Midland
Champs & Midland Summer Series - Rnd 1 |
Hopton
Woods |
2nd
April 2006 |
 |
Craig
Bromley retains his Silver medal in 06 |
As the only Midlander in the team it was down to me to represent RapidRacers in the Midlands Champs held at Hopton. It was 2nd April but judging by the weather you would be forgiven for thinking it was still April fools day. Whilst waiting for the first practice uplift on Saturday it blew a gale, then it hailed on us, and then it p*ssed down, we hadn't moved and that freezing cold 10 mins set a depressing mood for the whole weekend. As I'm not known as a legend in the wet...more of a leg-end, so I was not favouring my chances of retaining the Silver medal position from last season. |
| Just to add another dimension to the mix, Ian White an Expert rider from last season decided to be a trophy hunter and dropped into the Masters category....GREAT! |
.jpg) |
| Practice was very, very muddy and wet and every bike came down with 10lb of crud hanging off it making riding a big challenge....the course....well it sucked big time. Hopton is not steep but quite a lot of fun in the dry as you can normally carry your speed on the flattish sections....however today you were in deep mud and pedaling like a nutter from the off until you crossed the finish.....just to emphasise this, the start was deep in mud too so you did literally have to maul your bike off the start line sliding around at 2mph down the first section. |
| Covered from head to foot and being blown around by the cross wind you entered the open pedaly section, just grind it out there is nothing else that could be said for it, they changed the last section of the course which was by far the worst for mud as most new sections are, you carried hardly any speed pedally everywhere and when you weren't pedaling you were sliding sideways. |
 |
| The finish was a joke, you flat dropped onto a muddy road which was a challenge at the best of times, then you entered the finishing straight which consisted of six hundred deep tracks in 6-8" mud leading to a double jump that needed total commitment to clear....even some of the Elites were struggling to clear it without crashing. Let me make it crystal clear, it was that muddy that despite the slope you would have come to a stop if you weren't pedaling hard......absolute nightmare for an unfit fat old boy like me. |
| Practice went quite well for me, well I stayed on and felt pretty quick in a couple of sections, unfortunately it was difficult to gauge and the lines and track generally changed each run. |
| I was on the start line for my first run and I decided to give full beans from the off in a desperate attempt to get somewhere in the final standings, as I held on to the post waiting for the beeps the wind nearly blew me off my bike, I dabbed.....yeah on the start line....fantastic news. The lights turned green and I pedaled like a man possessed gritting my teeth as I ground out some momentum, I nailed the first section at 3 mph and pedaled with all my might through the first wooded bit, no major drama's yet. 2 minutes later I came to the open section which was about half way and realised that the tank was completely empty, I was SHAGGED! My lines just went to pot I was all over the place, staying on but taking some unusual routes as I was too tired to ride properly. Then came the really deep mud in the final technical section, this was miserable as I was all over the shop breathing heavy and trying not to go over the bars. |
 |
| On the home straight I just about made the jump half and halving the landing on the double, I pedaled the 200 yards over the finish line through yet more deep mud, I could have puked then and there, it was untidy but I stayed on and was hoping for a time good enough to allow me to pack up and s*d off. I crossed the line with a dismal 3:57 and a 10th place, oh god does this mean I have to do this again I thought.......balls. |
| A new tactic was needed for the second run as I was still pretty knackered from the first run, I decided to take it a bit steady on the top section losing a bit of time to keep some energy for the slog of a technical section at the end. I was on the start and praying for a good run to put me in the top 6 at least, off I set and stuff the brakes, if I'm not gonna pedal hard then I'm coming out of the corners faster....Steve Peat would have been proud of the first muddy berm taken at dry condition speeds, the back end started to come around on the exit but I held it together to scare myself half to death. I pedaled moderately through the next couple of sections concentrating on breathing properly and not pushing too hard, I smoothed out the open section much better and managed to stay on all the right lines for the last technical bit....I flat dropped onto the road and got a bit squirley but held on, then came the slog to the finish and it was awful, my thighs were on fire. I hit the jump slower than the first run as conditions had got worse. I got bucked half over the bars as I slammed the up slope of the landing....somehow I held on and stayed upright. Over the line I go and down on the floor for a well deserved rest, again a little shabby in places but definitely faster than the first.....Plan B was a success. I crossed the line with a very credible 3:46 11 seconds faster than the first run and 4th place overall in the Midlands normal round. |
| As this was a combined race with the Midlands Championships as well, the non midlanders were stripped out leaving me 2nd for the 2nd year running in the Midlands Champs. I was well chuffed, I may be 35, fat, ugly, and unfit but I can still embarrass a few of those skinny boys! |
 |
| What a fantastic result and I deserved every bit of it even if I say so myself. I will now take 4 weeks off to recover, oh no it's the National race at Rugog Farm next weekend....bugger! |
| Special thanks to the Rave Racing team who let me use their tent to keep dry and more importantly their jet wash for both days, cheers buddies. |
Once
again thanks to all our sponsors for their continued support in 2006. |