Dragon
Summer Series |
Mountain
Ash - Wales |
9th
& 10th April 2005 |
 |
1st - Gummy Strikes
Again! |
| The first two rounds of the Dragon Series were upon us and the weather was looking like it was going to be a dry one.....COLD but dry. Saturday practice went well as most were finding their lines through some of the pretty fast technical sections, we hoped Mountain Ash wouldn't live up to it's reputation for injuries due to the high speeds through tree sections. |
| Saturday |
| Attending the Saturday race was Paul May, Paul Mackie, Greg Pickles, Aidan Bishop and me, Stefan Gleed was still away as he waited for the arrival of his second child despite predictions and warnings of an early birth. Aidan, Phil and me were still sore from the Pole Dancing injuries in Scotland but were still looking forward to a day of adrenaline and dust. The first runs were upon us and I was first off to strut my stuff, I nailed most sections and felt pretty quick over the rough stuff, I desperately struggled with the several pedally sections due to the extra 2 stone and the kebab diet, but they were painful for most riders too. Although this was my first DH in 6 months I crossed the line with a respectable time of 4:09 putting me in 3rd initially which later fell to 11th as the top riders in the category came through. I did manage to beat some of the riders I was battling with when I was fit last season so not too shabby for a fat boy! |
|
Craig
breathing hard..... |
| Gummy (Paul May) was up next and against the legendary Dirt rider Steve Jones on his local track no less, there are quality riders in the Masters so no mistakes can be afforded if you want to achieve a respectably placing. Gummy crossed the line.....well actually he crashed into the line taking out the table and timing equipment in the process, didn't matter as he broke the beam anyway ...nearly literally! Great news as he set the fastest time so far by some way with 3:52 with only Steve Jones to go, Steve looked very fast and crossed the line with 3:50 taking 2 seconds out of Gummy's time leaving him 2nd after the first run, Gummy's run wasn't without drama as he took an unusual line through the first bus stop after hitting it too fast. |
| Phil was up next in the seniors category, he reported a clean run feeling pretty good about most of his run, no drama's or injuries although he was looking decidedly second hand at the finish....too much energy lost in nervous tension I think ....relax mate or you'll end up with a coronary! Phil crossed the line with 4:10 knowing more was to come. The Development Riders were up next, Greg was the first crasher of the day crossing the line with a 4:18.......Paul Mackie following it up with a run he described as "Completely Gay" so it was the 2nd runs that would count for them. |
 |
The tricky first
bus stop |
Aidan Bishop was up next in the Expert category, he didn't seem overly impressed with his run but still posted a fast time of 3:55, he was looking towards his 2nd run to post a time he was happy with. |
|
 |
Aidan Bishop trying
to keep it low |
The 2nd runs commenced and I was determined to post a faster time to see if I could maintain my slim 1 second advantage over slim boy Phil "the fly" Mowatt, surprisingly I was clean through most sections not making many noticeable mistakes ....shocker! I crossed the line 2 seconds faster with 4:07 which still only put me in 14th when all the masters came through. Gummy came through shortly after me and this time he didn't crash into the timing equipment, and his time.....and amazing 3:49 which was 1 second faster than the current leader Steve Jones and 3 seconds faster than his 1st run....well done chap. I crossed everything for Gummy and watched the timing screen to see if I could get a hint from the split times .....Steve had crashed on the rock slab which meant Gummy had achieved the seemingly impossible feat of beating Steve in his own back yard. So 1st place for Gummy and another trophy to boot. |
 |
Better line than
your first run Gummy! |
| Phil came through and looked pretty stoked so I thought he had beaten his time, actually he was just really happy about having one of his largest crashes without injury, he also got caught out by the first bus stop and ended up over the bars somersaulting through the air and landing on his back......good job he decided to wear his Dainese back protector or things could have been much much worse. Greg came through having had another crash but still bettering his time by 1 second.....Paul "peachy" Mackie was still unimpressed with his 2nd run trying hard to keep us from his time......he muttered under his breath something about setting up another team called "faggot's dot com" as he walked away.....not sure about his continual references to the gay community though, maybe he's trying to tell the team something? |
| Aidan crashed on his 2nd run and therefore remained in 13th position in the Expert category. |
 |
Did the new bike
make Greg faster? |
| Sunday |
| Gummy, Aidan, Greg, and Phil decided to do the Sunday race and knuckled down in practice to destroy their Saturday times. |
| All was going well until Aidan overcooked the first bus stop and catapulted over the bars, when he got to his feet he realised that his shoulder was broken ......badly. One trip to the hospital later and we find out he needs to be operated on to pin the bones together as they are overlapping a couple of inches....eerrrr. |
| With spirits dampened the others continued........ |
| Gummy yet again destroyed the opposition to take another well deserved 1st place with another 3:49 run time ...respect! Phil was the surprise of the show, after I threatened to throw him from the team if he didn't do a 3:59, he crossed the line in with a very respectable time of 3:58 putting him in 16th in the Seniors category.."is that good enough for you Craig?" he laughed ....I should coco!! |
 |
| Greg and Paul Mackie continued to improve on their times posting 4:19 and 4:21 respectively. |
| So another mixed bag with 2 more 1st place podium trophies and another broken bone....not me this time surprisingly.....keep it real guys |
| Pictures provided by both www.southerndownhill.com & www.dragondownhill.co.uk |
| Special thanks to all our sponsors who continue to support our team throughout 2005. |
