You should be able to find it easily on YouTube if you fancy a look.

Seeding runs started about 3pm, the girls were up first, it’s always interesting to see where people are going to place. Steve was nervous too and didn’t feel like he was on it, possible down to clipping his bars in practise.  He placed 3rd in Masters though and I was 4th in the Elite so both of us went home feeling pretty happy. 

We got some practice in on Stage 3 before we left, this was the downhill stage taking in the old NPS track, a great track starting off at the top of the 4-cross with a tricky rocky and rooty left hander in the middle.  (Lee here: that ain't the old NPS track, the original old-school NPS track no longer exists due to forestry cutting *sad face*).

(Photo copyright of Doc Ward)

Sunday was another hottie, I'm not complaining at all though, not after all the winter snows we had during the so-called spring!  The girls were off at 9.30am and Steve at 10am so we were up with the larks again.

I would say that my stages went well, a few messed up lines and a couple of stalls but nothing serious until Stage 5, same track as seeding.  I felt like I was going way faster but went into a corner on 'Nitrous' too hot and rode off the back of the berm. Absolutely gutted!!  I still finished 1 second faster than seeding so it was a shame that I crashed with a "what might have been..." looming over in my head.  Steve had good runs but felt like he could have gone a bit quicker on some sections, he changed his tyres between seeding and race run which was probably a bad choice in hindsight!  They may have been grippier but it looked like they slowed him down a tad.  This reflects what I was saying earlier, Hamsterley Forest is an awesome place to ride, yet its looks can be deceptive, you gotta know the type of trails you're gonna be riding to get the best of it all with good tyre choice.

We had to wait a few hours, impatiently I add, for overall times and positions.  Steve did mint with a 5th place, he could have done better as I said but he can't grumble with a category that big.  I came away with 4th in the Elite category and I must say I was flippin' buzzing!  I’m normally down the pack at this level but felt really happy to put in some respectable times this weekend.  Big thanks to Helen Gaskell’s tyre choice advice I reckon!

All in all a mint weekend, can’t wait to ride my bike again.  Summer is here at last .......touch wood!!

Angie xx

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Just another muddy day at Hamsterley...

....and Steve got his team tops for the winter!  Next season's racing tops will be debuted at the start of 2013.

Steve and Nick looking rather chuffed after a mud-fest of a morning....

(How Steve managed to keep that top clean still remains a mystery!)

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Help for Heroes Race, Hamsterley Forest, 29th September 2012

The Development support the majority of races being held at Hamsterley Forest in County Durham, in the North-East of the UK.  The team has a long standing connection with the forest, from building courses, assisting with hosting regional races such as the NEMBA and NAMBS races of old, up to the National Points Series races and everything else in between.  The forest is the team's local training and riding area and as a result we were proud to be part of the Help for Heroes race weekend to raise not only cash for the charity but the public's awareness.  

If you would like to know more about the work they do please see their website: http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Now, on with the racing, here's Nick....

The Hamsterley Forest track has a good mixture in it, it's largely tree covered starting with a series of tight sections through the pine trees and then out over a drop into a swooping berms before hitting a rock garden to catch out the unwary.  This is followed by a neat table top and a flat out sprint to the kicker jump that catapults you across the fire road crossing.  Another rock garden keeps you on your toes and you're into the tight lines through the dark woods of the middle section, it's a tight squeeze in there! 

Another road gap looms, hit it flat out and it's straight into the best section through a series of big rock gardens, the FTW frame was made for this type of course, it was just soaking it all up.  Down over some off camber rocks you're spat back out into a flat out shoot which became progressively faster as practice progressed.  After this it was the infamous S-bend into the drop towards the finish line.

Practice was great, the track was dry as a bone and the uplifts which were being run by the northern downhill guys ran like clock work, perfect! 

The next day though was a different story, yeah you must have guessed it, it decided to rain all day! Having said that, the track still stayed pretty much the same, some roots and rocks got slippier but nothing to worry about, I kept the bike set up as per the previous day. 

Photo by Richard Easton

My first race run was pretty much a steady one with a few slips and swears towards the end which meant I was a few seconds off the pace!  It did however open up more lines to me so I made mental notes and was confident of what I needed to pull out of the bag with the race run.

I gave it absolute hell for leather on the race run and caught someone up at the road crossing, unfortunately it's damned tight in there and he couldn't hear me shouting at him, in the end I took my chance stook my elbows out and barged past.   It was a top run and I was gutted, I knocked 4 seconds off my previous time and it will remain as a 'What if?'  I finished in fourth place and it was a great weekend for a great cause.

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