Fancy a challenge?
by Goofymark
Well do you? I do, and so does Mutley, thats why we’ve decided to enter this yearsATBA-UK Downhill Championship!
So it was friday night, I was settled down on the sofa, i’d had a few beers, when suddenly my phone came alive -a text message. It was from Roger (Leapb4ulook) ‘Cheddar this sunday?’. I knew as soon as i saw it he wasn’t enquiring about my cheese eating habits, oh no , he was asking if i wanted to go and try out the downhill course for this years downhill championship……-
So after lots of text messages, and some facebook activity it was arranged. Roger as usual being very accomodating to Mutley and mines demanding family schedule, and agreeing to meet us at 7am.
I don’t know what sort of mental images a ‘Downhill Championship’ conjures up for you, but for me its battle hardened riders, racing down ridiculously steep tracks, on Nosno’s with massive wheels, at 40mph+ - but this is a very different downhill course. Essentailly it only covers about 500 metres in dense woodland, and its by no means the steepest thing i’ve ever ridden, but boy is it technical.
The start is a gentle slope, but has you weaving between the trees, desperately trying to control your speed in limited space, as the track steepens, it takes in a sweeping left hand turn, great for you ‘regular’ riders, but this weekend in very wet conditions almost impossible for us goofy riders to handle. The course crosses a track and funnels you past the ‘Cheddar cheese wire’ (see left of photo below) which Roger assures me will be covered in something soft by the actual event.
From here you drop into a narrow gulley, which is maybe 75-80metres long, full of obstacles, big rocks, branches etc, before giving you an exit which is just about wide enough for the board. Once out of the fast gulley, your onto part of a mountainbike track, weaving through the trees again for a short time before turning sharp left onto the ‘finish straight’ - basically a fast, steep track, which should make for some dramatic finishes.
Now that all sounds great, but when you bear in mind that me and Mutley have only been boarding for just over a year, well, lets just say it wasn’t pretty. It was the toughest thing I have ever ridden, not just from a technical point of view, but the sheer physical exerction required to control your speed, and make turns in the trees was ridiculous, we literally had to stop at least twice to get our breath on the way down!
The weird thing is that when we got in the car to go, we both decided that entering the comp would be a good thing. Hey we will probly come last, but if competing pushes my riding to the next level i don’t care, if i can make it down the course cleanly, i’ll be happy.
To get a better idea of the track check out this video - shot when the track was built earlier this year.
ATBA-UK Downhill exploration from Woodie Wright on Vimeo.
I can’t wait to get back to Cheddar, we are hoping to get some more lines in for the less experienced riders like myself, which is what i liked about it, like so many aspects on Mountainboarding the guys organising the event are keen to make it accessible to everyone. So if your not sure if your experienced/skilled enough for a comp why not give it a go - it can only make you a better rider.
Check out the ATBA site for event info.
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