Richard Marshall:Big Rich Race Report 28-29th July NDH Yorkshire Champs Race – Alwinton
After some sat nav confusion we arrived at Alwinton for the Northern Downhill Yorkshire Champs Race, the weather was sunny and dry which seemed to put us all in a good mood, we suited up and i decided my first run was going to be on KOT spikes, we made our way to the uplift point, 200yards down the fire track and i had the first of four punctures for the weekend, a quick swap of wheel and i’m back in business, the first run was a baptism of fire (due to the track being very steep, a track walk was not on the cards).
The first section was tight with trees and very rooty, then followed with some steep and tight switch backs which lead into some steep muddy shoots, once over the log drop and through the dark section came
the bridge gorge/river crossing, a section that required full commitment on entry to carry speed over the bridge and up the over side, then came my favourite section which was rooty single track and finishing off with a steep shoot leading to another bridge and then the finish line.
Several runs later we called it a day and made our way to the campsite, (The Rose & Thistle Pub) a pub meal and a few beers finished the day off in fine style.
Sunday morning, Race day, with this being a Yorkshire Champs Race the title of Yorkshire Champion was up for Grabs and in my category it was a straight shoot out between me and Richie (2011 Yorkshire Champion), it had rained through the night so we expected the course to be a bit slippy in places, the first run down was exciting to say the least with the middle section becoming a mud fest, a couple of runs later and the course was shut ready for racing, a slight delay waiting for ambulance cover and we ready to go, unfortunately while waiting on the start line the guy behind me noticed i had a flat rear tyre, with no time to repair it i had to run my first race run with it flat which was interesting to say the least, with a quick turn around we were ready for our second runs and with a repaired rear puncture i was hoping for a quicker time, my second run didn’t go to plan with a tree that jumped out in front of me, and couple of hairy moments.
North downhill once again put on a great weekends race event and the only down side were the killer mozies that attacked through out Saturday & Sunday (seemed to like Richie the most!)
Well done to Liam for winning his category and becoming Yorkshire Champion
Race results: –
Liam McDermott (junior) 1st (2012 Yorkshire Champion)
Adam Hurst (junior) 7th
Richie Molloy (vets) 5th (2011 Yorkshire Champion)
Richard Marshall (vets) 4th (2012 Yorkshire Champion)
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