National
Points Series Ae Forest Rnd 1 |
11th
April 2004 |
 |
RapidRacers Dominate |
| What a difference a race makes, from the muddy, lung busting, pedally Hopton course to the dry, steep, rocky, and gnarley Ae Forest course.....welcome to Scotland! |
| Stefan Gleed, Paul May, Phil Mowatt and myself made the trip to bonny Scotland for the first round of the National Points Series, the NPS is the one every top rider wants to win, and win we did in style. |
| This was the first time me and Phil had raced at Ae and it's been years since Stef has raced here, so practice was important. Pushing the limits at Ae is a dangerous game as the rocks can punish you and your bike severly as several riders found out. Right from the start the course is mega rocky and gnarley, your run couldn't be won at the top but it could easily be lost. Half way down the course there is a massive gap jump called "The Coffin Gap" which was Big with a capital B, Steve Jones (Pro-Elite last year) claimed that he hasn't done this jump in the 4 years he's been riding here. So when Stef and Phil nailed it on their first practice run, the gauntlet was thrown down for me to avit.....known as the worlds scetchiest jumper I pedalled hard up to it hoping speed would do the work for me, I pedalled too hard and very nearly over jumped the landing. This jump became a huge adrenaline rush as you were travelling at such high speeds on entry, further down the course there was another early morning wake up call in the shape of a large step down on an extremely steep section, preceeded by a sharp left hand berm. |
| It was good to see so many from all over make the long journey to Scotland including loads of Irish riders, it was great to see one of our sponsors Michael Cowan from Chainreaction Cycles who was ripping it up by all accounts. |
| The NPS had a new format this year with only one time run, this brings the UK into line with the UCI World Cup events in a "all or nothing" style event. This favours the smooth and consistent riders like Paul May that seem to ride the gnarliest of courses without drama. As for the Crash Master....well I would prefer 11 runs to ensure I get a good one but I think that is unlikely! |
| Seeding occurred last thing on Saturday which gives everyone a chance to see your pace, Stef and Paul seeded well around 2:47 threatening the podium positions, Phil had a good clean run and recorded a time of 2:52 scaring me half to death with his no fear attack on the rock gardens, I took a steady run down riding hard through the technical sections and taking it steady every where else, I ended up seeding 13th with 2:55. |
 |
Phil playing with
the rocks! |
| The Sunday saw the start of racing proper....Phil came down first and looked the nutts as he blatted throught he top section seemingly out of control but unfazed by the rocks, unfortunately further down the course he slipped off the track and down the embankment which put paid to his chances, although he still equalled his seeding time of 2:52, that left him in 38th overall in the Seniors. |
| I came down in my usual all guns blazing style and was on fire, I launched into the rock garden loosing control and riding over the largest rocks I could find but not loosing time. I eventually made a small mistake and nailed a tree leaving me running along side my bike to remount, this cost me dearly. I finished the rest of the course in the manner I had started and still took 6 seconds off my seeding run with a 2:49.....I was down to 13th in Masters and left wondering what could have been! |
| The weekend however belongs to Stef and Paul who blitzed the opposition, Paul came down first and took several seconds off the man in the hot seat by recording a very fast time of 2:36, although he was not entirely happy with his run it was still extremely quick, Gummy rarely fails to deliver and this one run format must benefit his style of riding. Knowing there was only 2 riders remaining this garaunteed Gummy a podium position. Stef was next down and all eyes were on the clock as he dropped in over the finishline with a rediculously fast time of 2:31 only 4 seconds slower than Rob Warner, and he say's he just riding for fun, god help us all if he ever starts to take it seriously? Stef is a former Pro-Elite and his talent is annoyingly natural, he manages to raise the stakes considerably every time he races, just when you think your holding your own against him in practice, he takes 10 seconds out of you in the race. |
| With only one rider left and Stef in the hot seat the tension was unbearable, Steve Jones who has been previously unbeatable in Masters came into view, the times were going to be close, Steve had lost time on the course and crossed the line in 3rd to the huge delight of the team, the RapidRacers team had achieved a double podium in the NPS. I was so happy I nearly bough a round! |
| I was over the moon, both my top riders 1st and 2nd in the first round of the NPS, what a result, it made me and Phil forget how dissapointed we were with our own performances as we revelled in the teams glory. This convincing double victory made it all the more easy to put up with Stef's scarey driving on the way home....... |
| So that's 1 all in the Stef v Paul battle, bring on the next round! |